The Green Bay Packers have an opportunity to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC during Week 17.
Matt LaFleur’s team needs just two results: a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night and a loss by the Dallas Cowboys to the Arizona Cardinals earlier Sunday.
The Packers (12-3) host the Vikings at Lambeau Field at 7:20 p.m. on Sunday. By kickoff, the team should know if clinching the No. 1 seed is a possibility.
The Cowboys, now 11-4, are hosting the 10-5 Cardinals at AT&T Stadium at 3:25 p.m. CT.
Even if the Cowboys win on Sunday, the Packers can clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC with wins over the Vikings and Detroit Lions to finish the season. Finishing at 14-3 guarantees the Packers of the best record in the NFC and avoids any tiebreaker scenarios.
Overall, any combination of Packers wins and Cowboys losses adding up two clinches the top seed for the Packers.
In any tiebreaker scenario with the Cowboys, Dallas would win due to a better conference record. However, the Packers own a head-to-head tiebreaker over the 11-4 Los Angeles Rams and the conference record tiebreaker over the 11-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
One other note: the Packers can officially eliminate the Vikings from playoff contention with a win over Mike Zimmer’s team and a win by either the Philadelphia Eagles (at Washington) or the Atlanta Falcons (at Buffalo Bills).
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