Week 9 was a very good week for the Green Bay Packers.
Not only did Matt LaFleur’s team beat the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on a short week, but the Packers’ biggest rivals in the NFC – the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – both lost, and so did the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals.
It all adds up to a productive set of results for the Packers, who are 6-2 and now the favorite to earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC, according to FiveThirtyEight.com.
The Packers have a 31 percent chance of being the top team in the NFC, a coveted spot in the new playoff format. This year, only one team in each conference – the No. 1 seed – earns a first-round bye.
The Packers also have a 96 percent chance of making the playoffs and an 81 percent chance of winning the NFC North, per FiveThirtyEight.com.
The two other top contenders for the top seed in the NFC are the Seahawks, who lost to the Buffalo Bills, and the New Orleans Saints, who beat the Buccaneers 38-3 on Sunday night.
If the season ended today, the Packers would win the NFC North and hold the No. 3 seed in the NFC. Both the Saints (6-2) and Seahawks (6-2) have tiebreakers over the Packers based on conference win percentage, even though the Packers beat the Saints head-to-head in Week 3.
The top six teams in the NFC all have either two or three losses.
FiveThirtyEight projects the Packers to finish 12-4, although the site has the Packers as a favorite in each of the final eight games.
[vertical-gallery id=52783]