The Green Bay Packers are champions of the NFC North and guaranteed both a playoff spot and a home playoff game, but bigger goals remain.
More specifically: clinching the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
The final three weeks of the 2020 season are all about holding off three teams for the top speed in the conference, which provides a coveted first-round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
The situation simplifies the rooting guide the rest of the way. The Packers need to keep winning – especially the final two NFC games, starting Saturday night against the Carolina Panthers – and it wouldn’t hurt if the New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks lost a game or two.
Remember, the Packers have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Saints, but the tiebreaker scenarios get cloudy if another team jumps into the mix with the Packers and Saints.
The current NFC standings at the top:
1. Green Bay Packers (10-3)
2. New Orleans Saints (10-3)
3. Los Angeles Rams (9-4)
4. Washington Football Team (6-7)
5. Seattle Seahawks (9-4)
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-5)
7. Arizona Cardinals (7-6)
There are no clinching scenarios for the Packers in Week 15, but all the following results would be beneficial for Matt LaFleur’s team:
– Packers win over Carolina Panthers
– Kansas City Chiefs win over New Orleans Saints
– New York Jets win over Los Angeles Rams
– Washington Football Team win over Seattle Seahawks
If all these results happen this week, the Packers’ chances of securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC will increase from around 50 percent to around 90 percent, according to the New York Times playoffs simulator.
And, if the four results above happen, it would set up a scenario where the Packers could clinch the top seed with a win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 16.