The goal is to win four playoff games, not one, but the Green Bay Packers just complicated the start of what is now their most likely postseason path thanks to a few unfortunate results in Week 17.
The Packers’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings combined with the Washington Commanders’ win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday eliminated any opportunity to be the No. 5 seed and dropped the Packers from the No. 6 seed to the No. 7 seed in the NFC postseason field.
Securing the No. 5 or No. 6 seed would have meant playing the NFC West or NFC South champion in the NFC Wild Card Round. The No. 7 seed, however, is going to go to Philadelphia to play the 13-win Eagles to open the NFC playoff gauntlet. The Eagles clinched the NFC East title and are locked into the No. 2 seed.
Instead of facing one of the weaker teams in the field to start the postseason, the Packers are now most likely headed to Philadelphia for a rematch with the Eagles. The Packers lose the tiebreaker to the Commanders on conference record, so unless the Packers beat the Chicago Bears AND the Commanders lose to the Dallas Cowboys in the regular season’s final Sunday, Matt LaFleur’s team is going to be the No. 7 seed.
Being the lowest seed in the NFC would create an undeniably difficult path to the Super Bowl. As the seventh seed, the Packers would have to beat the Eagles in Philadelphia and either the Vikings in Minneapolis or the Lions in Detroit just to reach the NFC Championship Game. In fact, it’s possible the path to the Super Bowl would end up being Eagles-Vikings/Lions-Vikings/Lions — which would require three consecutive wins over teams with at least 13 wins.
Throw in a possible Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs or Buffalo Bills and this might be one of the hardest conceivable paths to a Lombardi Trophy in recent memory.
Considering the Packers are now 0-5 against the Vikings, Lions and Eagles this season, it’s increasingly difficult to imagine LaFleur’s team going on the road and winning three consecutive games to get to the Super Bowl.
The Packers won’t fear the Eagles, who narrowly beat Green Bay in Brazil to open the season, and one could easily argue that a win in Philadelphia at some point will be a pre-requisite to getting to the Super Bowl regardless of the Packers’ playoff seeding.
But escaping the first round of the postseason gauntlet just got much more difficult. The Eagles are seventh in points scored and third in points allowed. Saquon Barkley just went over 2,000 rushing yards. Philadelphia is one of the most well-balanced and talented teams in the postseason field, and the Eagles have won six straight games at Lincoln Financial Stadium — a venue the Packers avoided in Week 1.
It’s still possible the Packers will end up being the No. 6 seed, but Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys — who just lost by 34 points in Philadelphia — would need to provide a big assist in the season finale.
Last year, the Packers had to face the NFC East champions on the road as the No. 7 seed. They shocked the world with a beatdown of the Cowboys in Dallas. Can the Packers — who have 11 wins and took a far less stressful path to the postseason this year — repeat the feat if the first-round challenge is a trip to Philadelphia in two weeks?