Acme Packing Company
Chicago’s last-second loss gives the Packers a little more wiggle room in the NFC playoff race
We’re halfway through the season and the 2-5 New York Giants playing on Monday Night Football shouldn’t impact the NFC playoff race, one way or another. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how the NFC is shaking out, both on a conference and divisional level. Because some of these divisions (*cough* NFC North *cough*) are much stronger than others (*cough* NFC West *cough*) it’s important to make that distinction, even this early in the 2024 season.
The Green Bay Packers continue to survive the play of backup quarterback Malik Willis, who has now had to contribute significantly in three games this season, but how much of a lead has the team built up to this point? We’ll try to answer that question and more in our NFC outlook.
All of the division leaders, other than the 4-4 Cardinals are in outright control of their division. Arizona currently holds the tiebreaker over the 49ers and Seahawks, who are also 4-4 coming out of Week 8.
In an interesting coincidence, the Packers hold a small lead over the Vikings and Eagles, who are the only teams that Green Bay has lost to this season, in the Wild Card race. The Vikings dropping back-to-back games against the Lions and Rams have gone a long way for pushing the Packers up the standings, as they are now holding the top Wild Card spot after being on the outside looking in for the postseason just two weeks ago. If Green Bay ever does slip up in a week when Minnesota and Philadelphia win, though, they’ll find themselves behind those teams not only in the tiebreaker but also in record.
Another big break for potential Wild Card teams is that the Bears lost on a last-second Hail Mary versus the Commanders, which led to them falling below the playoff cut if the season were to end today.
Week 8 also saw the Falcons register another win over the Buccaneers, meaning that they have swept them for the season. Tampa Bay is Atlanta’s primary threat in the NFC South, as the Saints and Panthers combine for a 3-13 record up to this point.
As far as next week goes, some important NFC versus NFC games include Bears-Cardinals and Rams-Seahawks, which will be important for jostling in the NFC West and Wild Card, but the main attraction is Lions-Packers, which will feature teams that combine for a 12-3 record in 2024. At the moment,...
