Acme Packing Company
The Green Bay Packers can clinch a playoff spot in Week 16 on their first step toward a Super Bowl win. It’s a pretty simple route, too. If the Packers win on Saturday, the Detroit Lions have to lose on Sunday and Green Bay is postseason bound. If the Packers tie (again) on Saturday, a Lions loss would still get the job done.
A Packers win would also move Green Bay into first place in the NFC North and second place in the NFC as a whole.
Green Bay is currently seventh in the playoff picture with the strong NFC West teams holding down the fifth and sixth slots. If the Packers lose, they will still be seventh in the NFC, and the eighth place team can’t pass them.
The Seattle Seahawks won on Thursday night to move into first place in the NFC and knocking the Los Angeles Rams to the first wild card slot. Both of those teams have playoff spots locked up.
The San Francisco 49ers are the other wild card team right now.
Green Bay is obviously also trying to win their division and a half-game behind the Chicago Bears. A win by Green Bay moves them into first place since they are playing the first place Bears. The Packers already have a win over the Bears, so a tiebreaker would go to Green Bay, but the tie on the Packers’ ledger makes a tiebreaker incredibly unlikely.
With a win on Saturday, the Packers can’t clinch the NFC North, but they can get a whole lot closer. Chicago plays the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17 and the Lions in Week 18. Green Bay plays the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings to finish the year.
With three straight wins, Green Bay would clinch the division.
The Seattle Seahawks are the new first-place team with their Thursday night win over the Los Angeles Rams. Both teams have clinched playoff spots at this point, but the one seed getting home-field advantage and a byr is much different than the wild card.
If the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Commanders, the Commanders join this list.
