Packers' Rooting Guide for NFL Playoff Implications of Week 18
The Green Bay Packers hope they do not have to do much scoreboard watching on Sunday.
Green Bay has a simple playoff clinching scenario in front of it. A home win over the Chicago Bears gets the Packers into the postseason.
The Packers hope to be in the position to just look at the Los Angeles Rams' score during Sunday's late-afternoon window.
Matt Lafleur's team can jump from the No. 7 to No. 6 seed with a win and a Rams loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Both the Rams and 49ers are starting backup quarterbacks, so that contest could go in any direction.
Green Bay's most dire playoff-clinching scenarios feature losses from across the NFC, starting with the Seattle Seahawks in the other NFC West Week 18 clash.
The Packers would also need help from the NFC South if a loss occurs at home to the Bears.
49ers over Rams
1 of 3
Green Bay fans will be one of the few fan bases invested in the Carson Wentz-versus-Sam Darnold battle at Levi's Stadium.
The 49ers and Rams are both locked into the playoff field. San Francisco holds home-field advantage, while the Rams opted to rest their starters instead of chasing a specific seed.
Green Bay needs to play Jordan Love and Co. to get into the postseason, and if it wins, it could leapfrog the Rams if the 49ers win.
Green Bay holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rams, so if the two sides finish at 9-8, the Packers would be the No. 6 seed.
The No. 6 seed likely comes with a wild-card matchup against the Detroit Lions, which may be preferred by the Packers. That would pit them against a familiar opponent instead of the NFC East champion.
This is the scenario all Packers fans want to find themselves in on Sunday afternoon because it would mean their team is safely in the postseason field.
Cardinals over Seahawks
2 of 3
These are the playoff scenarios the Packers do not want to visit on Sunday.
The Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints enter Week 18 with the same record as the Packers, but Green Bay is ahead on tiebreakers.
An Arizona Cardinals win over Seattle would knock the Seahawks out of playoff contention.
That is the most likely result to go in Green Bay's favor in the worst-case scenario because the Cardinals are playing better as of late.
Kyler Murray and James Conner led the Cardinals to an upset win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Another upset is possible with Murray potentially looking to secure his spot on the roster for next season.
Arizona enters Week 18 with a top-four selection in the 2024 NFL draft, but if it wins, it could fall out of the top five and out of the hunt for Caleb Williams and Drake Maye.
The motivation of eliminating a divisional rival from playoff contention is also great motivation for the Cardinals to win at home.
Falcons over Saints
3 of 3
A New Orleans Saints defeat is the more likely component to any strange Packers clinching scenarios.
The assumption is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will clinch the NFC South title with a win over the Carolina Panthers.
That would leave the Saints to fight for a wild-card spot in their matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
An Atlanta win would knock New Orleans out of playoff contention and help with one of the Packers' scenarios in case of a loss.
The Packers would need losses or ties by the Seahawks and Saints to get in with a tie.
Losses by the Seahawks, Saints and Minnesota Vikings, who play the Detroit Lions, would also allow the Packers to clinch.
But the hope around the franchise is that the Packers do not have to even worry about the worst-case scenarios.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
