Green Bay Heads into Premier Matchup with Patriots as Leaders of the NFC North

When the Green Bay Packers began the season with a 1-2 start, there were doubters. By the end of Week 3, the Packers had lost twice on the road by multiple scores and had narrowly escaped the lackluster New York Jets at home.

In Week 4, they were set to face the high-flying Chicago Bears, coming off two straight wins. The 2-1 squad had only lost to the Buffalo Bills during the season opener in overtime.

A lot has changed since then. The perception of the Bears and the Detroit Lions, who handed the Packers one of their early losses, have completely flipped. Chicago, once entertained as a potential NFC North playoff candidate, now sits as a +35000 value to win the Super Bowl per Odds Shark, or roughly one-fifth of a percent.

The Lions, on the other hand, surprised the world and vaulted themselves to the top of the NFC North. Up until this week, they had controlled the division for most of the season.

After Sunday's slate of games, though, Green Bay sat atop of the standings. With a 24-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers improved to a 8-3 record. Since their 1-2 slump out of the gate, the Packers have seven of their last eight games, with the lone loss being in the Superdome in a prime-time game when star quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained a hamstring injury.

This week's win finally propelled Green Bay over Detroit, who lost 34-9 to the New England Patriots. The Lions either had the lone lead or a tiebreaker over the Packers in recent weeks.

Now that Green Bay is in the lead for a home playoff bid, the real competition is beginning to build. The hunt isn't over. Armed with the current No. 2 seed in the NFC, the Packers have simply been put into the driver's seat.

According to Odds Shark, the New England Patriots, Packers and Denver Broncos are the best squads in the NFL, per their power rankings.

Next week, Green Bay will face New England at Lambeau Field, a huge game for both the AFC leader and the Packers. After that, though, the green and gold have a stretch of fairly winnable games in a row. They finish the season at home against the 4-7 Atlanta Falcons, on the road back-to-back for the Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who are a combined 7-14) and then at home in Week 17 at home against the 7-4 Lions.

Other than the Patriots, the Packers' future opponents don't crack a +2600 Super Bowl value on Odds Shark, meaning Green Bay should be the heavy favorite in all of its games for the remainder of 2014.

According to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe, the Packers are even favored, by 3.5 points, in their upcoming game against New England. In all likelihood, Green Bay's going to be projected by Vegas to win out.

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#Patriots open as 3.5-point underdogs to #Packers on @Sportsbook_com. Game is at Lambeau

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) November 24, 2014"

With Chicago three games behind Green Bay and Minnesota four games behind the squad, not including tiebreakers, the only other team who can truly make a competitive run for the NFC North title is Detroit.

Its schedule, too, is fairly soft. Facing the Bears, Buccaneers and Vikings at home over the next three weeks, the Lions will finish the season with a two-week road stretch in Chicago and Green Bay.

Even if the Packers do lose to the Patriots, who at least some consider the top team in the league, the Lions would have to finish the season without a loss, including a victory in Green Bay to end the year, to win the NFC North outright. If they manage to slip anywhere along the way, even in Chicago against a squad who might be fighting for the future of their head coach, they could end up out of the hunt.

The layout for the season is simple: The Packers are in the driver's seat, but have a tough game before they can seemingly coast for a bit. The Lions, breathing down the neck of the Packers, still control their destiny, too, as they have one more crack at the Packers this season—enough of a try to tie up their records, which would be broken by the Lions' hypothetical 2-0 mark against them in 2014.

Rarely does the NFL go according to plan, though. Late in the season, things get wonky. One injury, game or even play could change the entire complexion of the NFC North race.

For Green Bay and Detroit, there can't be any setbacks. From here on out, every game is as impactful as a playoff matchup. A few weeks ago, the Packers didn't qualify for the playoffs, and they could easily go back to that.

One game at a time couldn't be of bigger emphasis. This week, to them, there shouldn't be a Detroit Lions. This week, the road to the NFC North title goes through the New England Patriots.