Green Bay Packers: Who They Could Meet in Playoffs and How They Match Up

The Green Bay Packers are the class of the NFL. They currently hold a minimum two-game lead over every other team in the NFL, and it's very possible that that lead will grow in the weeks to come.

Today we'll take a look at the odds of who they could meet in the playoffs and how they match up against each of those teams.

Possible Playoff Matchups

First, we'll look at which teams in the NFC are likely to make the playoffs, and what seed they could possibly get.

Dallas Cowboys - No. 4, 5 or 6 seed

New York Giants - No. 4, 5 or 6 seed

Chicago Bears - No. 5 or 6 seed

Detroit Lions - No. 5 or 6 seed

New Orleans Saints - No. 2, 3 or 4 seed

Atlanta Falcons - No. 3, 4 or 5 seed

San Francisco 49ers - No. 2 or 3 seed

Dallas Cowboys

Odds they could meet: 10 percent

Where they could meet: Divisional round or NFC Championship

Few teams in the NFL are as hot as the Dallas Cowboys right now. Their Thanksgiving Day win over the Miami Dolphins gives them four straight victories, and a loss by the New York Giants on Monday night would give them sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

There are two aspects of how the Cowboys play that the Green Bay Packers don't match up very well against.

First, the Cowboys have a good pass rush that includes one of the best sack artists in the game, DeMarcus Ware. Green Bay has had difficulty all year long with teams that excel at rushing the pass, and Dallas could potentially crush Aaron Rodgers.

The second thing is how balanced of an offense Dallas runs. With the emergence of DeMarco Murray, the Cowboys can run and pass with the best of them. If the Packers can't hone in on either the run game or pass game, they could have a difficult time slowing them down.

Overall, I still like the Packers in this matchup, as the offense would be too much for Dallas to handle.

New York Giants

Odds they could meet: 5 percent

Where they could meet: Divisional round of NFC Championship

The New York Giants have been fading over the past few weeks. A matchup on Monday night with the New Orleans Saints will show this team's true colors.

I really like how the Green Bay Packers would match up with the Giants if they met in the playoffs. With the injury to Ahmad Bradshaw, New York has become a much more one-dimensional team.

While Green Bay's defense has been anything but spectacular, if they can focus on simply stopping Eli Manning and his receivers, they should be just fine. Also, the Giants secondary wouldn't stand a chance against all the weapons that the Packers' offense has.

We'll get a better idea of how these two teams match up in Week 13 when Green Bay travels to New York.

Chicago Bears

Odds they could meet: 5 percent

Where they could meet: Divisional round or NFC Championship

When Jay Cutler went down with a major injury, the Chicago Bears chances at making the playoffs went down significantly. Their first game without Cutler resulted in a loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

Even if the Bears somehow sneak into the playoffs, I can't see them making it past the wild-card round. However, if they do happen to play the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs, they stand a very small chance at beating them.

Cutler was a bigger part of their offense than anyone realized, and without him, Green Bay's defense would have no problem shutting them down. While Chicago's defense is still a scary unit, the Packers were able to exploit them earlier in the year for a victory.

This would be an easy playoff matchup for Green Bay.

Detroit Lions

Odds they could meet: 15 percent

Where they could meet: Divisional round or NFC Championship

Even though the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day, I'm still not a big fan of this matchup come playoff time.

Detroit's offense is extremely potent, and that is what it is going to take to beat Green Bay. With receivers like Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson and Titus Young, the Lions have the ability to stretch the field and expose the Packers' defense.

We also can't forget about Detroit's aggressive defense, led by Ndamukong Suh. Yes, he may be a dirty player, but he is still fierce and brutal and can cause problems.

Hopefully, the Lions falter down the home stretch and miss the playoffs, because this is one matchup that I wouldn't want to see.

New Orleans Saints

Odds they could meet: 30 percent

Where they could meet: NFC Championship

If you had to force me to pick the second-best team in the NFC, I would say that the honor goes to the New Orleans Saints. The reason is because of their offense.

The Saints may be one of only a few teams that can keep up with the Green Bay Packers offensively. With Drew Brees at the helm, there aren't many defenses that can slow down New Orleans' offense.

While their defense has been somewhat inconsistent this year, they've started to play better the past few weeks. They don't have has much talent on that side of the football as the Packers do, but they also aren't dealing with injuries like the Packers are.

There is no doubt that if these two teams met in the NFC Championship game, it would be a shootout and probably end on the last play like their regular season game on opening night of the NFL season.

Atlanta Falcons

Odds they could meet: 10 percent

Where they could meet: Divisional round or NFC Championship

I'm not overly concerned about the prospect of the Green Bay Packers meeting the Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs.

Yes, the Falcons have a complete team on both sides of the ball, but Green Bay has owned them in their past two meetings.

Atlanta would be playing in Lambeau Field, in the winter, and would simply be overmatched. They aren't used to the type of cold weather that Green Bay gets.

This would be a nice matchup come playoff time for the Packers.

San Francisco 49ers

Odds they could meet: 25 percent

Where they could meet: NFC Championship

Before their loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving Day, I was much more concerned about the San Francisco 49ers playing the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs.

They were playing like the second-best team in the NFL, and their suffocating defense looked like it would be able to slow down Green Bay's offense. I'm still not excited about Green Bay taking on San Francisco in the playoffs, but I'm much less concerned now.

The Ravens showed the rest of the league how to beat the 49ers, which is by applying massive amounts of pressure on defense. While Green Bay hasn't been as good as they were last year at getting after the quarterback, they are still one of the better pass-rushing teams in the league.

As long as they can put consistent pressure on Alex Smith, they should be able to severely limit the amount of points that San Francisco can put on the board.

Even two touchdowns might be all that Green Bay needs to win the game, and I just can't see any defense in the NFL, no matter how good, stop the Packers from scoring two touchdowns.