The Green Bay Packers Are Now The NFC’s No. 1 Seed

The Green Bay Packers certainly weren’t at their best Sunday, squeaking out a 24-20 win over Jacksonville. It was a terrific day for the Packers, though, when it came to the NFC playoff race.

New Orleans began the day as the No. 1 seed in the conference, followed by Seattle and Green Bay. All three teams entered Sunday with 6-2 records.

Green Bay and New Orleans both won and improved to 7-2. Thanks to Seattle’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, though, the Packers surged ahead of the Saints and staked claim to the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

How you wonder?

Well, the Packers defeated New Orleans, 37-30, on Sept. 27 and hold the head-to-head advantage over the Saints in a two-way tie.

When Green Bay, New Orleans and Seattle were locked in a three-way tie, the Saints held the tiebreaker due to conference record.

So Seattle’s loss was terrific news for Packer Nation. The Seahawks fell into a tie for third place in the conference with Tampa Bay, Arizona and the Rams, with each of those teams now 6-3.

Currently, the top seven teams in each conference will qualify for the postseason. That means only the No. 1 seed in each conference would get a bye.

In past years when each conference had six playoff teams, the top two seeds earned byes.

The NFL has discussed the possibility of upping the playoff field to eight teams per conference. If that happens, there wouldn’t be any byes.

For now, though, the Packers sit in the NFC’s top spot and would have the first playoff weekend off.

“Getting warmer weather or dome teams up here in December and January has always been, I feel like a good advantage for us,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Sunday afternoon. “We’ve thrown the ball well in bad weather, we’ve won big games in the bad weather.

“You know, I think it does even some things out because it is, everything just kind of moves a little bit slower, but getting a home game in January, with or without fans, hopefully will definitely be an advantage for us.

Here’s how the race between the Packers and Saints shapes up over the next seven weeks.

Green Bay (7-2)

Home games (4): Chicago, Philadelphia, Carolina, Tennessee

Road games (3): Indianapolis, Detroit, Chicago

Opponent’s combined record: 32-31-1

Opponent’s winning percentage: .508

Analysis: Green Bay still has four of seven games at home, but the Packers haven’t played particularly well there.

“The big concern for me is it just seems to be more in our home games than when we’re on the road,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I get it: It’s a strange year. Certainly, we’re used to having fans to help bring that energy to our football team and we don’t have that right now, unfortunately. That’s the situation and it is what it is. We’ve got to do a better job of supplying that juice internally.”

Despite Green Bay’s lackluster home performances, few teams want to come to Lambeau in January. So if the Packers can continue to navigate a manageable schedule, they’ll be a tough out this postseason.

New Orleans (7-2)

Home games (3): Atlanta, Kansas City, Minnesota

Road games (4): Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Carolina

Opponent’s combined record: 26-36-1

Opponent’s winning percentage: .421

Analysis: The Saints have won six games in a row and have one of the easier remaining schedules in the league.

Green Bay’s head-to-head win over New Orleans looms incredibly large, though, and the Saints will have to pass the Packers to win a two-team tiebreaker.