Indirect Effect on the Green Bay Packers: New Orleans Saints @ Detroit Lions

Oct 12, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Detroit Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah (94) celebrates his sack against the Minnesota Vikings with defensive tackle Caraun Reid (97) in the fourth quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. The Lions win 17-3. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

As I am sure you are aware that every week there is more going on than just games involving the Green Bay Packers.

In many cases those games either directly or indirectly have an impact on how the results break in favor of or against Green Bay at the end of the season; the further into the season we get, the more important and impactful these games become.

I bring this up because a matchup this week, though it is still decently early in the season, could have a major impact on if the Packers make the playoffs and their potential seeding: New Orleans @ Detroit.

These two teams are ones that are in legitimate contention for two of the six playoff seeds in the NFC, so the result bears watching, especially since Green Bay still plays both teams yet this season.

At 4-2, Detroit is currently the division leader in the NFC North by of their Week 3 win over Green Bay, while New Orleans is struggling at 2-3 but not far behind Carolina in a surprisingly weakened NFC South.

Now obviously, Detroit is a more direct threat; they have that win against the Packers already and still play another game against them.

Plus, competing for the division title and a top-four seed makes the competition with them ultimately more important. Having multiple viable options beyond Calvin Johnson (Golden Tate and Reggie Bush, in particular) and a ferocious defense that has been strong on all levels – and downright petrifying on the D-Line especially – has made them a rough matchup for anybody.

Add in the infusion of discipline by Head Coach Jim Caldwell and they are finally harnessing the talent that has made them pretty dangerous over the past few years and turned into a beast of a team.

Oct 5, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) walks off the field after their 37-31 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Do not discount the importance of keeping an eye on New Orleans.

While they are struggling so far they do have Drew Brees and Sean Payton running that offense, so it would be foolish to expect them to not threaten to put up points in bunches.

Defense has been the main downfall; after being a highly-ranked menace last year, they haven’t done nearly enough to prevent other team from scoring at-will.

They have truly played so bad that it almost HAS to get better. They definitely come into play much more as a threat for a wild-card spot at this point, but if they recover and start playing more up to expectations this could still be a team competing for higher seeding in the playoffs.

So the question here is … as a Packers fan, who should you want to win this matchup?

A win by either team will have indirect consequences on the result of the Green Bay’s season, but which should Packers fans be more wary of?

We break down the potential implications of a win by either side … turn the page.