Indirect effect on Green Bay Packers playoff hopes: Week 13
By Kenn Korb
Nov 23, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles fans watch game against the Tennessee Titans at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles defeated the Titans, 43-24. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
As the season reaches it’s final handful of weeks every year, we see the playoff picture become muddled; yet, if you look closely, the possibilities become more clear.
This year is no different. We can see the main group of teams that look likely to grab one of the coveted six seeds in each conference, but exactly where they will end up usually stays indeterminable right up until the final week.
In terms of what I try to do with this article, things definitely clear up significantly. By now, we know who those teams will be competing for seeding with Green Bay; all that’s left is to see who will end up in those spots.
Though it is one of the most anticipated matchups of the season, Green Bay’s game against New England actually doesn’t have that big of an impact on its playoff chances; according to fivethirtyeight.com, it only has a potential 5.3% swing on the odds (-3.3% if NE wins/+2.0 if GB wins). Even in terms of the division, the CHI/DET game matters more (12.3% compared to 11.5%).
When it comes to this week there are two non-Packers matchups that can have a decent effect on Green Bay’s playoff chances, and they both occur on Thursday.
First is the afternoon game between Philadelphia and Dallas, pitting the two NFC East heavyweights against each other in a game that could decide the division.
The second is a lovely Thursday Night matchup of Seattle and San Francisco, both fighting for playoff spots and holding out hope of overtaking the top spot in the NFC West in the coming weeks.
I’ll only really break down one of them this week, but it is a close decision. Let’s figure this out…