Can the Packers still get the No. 2 seed in NFC?
By John Buhler
Teams like the New Orleans Saints and the San Francisco 49ers have gotten off to hot starts. Can the Green Bay Packers still get the No. 2 seed in the NFC?
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The Green Bay Packers survived a scare at home on Monday Night Football versus the division rival Detroit Lions. Though it hasn’t been pretty, the Packers have found a way to achieve a 5-1 record through six games. That being said, can they get a top-two seed in the NFC playing in the same conference as the undefeated San Francisco 49ers and the one-loss New Orleans Saints?
On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, discuss if the Packers have what it takes to get a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs going against teams like the 49ers and Saints for pole position (57:25).
“I’ll take the Saints and I’ll take the Packers,” said Verderame. “And that is not a knock on the 49ers, who I think are really good, who proved themselves in L.A. They beat the tar out of the Rams…The reason I’m out on [the 49ers] is the NFC West is a very, very tough division.”
“The Packers, they already won in Chicago, they already beat Minnesota. They were gifted a win in some respects to Detroit, but they won the game. They’re 3-0 in the division already.”
Verderame is right in by having a 3-0 record in NFC North play at this point of the season, that’s huge for the Packers not only winning the division but having a first-round bye and possibly home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. The Saints look to be the superior team in the NFC South, so they may get home-field advantage, but the Packers are very much in the mix for No. 2.
Another thing that really helps the Packers is that we haven’t seen them play a game of completely dominant football up to this point. The 49ers are humming defensively and have Jimmy Garoppolo running Kyle Shanahan’s offensive marvelously. The Saints are still winning games with Teddy Bridgewater in there for the injured Drew Brees.
But as for the Packers, the defense has largely been the story. Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine is coaching well enough that he may end up getting a second head-coaching opportunity in a year or so after the debacle with the 2014-15 Cleveland Browns. Once Aaron Rodgers and new head coach Matt LaFleur get this offense cooking, Green Bay could be the best team in the NFC.
Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:
- Chiefs should trade Tyreek Hill for Patrick Peterson – 9:07
- Has Jason Garrett hijacked the Dallas Cowboys offense? – 11:12
- Here’s why the Los Angeles Rams are such a disaster this year – 15:22
- Did Kirk Cousins redeem himself? – 53:58
All this and more!
Green Bay Packers are a legit Super Bowl contender. dark. Next
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