How the Packers can clinch a playoff spot in Week 15

The Green Bay Packers haven’t played in the postseason since the 2016 season. They can clinch a spot in the playoffs this Sunday.

It’s been a while since the Green Bay Packers have been a part of meaningful games in December. They haven’t been a team in contention for a playoff spot since the 2016 season when they went 10-6 and won the NFC North.

Currently sitting at 10-3, it’s going to take more than 10 wins to win the division this year. The Minnesota Vikings are right on the Packers’ tail, sitting essentially a game-and-a-half behind for the time being. Even if the Packers lose to the Vikings next week and the two teams have the same record, the Packers will still own the tiebreaker over Minnesota.

But before we focus on winning the division, the Packers have an opportunity to clinch a spot in the playoffs this week.

Green Bay will clinch a playoff berth if:

The Packers win at home vs. the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams lose to or tie the Dallas Cowboys.

It’s as simple as that, except it really isn’t that simple. The two teams the Packers would like to lose this week are both red-hot teams. The Rams look like they remembered they are a good team again, coming off an absolute drubbing of the Seahawks on Sunday night. Jared Goff looks like he is figuring things out again while Sean McVay is back to being Sean McVay.

The Bears defense has been good all season, even without defensive lineman Akiem Hicks for most of the year. He will likely be returning against the Packers this week (of course), making life for the Packers’ offensive line a lot harder.

Probably the most surprising thing about the Bears is how Mitchell Trubisky has turned around his play. He’s looked terrible for most of the season, and all of a sudden, he’s playing well. He’s completed 75 percent of his passes with six touchdowns in the last two games. Granted, he was playing Detroit and Dallas, but that’s better than he’s fared against other comparable teams earlier in the season.

Chicago and Green Bay will play at noon CT on Sunday and then the Dallas will take on Los Angeles at 3:25 on FOX. According to the broadcast map on 506sports.com, Packer fans should be able to watch the Cowboys-Rams game.

So this week, we are all Dallas Cowboys fans, as gross as it is to say.