Packers: Five teams to root for in Week 15 as playoffs near

4. Atlanta Falcons (at 49ers)

This would be perhaps the biggest upset of all. While the Atlanta Falcons have won three of their past five games, the San Francisco 49ers are the stronger team here by a mile. The 49ers picked up a huge victory on the road against the New Orleans Saints last week, but they’ll need to keep their foot on the gas to maintain their advantage in the NFC West. One slip up would open the door for the Seahawks to move back into first place.

If the Packers are to have any chance of finishing with the top seed in the NFC, the 49ers will need to lose. San Francisco is already a game ahead of Green Bay and has the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage. With the 49ers’ last game of the season coming against the Seahawks, it further complicates the race for the top seed.

A surprise Falcons win could open up the competition at the top of the NFC. The Packers would still need to win out, but a 49ers loss would increase the Packers’ chances of a first-round bye.

According to FiveThirtyEight’s NFL predictor, if Green Bay beats Chicago and San Francisco loses to Atlanta, the Packers’ probability of earning a first-round bye would improve from 37 percent to 53 percent. Sounds good to me.

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