Packers officially clinch playoff berth after Rams loss to Cowboys

Your 2019 Green Bay Packers are playoff-bound.

How good does that feel?

After two long seasons without January football to enjoy, the Green Bay Packers have made it back to the playoffs. Their victory over the Chicago Bears followed by the Los Angeles Rams’ loss to the Dallas Cowboys ensures the Packers will be playing in January this season.

A lot of analysts didn’t give the Packers a chance in August. How would they overcome the defending-champion Bears? Well, on Sunday they completed the season sweep over those same Bears while eliminating them from playoff contention.

We can talk about performances or “style points” all day long, but none of that matters in the standings. The only currency that counts is wins and losses. And the Packers have 11 with two games to play.

Now it’s about seeding. As things stand, the Packers are the No. 2 seed which would give them a week off in the wild-card round and home game in the divisional round. By winning their final two games, they’ll finish no worse than their current position.

The third seed is still a possibility should they lose a game but still win the NFC North. But the Packers can’t fall into the fourth seed as neither the Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles can finish any higher than that position.

But if the Packers don’t win the NFC North, they’ll likely take the sixth seed and have to play every playoff game on the road.

However, following the San Francisco 49ers’ surprise loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the top seed is still in play. Green Bay is currently tied with the Seattle Seahawks, but Seattle has the first seed due to a better record against common opponents.

It’s still unlikely, but possible. Green Bay would need to win its final two games, finishing with a 13-3 record. It would then need the NFC West champions — which could be determined in the Seahawks-49ers game in Week 17 — to lose in Week 16. That would give the Packers the best record in the conference.

The number one seed would be fantastic, making the playoffs go through Lambeau Field. A first-round bye would be great. Just a division title would be a huge success.

But at the very least, Green Bay will finish as a wild-card and return to the playoffs next month.