Packers are in prime position with postseason near
By Parker Moes
The Green Bay Packers defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12 at Lambeau Field by a score of 36-28. Despite the closeness of the final score, it wasn’t indicative of how the game played out on the field as the Packers dominated for a majority of it.
The defense came up huge, forcing three total turnovers including two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Yet another week without three of their All-Pro-caliber players in Jaire Alexander, David Bakhtiari, and Za’Darius Smith, who are all currently missing time due to injury.
Despite the injury bug though, once again the team rallied and defeated a very tough Rams team to improve to 9-3 overall and keep themselves right on the heels of the top seed in the NFC.
Speaking of, the NFC-leading Arizona Cardinals traveled to Chicago in Week 13 to take on the Bears and handled them with relative ease as their defense overwhelmed Andy Dalton, intercepting him four times, once being a pick-six.
They would end up winning by a final score of 33-22. With five weeks remaining, the Cardinals see three of their final five games facing playoff-caliber competition (Rams, Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts). In order for them to keep that one-seed, first-round bye, and home-field advantage, they’ll need to vanquish all three teams, which is no small task.
Green Bay, meanwhile, had a bye in Week 13, which couldn’t have come at a better time with the remaining slate of games on their schedule. Three of their final five games see them face NFC North competition (Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions).
Speaking of the NFC North, the Packers, with a win on Sunday night vs. Chicago coupled with a loss by Minnesota on Thursday night would secure the NFC North, which would be their third straight division title since 2019 and their 12th overall since 2002 (when the division was renamed to the NFC North).
These last five games will be crucial for them to win in order to keep pace in the NFC.
It’s going to be an uphill battle for Green Bay but with likely reinforcements on the way for them in the coming weeks, the final stretch of games may just become a bit easier to conquer. As it stands now, the Packers at 9-3 are second in the NFC behind the 10-2 Cardinals. We’ll see how things shake out in the final five weeks of the season but as of now, things are looking pretty good for Green Bay as it relates to making deep postseason run.