Packers crowned NFC North champions with win over Ravens

For the third straight season, the Green Bay Packers are NFC North champions.

Matt LaFleur’s team have far higher ambitions in the coming weeks and months, but this is the perfect start. It means that no matter what happens between now and January, the Packers will host at least one playoff game at Lambeau Field.

Green Bay needed just one more victory or one Minnesota Vikings defeat to seal the NFC North title. Now we won’t need to wait for the Vikings’ game with the Chicago Bears on Monday night. The Packers got the job done themselves with a win over the Baltimore Ravens.

NFC North standings

1. Green Bay (11-3)
2. Minnesota (6-7)
3. Chicago (4-9)
4. Detroit (2-11-1)

They may have only just sealed the division title, but we all knew who was winning the NFC North weeks ago. The division hasn’t been all that competitive the past two years. Gone are the days of the Packers competing for the division title on the final day of the season.

Job number one on the to-do list is complete.

The division title and home playoff game — check.

Next up is to try to win the NFC’s top seed. The Packers are currently in pole position and got some help from the Detroit Lions on Sunday, who upset the Arizona Cardinals.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night. A Saints win would put the Packers in a strong position with three weeks to go.

LaFleur and his team know that three more victories will be enough to secure home-field advantage in the postseason.

We move to Christmas Day and a home game with the Cleveland Browns.