The Green Bay Packers need to send a belated Christmas card to Aaron Rodgers, and another to the Minnesota Vikings, of all teams, for helping them clinch a playoff berth over the past six days. Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends.
With an embarrassing 41-24 loss at home to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night, the Packers can no longer win the NFC North. They are locked into the No. 7 seed in the NFC for the third season in a row.
The Packers already faced an uphill battle to keep their Super Bowl dreams alive. Now, they must overcome a daunting run of three straight road games in the postseason, something they've failed at on the past two attempts.
Packers must run the gauntlet to make their championship dreams come true
Here is the updated NFC playoff picture after the loss on Saturday:
- Seattle Seahawks (12-3)
- Chicago Bears (11-4)
- Philadelphia Eagles (10-5)
- Carolina Panthers (8-7)
- San Francisco 49ers (11-4)
- Los Angeles Rams (11-4)
- Green Bay Packers (9-5-1)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8)
The Packers are in, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can only reach the playoffs by winning the NFC South. However, Green Bay now faces a nightmare.
Matt LaFleur's team has lost three in a row and will play a meaningless game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. That means we likely won't see Jordan Love until the playoffs, giving him the best part of three games without any action.
It's fine to enter the postseason as a wild-card – the Packers won a Super Bowl via this route. But you need to get hot at the right time. Green Bay is ice cold after consecutive defeats to the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, and now the Ravens.
Once the playoffs begin, the Packers must somehow win three straight away from Lambeau, likely starting at Soldier Field against the Bears. A road game in Seattle? Philadelphia? San Francisco? It won't get any easier.
The Detroit Lions' collapse opened the door for the Packers to take control of the NFC North this season. They failed.
Everything looked fine when they held a nine-point lead with the ball in Denver. But then Micah Parsons tore his ACL, and the Packers lost. Everything looked fine when they held a seven-point lead at the two-minute warning in Chicago. But then they botched an onside kick recovery, and the Packers lost.
Nothing felt fine on Saturday night. The Packers, particularly on defense, looked like a team ready for their offseason vacation, not a playoff run.
They now stare at a nightmare.