There is no such thing as an "ideal" matchup in the NFL postseason. Almost everyone who makes it to the dance deserves to be there, although the NFC South in recent years may be a bit of an exception. The Green Bay Packers are limping into the postseason a little bit, but they have one advantage: They know exactly what seed they're going to be.
The Packers are locked into the No. 7 seed and only have two potential Wild Card opponents at this point. They will either play against the Bears in Chicago (again) or they'll go on the road to take on the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Considering how the Packers have played lately, neither of those matchups feels overly ideal. However, for all of the possibilities that existed going into Week 17, those two teams might actually give the Packers the best shot at a Wild Card Round upset.
Packers' Wild Card matchup will either be against the Bears or the Eagles
The NFC is absolutely loaded this year, more than anyone could have really expected going into the season. The NFC West itself is a gauntlet of title contenders, and then you have the reigning Super Bowl champs, the upstart Bears, and whoever wins the NFC South. It's not going to be easy for the Packers to make it to Santa Clara, but the focus right now is on that first matchup.
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If the Bears beat the Detroit Lions in Week 18, the Packers will travel to Chicago for the Wild Card Round. Simple as that. If the Bears lose, and the Eagles beat the Washington Commanders (as expected), the Packers will travel to Philadelphia.
Why do these two matchups, in particular, play into the Packers' favor?
Let's start with the Bears. The Packers have played the Bears twice this season, and they've played them twice recently. Both of those games came down to the wire, and the second matchup even came down to the Bears needing a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Malik Willis-led Packers.
With Jordan Love on the field, those two teams are more evenly matched, even without Micah Parsons getting after Caleb Williams. The Bears can run the ball well, and the Packers just gave up 300-plus yards on the ground to the Baltimore Ravens. That's problematic, especially playing in Chicago, but a rubber match against a division rival is a favorable possible draw for the Packers in the opening round.
The Eagles are also not a bad potential draw for Green Bay. As much as you have to respect the Eagles for being the reigning Super Bowl champions, that team is playing about as poorly on offense as any playoff team in the NFL right now. They had negative passing yardage (a sack) in the second half of their recent win against the Buffalo Bills.
The Eagles are capable of winning those ugly defensive battles, as they did at Lambeau Field this season, but if it's a low-scoring game, you can't help but like the Packers' chances with Josh Jacobs and Jordan Love.
No matter what, it's going to be tough for Green Bay to go on a run. But with a healthy Jordan Love, they could play the role of Wild Card spoiler with two matchups that may mitigate their current areas of weakness.