It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Green Bay Packers.
In Week 15, of course, just seven days after taking over first place in the NFC North with a 28-21 win over the Chicago Bears, the Packers not only saw their four-game winning streak come to an end in a 34-26 defeat to the Denver Broncos, a loss that ultimately knocked them out of the division lead, but they also lost Micah Parsons for the season to a torn ACL.
Then, in a rematch with the Bears at Soldier Field last Sunday, Green Bay not only blew a 10-point lead in the final five minutes of regulation en route to taking a 22-16 loss in overtime, but quarterback Jordan Love was also lost to a concussion.
Thankfully for the Packers, however, with the Detroit Lions losing last Sunday to Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers and then losing again on Christmas Day to the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay has officially clinched a postseason berth for the third consecutive year. So, that's obviously a load off heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
Now, despite these back-to-back losses, the Packers can still win the NFC North if they win their final two games against the Baltimore Ravens and the Vikings, and the Bears lose their final two to the San Francisco 49ers and the Lions.
For Green Bay to take care of its own business, at least one of those wins will have to be without Love, who's been officially ruled out of Saturday's matchup with Baltimore, as he's yet to clear concussion protocol. But this is still a winnable game, so let's have a quick look at that one and then get into the regular-season finale against Minnesota.
Game-by-game picks for the Packers over the final two weeks of the regular season
Week 17 vs. Baltimore Ravens
As mentioned, the Packers will be without Love for this primetime matchup, which will give Malik Willis his first start of the season.
But the Ravens are in a similar position, as two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is likely to sit out as well after suffering a back injury last Sunday night in a loss to the New England Patriots. As such, the Green Bay defense will instead have to deal with Tyler Huntley, who's completed 76.6 percent of his passes for 319 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in four appearances this season.
But Willis has also played well when stepping in for Love this season. The issue with Willis, however, is that he's not at 100 percent after suffering a shoulder injury against the Bears last Sunday. So, it'll be interesting to see if Green Bay goes with a more ground-oriented attack. And the same can obviously be said for Baltimore.
The Ravens are in a must-win situation here, as a loss eliminates them from playoff contention. But while it might be a close game, we're calling for the Packers to return the favor to Rodgers by besting Baltimore in this one.
Prediction: Packers win 21-17 (10-5-1)
Week 18 at Minnesota Vikings
It'll be interesting to see where things stand when Week 18 rolls around, but we do genuinely believe the Packers will still be in the NFC North race, as we're calling for the 49ers to best the Bears on Sunday night.
One would assume Love will be back in action with another week to clear protocol, but he would have to face a Vikings defense that just forced Detroit into six turnovers this past Thursday afternoon. But one wouldn't think Brian Flores' unit could pull that off two games in a row.
Despite the stellar defensive effort, the Minnesota offense struggled to move the football with backup quarterback Max Brosmer, who, one would think, would get a second straight start, as the Vikings have no reason to bring back J.J. McCarthy and his broken hand for one meaningless game.
As such, we're calling for the Packers to win this one as well. And just to give Cheeseheads a little hope, we'll go ahead and predict the Lions to upset the Bears that same day, thus giving Green Bay the NFC North.
Prediction: Packers win 24-10 (11-5-1)