Facing an injury-plagued San Francisco 49ers team that was without the services of Brock Purdy, Trent Williams, Nick Bosa, and several others, the Green Bay Packers took full advantage and steamrolled their longtime rivals to take an easy 38-10 victory on Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon.
Josh Jacobs was the highlight of the day for the Green Bay offense, rushing for 106 yards and tying a career-high with three touchdowns. Prior to Sunday, the Niners hadn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in their last 55 regular-season games, the longest streak in the NFL since 1955.
Jordan Love didn't play his best but still threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, however, this was his first game of the year in which he didn't throw an interception.
The Packers' defense was rock solid, allowing just 241 total yards and forcing three turnovers, all of which led to touchdowns.
The 28-point margin of victory is the largest ever for Green Bay over San Francisco.
Despite the win, however, the Packers failed to gain any ground in the NFC North, remaining in third place as both the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings earned Week 12 victories as well.
The Lions won their ninth straight and improved to 10-1 with a 24-6 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, thus maintaining the top spot in the division and the overall NFC standings.
The Vikings, meanwhile, survived a late scare from the Chicago Bears to take a 30-27 overtime win, their fourth straight, improving to 9-2 and maintaining second place in the division and the No. 5 spot in the NFC playoff picture.
Let's have a look at where Green Bay stands in the grand scheme of things heading into its Thanksgiving night matchup with the Miami Dolphins.
Updated NFC playoff picture and standings heading into Week 13
Here's what the NFC side of the postseason bracket would look like if the playoffs started tomorrow.
- Detroit Lions (10-1, 1st NFC North)
- Philadelphia Eagles (9-2, 1st NFC East)
- Seattle Seahawks (6-5, 1st NFC West)
- Atlanta Falcons (6-5, 1st NFC South)
- Minnesota Vikings (9-2, 2nd NFC North)
- Green Bay Packers (8-3, 3rd NFC North)
- Washington Commanders (7-5, 2nd NFC East)
As they were coming into their matchup with San Francisco, the Packers sit comfortably in the No. 6 slot.
What has changed is their lead over the Washington Commanders, who took their third straight loss on Sunday and dropped to 7-5 with a 34-26 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys. So, that puts the Packers up two games in the loss column over Washington with six weeks remaining.
Furthermore, Green Bay is two full games ahead of the first team currently on the outside looking in, that being the Arizona Cardinals (No. 8, 6-5), and three full games ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 9, 5-6), Los Angeles Rams (No. 10, 5-6), and 49ers (No. 11, 5-6).
The New Orleans Saints (No. 12, 4-7), Bears (No. 13, 4-7), and Cowboys (No. 14, 4-7) still have outside shots but would need a lot of things to go wrong with the teams above them to get it.
So, it's getting to a point of not if the Packers will make the playoffs but where they'll be seeded come January.