With a dominant 34-0 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night, which marks the first shutout in the NFL this season, the Green Bay Packers improved to have officially punched their ticket to the postseason for the second straight year.
And with the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings having already clinched their respective berths, this is the first time the NFC North will send three teams to the playoffs since division realignment took place ahead of the 2002 campaign.
Unfortunately for the Packers, with the Lions improving to 13-2 with an easy 34-17 win over the Chicago Bears during the early window of games on Sunday and the Vikings also upping their record to 13-2 with a 27-24 come-from-behind victory over the Seattle Seahawks, they no longer have a chance to win the NFC North, which would have taken a minor miracle anyway.
So, Matt LaFleur & Co. now know they'll be hitting the road to open the playoffs, but exactly where they'll go is yet to be determined, as the Packers, who currently own the No. 6 seed, can still bump up to the No. 5 slot in the NFC as long as they win out and the Vikings lose out. Green Bay and Minnesota, of course, will square off this Sunday.
It's impossible for the Packers to win any tiebreaker with the Lions, as Detroit swept the season series.
Let's have a look at where things stand heading into Week 17.
Updated NFC playoff picture and standings heading into Week 17
If the NFL Playoffs were starting tomorrow, here's what the NFC side of the bracket would look like.
- Detroit Lions (13-2, 1st NFC North)
- Philadelphia Eagles (12-3, 1st NFC East)
- Los Angeles Rams (9-6, 1st NFC West)
- Atlanta Falcons (8-7, 1st NFC South)
- Minnesota Vikings (13-2, 2nd NFC North)
- Green Bay Packers (11-4, 3rd NFC North)
- Washington Commanders (10-5, 2nd NFC East)
While the Packers can still jump into the No. 5 slot, they could also still fall into the No. 7 spot. While they hold a one-game lead on the Washington Commanders, they have to avoid falling into a tie with Dan Quinn's crew, as Green Bay would lose a tiebreaker based on the two teams' records within the conference.
While the Packers close the season against the Vikings and Bears, the Commanders close things out against the Falcons and Cowboys. As long as Green Bay at least matches what Washington does over the final two weeks, they're in good shape.
If the Packers remain in the No. 6 slot the rest of the way, it seems most likely that they'd visit the third-seeded Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round, which would be their second visit to SoFi Stadium this season, as they already knocked off the NFC West leaders back in Week 5 by a score of 24-19.