Despite losing to the no. 1 seed and NFC North-leading Detroit Lions last week, the Green Bay Packers are still 9-4 on the season and in prime position to lock up a playoff berth.
The Packers currently stand as the NFC's no. 6 seed, just ahead of the Washington Commanders (8-5) and right behind the Minnesota Vikings (11-2).
Week 15 could change things in a big way, though. Let's start with the worst-case scenario.
If the Packers were to lose to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football, that would drop them to 9-5. From there, if the Commanders were to have beaten the New Orleans Saints and improved to 9-5, then Green Bay would fall to the no. 7 and final seed in the NFC based on having a worse conference record.
With the L.A. Rams pushing from the no. 8 seed, the Packers might find themselves just one game ahead of those Rams after Week 15 if L.A. were to win as well. Now, on the flip side, Green Bay also has an opportunity to lock up a playoff spot this weekend. The possibilities stretch pretty wide in the matter of only one week.
Let's look at how the Packers make it happen. First and foremost, they'd need to defeat the Seahawks. Now, we'll already know the fate of another team involved by then, but the Packers would of course need a victory on Sunday night.
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After beating the Seahawks, though, the Packers would need the Atlanta Falcons to either lose or tie in their matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football. That's unlikely for multiple reasons. First, the Raiders are the worst team in football right now, but they'll also likely be starting third string quarterback Desmond Ridder in that one (revenge game?).
The Falcons' aspect of this isn't even the most absurd of all. The Packers would first need the Rams and 49ers to tie on Thursday Night Football.
Packers secure a playoff berth in Week 15 with:
Yes, you read that correctly. The Packers need Thursday's game to end in a tie if they want to secure a playoff berth this weekend. It would be the absolute perfect storm for it all to happen.
However, at this point, Packer fans can simply be hoping for the most likely and doable outcome where they beat the Seahawks on Sunday night and keep a hold on the no. 6 seed.