Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) greets fans after a preseason NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 19-15. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
The Green Bay Packers were 2-5 at one point this season and appeared to be on a downward spiral. Green Bay dominated their archrival Chicago Bears, with Jordan Love throwing three touchdown passes and the offense rolling.
However, many people’s optimism was short-lived. Aaron Jones suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out for a few weeks, and the Packers lost their Week Two game against the Atlanta Falcons despite leading for the majority of the game.
Green Bay was held scoreless for three quarters in their home opener in Week Three before Love and the offense scored 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for the largest fourth-quarter comeback in team history. The Packers then went on a four-game losing streak, losing to the Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos, and Minnesota Vikings.
Aside from the loss to Detroit, Green Bay was in every game despite failing to score a touchdown in any of them in the first half. Green Bay has only lost two of their six games this season by more than one score.
Now 5-6, the Packers have won three of their last four games, the most recent being a convincing 29-22 victory over the Lions on Thanksgiving, which was not as close as the final score suggested. Best of all, they now have a legitimate shot at making the NFL Playoffs.
Where the Green Bay Packers Stand in the NFL Playoff Race
As difficult as it may be to believe, the Packers are only one game out of the final NFC playoff spot. Furthermore, they have a tiebreaker advantage over many of the other teams in the race:
As shown in the graph above, the Packers have identical records to the Saints and Los Angeles Rams, both of whom they have already defeated this season. This means that if Green Bay finishes with the same record as either of those two teams, they will have the tiebreaker.
The Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, and Dallas Cowboys are all ahead of the Packers in the race for the NFL playoffs. Both Minnesota and Seattle are 6-5, with the Vikings facing the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
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Green Bay will play the Vikings one more time this season, in Week 17 in Minnesota.
Green Bay’s opponents for the remainder of the season are as follows:
at Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Giants vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers vs. Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears
The bad news is that all of these games can be won. The Packers’ next six opponents have a combined winning percentage of..508. This is the second-highest winning opponent winning percentage among the teams competing for the sixth and seventh NFC playoff spots. The Rams have the toughest strength of schedule, with opponents averaging.528.
Green Bay has +118 odds of making the playoffs, or a 45.9% chance, according to FanDuel.
They are +6.5 underdogs at home against the Chiefs next week.
