Packers Clinch But Looking for More

The Green Bay Packers remain in control of the No. 2 seed headed into a huge challenge next Monday night at Minnesota

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are back in the playoffs.

Green Bay’s 21-13 victory over the Chicago Bears, coupled with the Los Angeles Rams’ being crushed 44-21 at the Dallas Cowboys, officially punched the Packers’ ticket to their first postseason since reaching the NFC Championship Game in 2016. Meanwhile, Atlanta’s stunning upset win at San Francisco has created chaos in the NFC.

As for the Packers (11-3), they won their third consecutive game. None of them have been pretty, with Green Bay surviving a series of laterals on the final play vs. Chicago, but they all look the same in the standings.

“We somehow find a way, and I think that’s a credit to our players and their belief that we will find a way,” first-year coach Matt LaFleur said. “You always look back and want more.”

Wanting more goes for on the field and in the standings. The Packers will play at Minnesota (10-4) on Monday night for a chance to clinch the NFC North Division and stay in position to grab a first-round bye and divisional-round home bye. Even with a loss to the Vikings, who smashed the Chargers on Sunday, the Packers would win the North by winning at Detroit (3-10-1) in Week 17.

“I think it would mean a lot to our football team and this organization [to qualify for the playoffs], but our goal is to win the North and right now that’s still out in front of us,” LaFleur said. “We know we are going to go into a pretty hostile environment next week in Minnesota. That is a tough place to go play against a really good football team, one of the top teams in the National Football League. They are good in all three phrases. So, we’ve got a really tough challenge in front of us. We’re going to have to get to work to make sure our process is on point in order to go up there and try to get a victory.”

San Francisco was in control of the NFC race until being stunned on a final-play touchdown by visiting Atlanta. With that, Seattle, San Francisco and Green Bay are 11-3 and New Orleans has a chance to get to 11-3 when it hosts slumping Indianapolis on Monday.

At worst, if it wins out, Green Bay would be the No. 2 seed. The NFC West leader and the Packers are the front-runners for the first-round byes. New Orleans, with three conference losses compared to two for the other teams, would fall to No. 3. The second-place team in the NFC West would be a wild card.

“It’s kind of like setting up dominoes,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We’re setting a few of them up and we’d like to knock them all down at one point, but it’s one domino at a time. The first one obviously is making the playoffs, and winning the North, and then some other ones to be laid after that.”

The next domino is Minnesota. The Packers have not won in three trips to U.S. Bank Stadium, and the Vikings are 6-0 at home this season. Five of those wins have come by 10-plus points.

“All I know is if we win out, we’ll get a two seed,” right tackle Bryan Bulaga said. “If we take care of our business, that’s where it’s going to be. That’s about as easy as it gets. I don’t think you like relying on other people, other things to happen in this league. You want to have it in your own hands and, at this point, we do. If we take care of business, we’ll put ourselves in a nice position.”