After suffering a crushing 27-25 defeat to the Minnesota Vikings, the Green Bay Packers might fall to the seventh seed in the NFC. Green Bay now sits at 11-5 on the season with just one game remaining. Next week, they’ll play host to the Chicago Bears. With a 1-4 record in their division, the Packers still have the postseason ahead of them. Packers fans, do not give up on this team.
Don’t Give Up On The Green Bay Packers
NFC North Struggles
The NFC North is no joke, and it all comes down to one game next week. The 14-2 Minnesota Vikings head to Detroit, who currently sits at 13-2. With a Monday night football showdown against the struggling San Francisco 49ers, it’s safe to say both the Vikings and Lions will be 14-2 come next Sunday night. The league announced this NFC North battle will headline Sunday Night Football. Even with a Lions loss to the 49ers, the outcome is the same. Whichever team wins in Week 18 will be the number one seed in the NFC while the other team falls to the five seed. This division has played extremely well this season, and it is absolutely insane to think a 14-3 team will not have a home playoff game.
Back on September 29, Green Bay opened up division play with a two-point loss to Minnesota. They later lost by 10 to Detroit, before securing their first win thanks to a last-second blocked field goal against Chicago. Sitting at 1-2, round two against Minnesota and Detroit didn’t go much better. The Packers lost by three to Detroit, and two to the Vikings this time around. All four of their NFC North losses have been by a combined 17 points. Add in the five-point loss to Philadelphia in Week 1 to put the Packers’ five losses at just 22 points.
Playing From Behind
No matter how good a team is, no one wants to play from behind. Green Bay’s early field goal had them beating Minnesota 3-0 for their first lead in the series this season, but it didn’t last long. The Vikings put up 13 points in the second quarter, followed by another 14 in the third to lead 27-10 going into the fourth. Jordan Love had a less-than-stellar performance, but he showed up towards the end when he needed to. Josh Jacobs had a costly fumble, the Packers receivers had a few huge drops, but most importantly, the defense did not step up. Sam Darnold was not out here throwing bombs to end the game, it was the simple passing plays to running backs that killed the Packers’ hopes of a higher playoff seed.
There are two key moments from the Vikings game that will be talked about ad nauseam for the next week. The first, and most obvious, is the offsides call against Green Bay. Matt LaFleur was quick to argue the penalty, as those three points proved to be the difference. The field goal was originally no good, but those extra five yards were all it took to go in.
Many are looking at the offsides call as the difference maker, but LaFleur went for it on 4th and 2 at the Vikings 23-yard line. This fourth down attempt resulted in a drop, but looking back now it is the easy decision to take the three points. There is nothing wrong with being aggressive, this was just a huge play to look back at as there could’ve been three points on the board.
The Road Ahead
No matter what, Green Bay is still in the playoffs. It seems hard for Packers fans to get their hopes up as they continually lose to really good teams. A rematch with Philadelphia in the playoffs seems likely, all depending on the Commanders. Washington controls their fate, so by winning out they will move Green Bay down to the seven seed. All of the Packers starters will likely play next week (if they’re healthy), as a win over Chicago means more than just the rivalry. Every game from here on out is a must-win, and it starts next week as the Packers look to get back on track.
Main Image: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
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