The Green Bay Packers closed last season in Phoenix with a game against the Arizona Cardinals. They went back to Arizona the following week for the wild card game.
The same scenario could play out again this year, only with the NFC North champion Chicago Bears taking the place of the Cardinals.
The Packers face the Bears this week with a playoff berth on the line. Win and the Packers clinch the No. 6 seed.
If that scenario plays out, it could also knock the Bears from the No. 2 seed in the NFC to the No. 3 seed and set up a third meeting between the division rivals.
In order for this to happen the Philadelphia Eagles would have to win their last two games, which is very doable. Philadelphia finishes with home games against Minnesota and Dallas.
If the Eagles lose either of those games, the Bears will clinch the No. 2 seed and if the Packers beat the Bears in week 17, Green Bay would travel to Philadelphia.
So, to boil it down, here’s what can happen.
Packers beat the Bears in week 17 and Philadelphia wins both of their remaining games against Minnesota and Dallas — Packers open the playoffs in Chicago.
Packers beat the Bears in week 17 and Philadelphia loses one of their remaining games — Packers open the playoffs in Philadelphia.
This, of course, assumes the Packers will beat the Bears in week 17. The Packers can still make the playoffs with a loss if both the New York Giants (at Washington) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at New Orleans) lose in week 17.
We don’t want to think about that scenario, though.
Penises and Vaginas
This scenario has been self-evident for the last two weeks- that the Packers will repeat what they did last season and face the same opponent in the first round of the playoffs as they did in the final week.
The Eagles have been the likely #2 seed all along, though the Bears have kept themselves in the mix by beating the Jets. The Bears will have to beat the Packers to secure that seed, which is a pretty tall task since the game means even more to the Packers than it does to the Bears. It is much easier to motivate players to play for the playoffs than to play for a bye. Do the Bears even want a bye? They have been playing their best football all year, and they are as healthy as could be hoped for at this point.
This is actually the ideal position for the Packers. By finishing as the 6th seed, they get to play the Bears in Chicago in the first round, a place where they know they can win. Then they would go to Atlanta, where they also know they can win. The Packers wouldn’t have to worry about facing the Eagles or the Saints until the NFC Championship game.
As the #3 seed, the Bears would have to play the Packers first, which is the last team they want to face. When you have the home field, you never want to play a division rival in the playoffs because familiarity mostly negates your home field advantage. The Packers have no problem facing the Bears in Soldier Field. If the Bears were to win that, they would have to travel to Philly to face the Eagles, then likely at Atlanta or New Orleans. This is the worst possible road to have to take.
If the Bears are made aware of this, they should try like hell to beat the Packers this weekend. However, as I said before, players can say they are motivated to play for a seed, but it isn’t near the motivator that the prospect of your season being over is.
But if the Saints lose out and the Packers win they can take the 5 seed and play the NFC West “champion” at home. That would be the best senario in my opinion.
I’m with you, Killa. I would much rather play the St. Louis Lams at home; I’ve only seen 2 NFL games in my life, both were the Pack VS. The Lams in St. Lou. More Green Bay fans there both times. St. Louis’ last game was blacked out due to poor fan support. PLUS..I live less than 2 hours from St. Louis….I’ll post directions to the tailgate if my scenario plays out!!!
Division winners always get a home game, dont they? Even if the they snag the 5 seed, they’d still have to travel to Seattle/St. Louis.
That was the whole controversy when the Chargers won their division at 8-8 in 2008. They hosted the opening round game against the 12-4 Colts because the Colts didnt win their division that year.
The Packers have faced the Bears in the playoffs only one time ever. Crazy.
They have? Who won? The packers probably? Haha.
Duh Bearse are fortunate to be where they are. We’ll see how it plays out, but they will have to face the harsh reality of the playoffs. That’s when the sugar coating melts off and that’s where we’ll see Cutler for who he really is. A-Rod is the true warrior and I’m sure any team would put him as thier front man in the post season. As for Jay Cutler, well a lot of ????
Yeah, a #5 seed gets you a trip to St. Louis, nice, but if you win that game you go to Philly, not nice.
Well the 5 seed is not going to happen anyways but if it would have we already beat Philly in Philly.
Philly is beatable but definitely the team I’d like to face least. None of that matters if we don’t take care of business this week. We need to put the wood to them early so they pull their starters out and concede. Bastards.