NFC Playoffs Are Set; Packers Need to Play Better

DETROIT – The NFC playoff field is set, with the teams that battled in last year’s NFC Championship Game owning the top two seeds.

The Green Bay Packers locked up the No. 1 seed last week, so their 37-30 loss at the Detroit Lions was inconsequential. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved into the No. 2 by virtue of their victory over Carolina and the Los Angeles Rams’ upset loss against San Francisco.

Here are the NFC’s wild-card matchups, with the full schedule likely to be released by the NFL later Sunday.

No. 1 Green Bay (13-4): Bye.

No. 7 Philadelphia (9-8) at No. 2 Tampa Bay (13-4), noon Sunday (Fox).

No. 6 San Francisco (10-7) at No. 3 Dallas (12-5), 3:30 p.m. Sunday (CBS).

No. 5 Arizona (11-6) at No. 4 L.A. Rams (12-5), 7:15 p.m. Monday (ESPN/ABC).

Packers coach Matt LaFleur played most of his top players on Sunday with an eye on keeping momentum and staying healthy. Afterward, he wasn’t prepared to say whether that was mission accomplished.

“I might have a better perspective tomorrow,” LaFleur said. “Right now, I think we’re all competitors and we don’t like losing. When you lose, you’re pissed off. You know? I am happy in the fact that we got out fairly healthy.”

Generally speaking, the No. 1 offense played one half. In four possessions (not including the take-a-knee to end the half), Green Bay scored two touchdowns but also wasted a possession that started at the Lions’ 35.

Aaron Rodgers had a typical Rodgers game. He completed 14-of-18 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, good for a passer rating of 135.6. It was his seventh consecutive game of two-plus touchdowns and zero interceptions, the second-longest streak in NFL history. After throwing two interceptions in Week 1 against New Orleans, Rodgers threw 37 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He joined a short list of quarterbacks to lead the NFL in passer rating, completion percentage and touchdown percentage in a season.

“We already locked up the 1 seed,” Rodgers said. “The win obviously would be nice, but the most important thing was to get out there. We talked about momentum, and that was important, but I really wanted to get out there with Dave (Bakhtiari) and Josh (Myers). That was my main focus. Obviously, wanted to get Davante his record, but get some rhythm within the offense, get some rhythm with those two guys especially.”

Generally speaking, the No. 1 defense played three quarters or, in some cases, more. Green Bay entered the game ranked eighth in points allowed but got routed. The Lions had 404 yards and set their season high in points. Two trick plays resulted in touchdowns of 75 and 36 yards and really ticked off LaFleur. It wasn’t just those plays, though. The Lions had nine plays of 15-plus yards, a list that doesn’t include D’Andre Swift’s 14-yard touchdown that put them ahead for good.

“Defense, football in general, comes down to discipline and people owning their roles,” LaFleur said. “And when you aren’t disciplined or you go outside the scheme, bad stuff happens. We cannot have that. We need all 11 doing their damn job. And if they don’t, stuff like that happens.”

The Packers should be at mostly full strength for the playoffs. Offensively, Bakhtiari made his debut and Myers returned. After the bye, receiver Randall Cobb (core) and running back Aaron Jones (knee) should be full-go. Defensively, cornerback Jaire Alexander (shoulder) should return from a 13-game absence and linebacker De’Vondre Campbell (elbow) will be back after being inactive on Sunday.

And they’ll be home, where they were the only team to go undefeated this season.

“No matter who’s out there, the expectations don’t change. We’re about winning with the Green Bay Packers,” LaFleur said. “We’ll never just celebrate the effort. We’ve got to win, and we’ll never accept losing. That’s just the mindset, the mentality. I think our team has done a great job of, in previous losses, of bouncing back from them and that’s what I expect from our guys.”