Here Are Latest NFC Playoff Standings After Packers Beat Bears

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers are in first place in the NFC North with four games to go.

By beating the Chicago Bears 28-21 on Sunday, they control their destiny in the division and remain in the thick of the hunt to earn the No. 1 seed and homefield advantage in the NFC playoffs.

“It means nothing right now,” coach Matt LaFleur said.

Here are the latest NFC standings, including remaining strength of schedule from Tankathon, with only the primetime games remaining in Week 14. The Packers vaulted from sixth place to second in the conference and trails the Rams by a half-game in the race for homefield advantage.

NFC Playoff Standings

1. Los Angeles Rams (first place, NFC West): 10-3

Won at Cardinals 45-17 on Sunday.

Remaining strength of schedule: 19th, .481 winning percentage.

2. Green Bay Packers (second place, NFC North): 9-3-1

Won at home against Bears 28-21 on Sunday.

Remaining strength of schedule: Tied for 7th, .596 winning percentage.

3. Philadelphia Eagles (first place, NFC East): 8-4

At Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) on Monday.

Remaining strength of schedule: 28th, .391 winning percentage.

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first place, NFC South): 7-6

Lost at home to Saints 24-20 on Sunday.

Remaining strength of schedule: Tied for 22nd, .462 winning percentage.

5. Seattle Seahawks (second place, NFC West): 10-3

Won at Falcons 37-9 on Sunday.

Remaining strength of schedule: 2nd, .654 winning percentage.

6. San Francisco 49ers (third place, NFC West): 9-4

Bye week.

Remaining strength of schedule: Tied for 10th, .558.

7. Chicago Bears (first place, NFC North): 9-4

Lost at Packers 28-21 on Sunday.

Remaining strength of schedule: 9th, .567 winning percentage.

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8. Detroit Lions (third place, NFC North): 8-5

Beat Cowboys 44-30 on Thursday.

Remaining strength of schedule: Tied for 7th, .596 winning percentage.

9. Carolina Panthers (second place, NFC South): 7-6

Bye week.

Remaining strength of schedule: 14th, .519 winning percentage.

10. Dallas Cowboys (second place, NFC East): 6-6-1

Lost to Lions 44-30 on Thursday.

Remaining strength of schedule: 29th, .353 winning percentage.

Nothing’s Settled

The Packers needed to beat the Bears to have a realistic shot of winning the NFC North. Nothing is settled, though.

After beating the Bears, who had controlled the No. 1 seed in the NFC, they’ll play at the Denver Broncos, who control the No. 1 seed in the AFC, on Sunday.

“You’ve just got to move onto the next game,” LaFleur said. “We’ve got a great test in front of us going to Denver. What are they, 11-2 now or whatever it is? So, we’ve got a great challenge in front of us, and I don’t think you can focus on anything other than that. Obviously, we’re going to get together, we’re going to watch the game tomorrow and there’s a lot of stuff, obviously, to clean up.”

After the Broncos, it will be a rematch against the Bears and a home game against the Ravens, who might still be in the playoff hunt.

The Packers have the seventh-most difficult remaining schedule. Of the NFC teams, only the Seahawks face a tougher road.

“Feels great for now, but we all understand there is a long road ahead before we get to call it ours,” safety Evan Williams said. “There’s (two) division games coming down the pipe, one against a good team we just faced.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) and wide receiver Christian Watson (9) celebrate a first down against the Bears. | Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“We understand if we don’t show up for any one of those games, it can flip-flop our chances of being where we want to be. It feels great, you take that, you take that good feeling and hold onto it for a good 24 hours, and it’s back to work. Four weeks for us to go just need to lock in this last home stretch. Find a way to finish.

Flip-flop, indeed. The Bears will host the Browns next week, so Chicago could be right back on the top of the division in seven days.

The Packers were 1-5 in NFC North games last season. After a three-week sweep of the Vikings, Lions and Bears, they are 4-0 this season after Keisean Nixon’s game-clinching interception.

“In our mind, we never was not in first place, you know?” Nixon said. “We’ve got control of the division, and that’s what we always said we was in the offseason. We’ve got two more games, and we’re trying to go undefeated in the division, that was our goal coming in, especially after going 1-5 last year.”

After back-to-back home losses to Carolina and Philadelphia, the Packers have won four in a row.

“Sh**, it feels great,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “I’ve never personally been able to be at the top of the division, especially in this type of fashion. So, I did not take it for granted, and I know a lot of these guys here don’t take it for granted as well. So, we’ve just got to keep working, keep nailing down the details and keep trying to find ways to get better.”

Packers Take Step Toward Playoffs

Winning the NFC North would be great. So would earning the No. 1 seed. None of those things can happen without clinching a playoff berth, first.

Jordan Love threw three touchdown passes and led the winning drive. The win gives the Packers a 95 percent chance of qualifying for the playoffs, according to The Athletic’s playoff simulator.

Green Bay has a game-and-a-half lead over Detroit, which leads the in-the-hunt teams with their 8-5 record.

“It’s huge,” Love said of the division lead. “Obviously, we’ve still got a couple weeks left here but it’s all about finishing. We’re here, we’ve been here before, but we’ve got to finish it. So, it doesn’t really mean anything right now but tonight was a huge win and going in the right direction going forward. But, like I said, we’ve still got a couple more weeks here, so we’ve got to keep stacking.”

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