The NFC Standings at Midpoint of Season

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At the season’s unofficial midpoint, the Green Bay Packers returned to work on Monday sitting in third place in the NFC.

The Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints are atop the loaded conference standings with 6-2 records.

New Orleans, which destroyed Tampa Bay 38-3 on Sunday night, is 5-1 in conference games to hold the top spot in the NFC. Seattle, which got blasted at Buffalo 44-34 on Sunday, gets the No. 2 spot with a 4-1 conference record. Green Bay, which got a huge break by facing the watered-down San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, is No. 3.

Why are the Packers behind the Saints even though they beat them in Week 3? From the NFL’s tiebreaking rules, that win is “applicable only if one club has defeated each of the others or if one club has lost to each of the others.” So, the Packers’ 5-2 mark in conference games puts them in third place.

Showing just how important matchups are, New Orleans beat Tampa Bay twice, Tampa Bay destroyed Green Bay and Green Bay won at New Orleans.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur is 19-5 in a season-and-a-half on the job. He’s never lost back-to-back games. After a loss, Green Bay has won its next game by an average of 13.6 points.

“I think that’s an important part of being a winning team in this league is you’ve got to avoid those consecutive losses,” LaFleur said on Friday. “Obviously, this is a very competitive league and, you know, there’s a reason only one team has been able to go through the entire season undefeated, and you now, it just is one of those deals. You better be able to bounce back after a, you know, if you put a disappointing performance out there.

Of the 6-2 teams, New Orleans might be the most impressive. The Saints’ strength of schedule of .529 is the toughest for any NFC team with a winning record. Its eight opponents have won 36 games; Green Bay’s eight opponents have won 30 games.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 6-3, and the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams are 5-4. Philadelphia leads the hideous NFC East with a 3-4-1 record. The four division teams have combined to win nine games; seven of those wins have come in divisional play.

In the NFC North, Green Bay is in command with a 6-2 mark. The Chicago Bears, which lost 24-17 at Tennessee, are 5-4 and losers of three straight. The Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions are 3-5; the Vikings beat the Lions 34-20 on Sunday.