The Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks have taken two very different routes to get to where they’re at at the beginning of Week 10.
Seattle is 3-5, but they get Russell Wilson back after he missed three straight games. Green Bay is 7-2 and will likely have Aaron Rodgers back under center after he missed Week 9 due to COVID. Unlikely as it may seem, this could be a Wild Card Weekend preview at Lambeau Field this Sunday.
Green Bay’s goal is to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs once again. The Arizona Cardinals are one game ahead of them, although the Packers own the head-to-head tiebreaker. The problem for the Packers in trying to land the lone bye in the conference for a second consecutive year is the difficulty of their schedule.
This matchup against Seattle won’t be easy with Wilson back. Peeking ahead, there are still games against the Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings (x2), and Cleveland Browns. It’s not the cushy schedule that other contenders in the NFC have left.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 6-2 and have their own dreams of being the top seed. Of their remaining games, only two come against teams with a current winning record (Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints). The 6-2 Dallas Cowboys still have a couple of tough matchups left, most notably a home game against the Cardinals in the penultimate week of the season. However, surrounding that game are four contests against lousy NFC East opponents.
The Cardinals have one loss, and they will play only two teams with winning records the rest of the way. Put an asterisk next to that because Wilson’s return makes Seattle far better than a 3-5 record would indicate.
Green Bay’s strength of schedule has dipped. Part of that is outlets like tankathon.com not factoring in Wilson’s return this week. Still, Arizona and Tampa Bay have the 28th- and 29th-toughest schedules remaining, according to opponents’ win percentage.
Bundling this all together, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that the Packers will win the NFC North, which assures them at least one playoff game in the Frozen Tundra. The road won’t be easy for Seattle, but it’s very doable with Wilson under center.
The 3-5 record is an eyesore for the Seahawks. It’s a spot they aren’t used to being in. However, as things currently sit, they are only one game back of the Atlanta Falcons for the last spot in the NFC playoff picture.
Wilson’s return will instill confidence into this Seattle team. Their remaining schedule will help even more. They won’t get a cupcake in the next two weeks: They face the Packers and Cardinals. But they will play the Washington Football Team, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Houston Texans in a three-game stretch starting in the last week of November. Then, back-to-back home games against the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions at the end of their schedule.
Seattle is 3-5, yes, but they aren’t out of this thing by a long shot. Any aspirations of winning the NFC West are likely gone, meaning that they will have to make a push through the postseason on the road if they get there.
Is the picture starting to come into focus?
Green Bay will have a home game if they win the NFC North, but it would take a hell of a run against tough competition for them to land the playoff bye. It’s still right there in front of them, but it would take a near-perfect finish. Even then, they’d need the Cardinals, Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Rams to all have multiple slip-ups. As a result, this contest Sunday could be a sneak peek at a January playoff meetup down the road.
Sunday’s matchup in Wisconsin was nearly a Jordan Love–Geno Smith tilt. Instead, it will be Wilson and likely Rodgers to dial up the intrigue.
The two quarterbacks have plenty of history both in the regular season and in the playoffs.
In the 2019 NFC Divisional Round, Green Bay wiped out the Seahawks 28-23 at Lambeau Field. And who could forget the collapse by the Packers in the 2014 NFC Championship game that the Seahawks won in overtime, 28-22?
Sunday will write another chapter for two teams that have been linked at the top of the conference for a decade. While this isn’t a playoff affair, it sure will feel like it and could go a long way in determining seeding for both sides.
And, who knows, maybe it’s a preview of a Wild Card Weekend meetup?
