After 14 weeks of the NFL season, we can conclude that the NFC is the stronger of the two conferences. With Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on the outside looking in at the playoffs, the top of the AFC is full of unvetted quarterbacks and unproven teams.
On the other hand, several NFC teams can realistically make a Super Bowl push. The Los Angeles Rams top that list with the No. 1 seed in the NFC. However, the Seattle Seahawks seem to be getting better every single week. Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers are the No. 2 seed and lead the NFC North after beating the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
While we won’t discover how the Packers stack up against the Rams and Seahawks for a few weeks, they deserve to be at the top of the conference and are a viable playoff threat.
Top to bottom, there hasn’t been a division in football better than the NFC West this season. There are three teams with at least nine wins, and both the Rams and Seahawks are sitting at 10-3. In all likelihood, that division will come down to a Week 16 matchup between the Rams and Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. It’s also likely that the winner of that game will be in the catbird seat for the No. 1 seed and the promise that the road to the Super Bowl goes through either Los Angeles or Seattle.
I would be remiss if I didn’t include the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. They are the reigning champions, after all, and are currently leading the NFC East. No one in their division is likely to catch them. However, they have struggled mightily on offense and don’t look like the team that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy last year. The Eagles are 8-5 after Monday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers and, unlike the Rams, the Seahawks, and the Packers, are trending in the wrong direction.
What’s most interesting to me about the Rams and Seahawks in particular is that both teams share many similarities. They are led by veteran quarterbacks — Matthew Stafford and Sam Darnold, respectively — who are playing great football. Both teams have top-of-the-line wide receivers (the Rams have two). Both also have outstanding defenses that travel well. Seattle’s defense seems to be getting better every single week.
Finally, LA and Seattle have young head coaches who are innovative and have their teams prepared every week. The Rams have been blowing out nearly every team they play, and the Seahawks are tapping into their head coach’s confidence. Both teams are well-deserving of their current standing at the top of the Super Bowl odds at the end of Week 14: the Rams at +390 and the Seahawks at +650.
Who has the third-shortest Super Bowl odds? The Green Bay Packers at +800.
The Packers just came off their biggest win of the season at home against the Bears, the same team that ran up and down the field on the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles just a week earlier — on the road, no less.
Green Bay’s defense absolutely shut Chicago down in the first half of Sunday’s game, holding the Bears to just three points. At halftime, the Packers were outgaining the Bears 207-71.
At one point, the Packers had more first downs than the Bears had yards. It was equal parts Caleb Williams struggling to complete passes and the vaunted rushing attack failing to get anything going. Jeff Hafley had all the answers.
The second half was a bit of a different story. Green Bay’s offense wasn’t doing the defense any favors by losing the time-of-possession battle, leaving the defense visibly gassed. Still, Micah Parsons and Co. made plays when it mattered.
Entering the most difficult stretch of their schedule with three consecutive divisional matchups, the Packers were coming off back-to-back home losses to the Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles. In both games, the offense managed a grand total of 20 points.
A victory over the 2-11 Giants in New York was what it was – a win against a bad team, something they were expected to do. Games against the Minnesota Vikings, the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, and the suddenly surging Bears were what were going to define this team all along. A test that only a true contender would pass.
The Packers are undefeated in their division, which neither the Rams nor the Seahawks can claim. Matt LaFleur saw where his team came up short last season, going 1-5 in the NFC North, and made it a goal to win every division game this year. Now they sit at 4-0 with two more to go.
During the four-game streak, the Packers have won with equal parts offense and defense. The 20 points total in the back-to-back losses to start November? How about averaging 27.5 since? The defense has been pressuring the quarterback with only four, and they have been forcing turnovers at a higher clip than at any point this season.
This Packers team has passed all the tests. They answered many questions recently, including:
- Can they handle the adversity of a comeback and win a close game? Check.
- Can they dominate a team from start to finish? See the Vikings game from three weeks ago.
- Can they win a shootout? See the Lions win on Thanksgiving in Detroit.
The season is far from over, and there is still plenty to prove. The Packers have a tough road game against the 10-2 Denver Broncos, a rematch with the Bears at Soldier Field, and a showdown with the Ravens, who will likely be playing a must-win game by then.
There is still plenty of meat left on the bone for this Packers team. However, Sunday proved they are right there with the conference’s best teams.
