The Packers’ Seeding Doesn’t Matter

The Packers play the Bears this Sunday at noon, and there’s a little at stake here, but not much.
According to NFL.com, the Packers are currently the 7th seed in the playoffs. A win against the Bears on Sunday, along with a Washington loss (they play the Cowboys), and they’ll be the 6th seed. A Green Bay loss OR a Washington win, means they remain the 7th seed. But does it really matter?

At current moment, the two likely opponents for the Packers in the first round will either be the Philadelphia Eagles or the Los Angeles Rams. It’ll be the Rams if we’re able to move up to the 6th seed, and the Eagles if we remain the 7th seed.
Philly is a team that I’m sure Green Bay would love to settle the score with. They lost to the Eagles in week 1, leaving Jordan Love injured during a possible game winning drive, and out of play for the next 2 weeks. Los Angeles lost a close game to the Pack back in week 5 by one score. So I’m sure they’d love to settle the score with Green Bay. (Or at least try.)
But do either of these scenarios really matter?

In the eyes of most Packer fans, the road to the Super Bowl was always going to run through either Minnesota, Detroit, or both. And those games were always going to be on the road. So what difference does it make if Green Bay is on the road for the entire playoffs?
I personally have no concerns facing anyone in the NFC outside of the Lions or the Vikings. No, not even against the Eagles. It really feels like the NFC belongs to the North division. The downside is, both the Vikings and Lions blanked the Packers this year. Green Bay has shown me that they have the tools to beat both teams, even if they’re on the road. But they haven’t yet been able to actually deliver a win.

Whether or not they’ll be able to beat Detroit or Minnesota on their home turf, we’ll have to wait and see. As for the road there, I’m not worried about who we have to go through. There’s only 2 teams in the NFC that I feel can beat Green Bay. Fortunately, they’re both in our division, so they’re teams they know very well. Unfortunately, they’re teams who are collectively 4-0 against them this year.

COVER PHOTO CREDIT: Stacy Bengs/Associated Press