A victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night will give the Green Bay Packers a playoff spot, but it’s possible that spot will be secured by the time the Packers start their game against the Saints.
Two different combinations of results on Sunday will do the trick.
— If the Atlanta Falcons lose or tie against the New York Giants AND the Los Angeles Rams lose or tie against the New York Jets, the Packers will reach an agreement.
— If the Falcons lose or tie against the Giants AND the Seattle Seahawks lose or tie against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers will reach an agreement.
Falcons-Giants and Rams-Jets will start on Sunday at 12:05 p.m. CT, while Seahawks-Vikings will start in Seattle at 3:05 p.m. CT.
Given that the Packers would prefer the Vikings to lose, both in terms of NFC North positioning and playoff seeding, the preferred scenario on Sunday is the Falcons losing to the Giants and the Rams losing to the Jets, so Matt LaFleur’s team would benefit from get lend a hand from former Packer Aaron Rodgers. Additionally, the Falcons are changing quarterbacks, moving from Kirk Cousins ​​to rookie Michael Penix, so their performance in New York is a bit of an unknown.
Another game worth watching on Sunday is the Detroit Lions traveling to Chicago to play the Bears. The Packers could utilize a Bears win to keep the path open to winning the NFC North (it would also take a Vikings loss).
Even if the Packers fall low, a win on Monday night against the 5-9 Saints will do the trick and secure a playoff spot. New Orleans is 3-2 since firing Dennis Allen and turning to Darren Rizzi, but the Saints will be without their starting QB (Derek Carr), best offensive weapon (Alvin Kamara), best pass catcher (Chris Olave) and most unique weapon (Taysom Hill), best corner (Paulson Adebo) and best deep threat (Rashid Shaheed) on Monday night.
