GREEN BAY
Current playoff seed: No. 6
Remaining opponents: at Minnesota (13-2), vs. Chicago (4-12)
Remaining opponent record: 17-14
Twentyman: The Packers clinched a spot in the playoffs with the win over New Orleans last week, so what remains to be determined for them the rest of the way is which NFC Wild Card seed they will get.
The Packers could end up with any of the three — the No. 5, 6 or 7. Currently they’re sitting in the No. 6 spot, but with a win this week at Minnesota, they’d have a chance to move up to the No. 5 with a win over Chicago Week 18 and a Lions win over Minnesota. That would create a tie between the Packers and Vikings in overall record, head-to-head and division record, so the tiebreaker would go to record against common opponents. Green Bay would own that by their win this season over the Rams, a team Minnesota lost to.
Conversely, a loss to the Vikings would eliminate the Packers’ chances of getting the No. 5 spot, and it could put them in danger of falling to the No. 7 seed with a loss to Chicago in the regular-season finale. Washington (10-5) is right on the Packers’ heels in the Wild Card chase, and they would be in position to jump in front of Green Bay should the Packers lose to the Vikings because Washington has the tiebreaker on Green Bay (better conference record).