NFL Playoffs 2016: 5 reasons the Green Bay Packers will make it
By John Buhler
1. All things equal, take Packers’ culture over Lions’
Okay. Let’s just say for the sake of simplicity that Week 17’s game between the Packers and the Lions at Ford Field will be for the NFC North crown. It’s a win or go home type of game. Whether they have the same record entering Week 17 or the Lions are still a game better, it’s easier to trust the Packers’ culture over the Lions’ in this clinching situation.
Green Bay has won this division for years even when the Packers aren’t a great team. Detroit has made the NFC Playoffs twice in the Stafford era, both times as a Wild Card team, and lost in the Wild Card Round both times.
Culturally, the Packers are known as winners, while the Lions are labelled unfortunately as losers. Green Bay has won four Super Bowls and Detroit is one of four franchises to have never been to one. Keep in mind that two of those four teams have only been in existence for less than 20 years: the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans.
Next: NFL Power Rankings: 30 Best QB of All-Time
All things equal, Green Bay has the structure in place to come through in a do-or-die game. Detroit is rarely even in these games with major playoff implications. That stage won’t be to big for either Rodgers or Stafford. However, Green Bay expects to make the NFC Playoffs annually, while Detroit just hopes that the Lions can maybe think about making them. There is your difference.