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Green Bay Packers playoff scenarios Week 17: What fans should be rooting for

By Josh Hill

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 25: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers signals instructions during the first quarter of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 25: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers signals instructions during the first quarter of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /
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NFL Playoffs: Here’s the rub on Green Bay Packers playoff scenarios in Week 17 and what fans should be rooting for (outside of the obvious). 

With the season winding down, the Green Bay Packers are finally starting to heat up.

It took Aaron Rodgers and company long enough, but the pitfalls weren’t enough to sink the team’s playoff hopes. Somehow, the Packers clung to life long enough to be in a position to potentially punch a playoff ticket after all of the drama earlier in the year.

Obviously, the Packers need to beat the Vikings on Sunday in order for any scenarios to remain relevant. Green Bay winning out is the key variable in all scenarios and if they lose to either Minnesota or Detroit, nothing else matters.

But assuming the Packers do win their final two games, the path to the playoffs begins to widen in ways fans couldn’t have imagined earlier in the season.

NFL Playoffs: Green Bay Packers playoff scenarios Week 17

Here’s what the Packers need to have happen on Sunday in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. Essentially, if you’re a Packers fan this is what you’re rooting for outside of the action at Lambeau on Sunday.

  • Washington Commanders lose to Cleveland Browns
  • New York Giants lost to Indianapolis Colts
  • Seattle Seahawks lose to New York Jets
  • New Orleans Saints lose to Philadelphia Eagles
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to Carolina Panthers

Those outcomes all factor into multiple different playoff scenarios for the Packers, but the bottom line is that it’s good for Green Bay if all of those teams lose.

Green Bay’s easiest path to the playoffs is if the Commanders lose one of their last two games. With Carson Wentz under center and one of those games against a Cowboys team still in play for the No. 1 seed, this scenario is looking pretty good.

The second-easiest playoff scenario for the Packers would be if the Giants lose out. New York has remaining games against the Colts (which the Giants should win) and the Eagles (who could be playing for nothing in Week 18 if Philly clinches the No. 1 seed today).

Beyond that, things start to get a little more complicated, but there are pathways to the playoffs for the Packers by way of variables such as the Seahawks losing out, the Saints losing one of two, the Buccaneers losing out and Rams winning some games.

There’s a lot of ways the Packers can make the playoffs still but the key variable to watch in Week 17 will be Green Bay winning. If that doesn’t happen, then nothing else matters.

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