The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, vaulting Matt LaFleur’s team into the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff race after 13 weeks of the 2023 regular season.
The Packers were 2-5 and 3-6 earlier in the year. Winners of three straight and four of the last five, the Packers are now 6-6 and in possession of the final wildcard spot in the NFC due to tiebreakers over the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, who are also 6-6.
Since dropping to 3-6, the Packers have beaten Justin Herbert’s Chargers, Jared Goff’s Lions and Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs in back-to-back-to-back weeks. Jordan Love has thrown eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions over the last three wins.
According to the New York Times’ playoff simulator, the Packers’ chances of making the postseason rose to around 75 percent after beating the Chiefs. Why so high?
Not only are the Packers ascending at exactly the right time, but the schedule is about to get very friendly.
Here’s who the Packers face to end the season:
at New York Giants (4-8)
vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-7)
at Carolina Panthers (1-11)
at Minnesota Vikings (6-6)
vs. Chicago Bears (4-8)
Now, the Packers have to respond to success and get the job done in games they will most likely be favored to win. An 11-6 finish isn’t off the table, but getting to nine or 10 wins should be expected given what’s ahead.
