The Green Bay Packers are headed to the post-season for the sixth-straight season thanks to help they received last night from Washington, on top of their 20-3 win in Tampa Bay. With the Philadelphia Eagles losing last night on the road, all the Packers needed to do today was win to clinch a spot in the playoffs, and they did just that. Green Bay can finish no worse than 11-5, while the Eagles' best possible record is 10-6.
The NFC North division title will be on the line next week in Week 17 when the Packers face the Detroit Lions. As of right now, the game is scheduled to be played at 12 p.m. central time, but the league determines their flex during Sunday Night Football, meaning we will find out if they chose to flex the game this evening.
The winner of next week's Packers-Lions game will win the NFC North, and will earn no worse than the #2 seed in the NFC. At this point, the winner of the NFC West appears poised to earn home-field advantage in the NFC, barring an unlikely scenario. The only way in which the NFC North winner could earn the top seed is with a Seattle win tonight in Arizona and with both teams losing next week, when Arizona plays at San Francisco and Seattle hosts St. Louis.
In other words, the loser of next week's game will probably be the sixth seed, and would play at the NFC East winner, while the winner would earn a first-round bye and therefore would host whichever winner of the NFC Wild-Card games who has the better seed.
Stay tuned.