Packers clinch #1 seed in NFC, earn first-round bye & home-field advantage in playoffs

It’s official — the Green Bay Packers are the NFC’s best team in the 2020 regular season. The Packers defeated the Chicago Bears 35-16 on Sunday afternoon, pushing them to 13-3 on the season. That gives the Packers the NFC’s number one position outright, one game up on the New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks.

This means that the Packers earn the conference’s first-round bye, of which there is only one this year due to the expanded playoff field. Green Bay will wait and watch next week as the other six playoff teams in the conference battle it out to determine who will advance to the Divisional playoffs. The Packers will not need to leave Green Bay until a potential trip to the Super Bowl, which this year will be played in Tampa.

Chicago snuck into the playoffs at 8-8, however, as the Rams’ victory over the Arizona Cardinals knocked the latter team out of the postseason.

The next time the Packers play, it will be against either one of the Wild Card teams or, if all division winners win next week, the fourth-seeded team, which is still up in the air pending Sunday Night Football’s result. Washington would take that division and the final playoff spot if they beat the Philadelphia Eagles, while the New York Giants will make the playoffs at 6-10 if the Eagles are victorious.

Here is the full playoff field in the NFC:

1. Green Bay Packers (13-3, NFC North winner)
2. New Orleans Saints (12-4, NFC South winner)
3. Seattle Seahawks (12-4, NFC West winner)
4. NFC East winner (Washington or New York Giants)
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5, Wild Card)
6. Los Angeles Rams (10-6, Wild Card)
7. Chicago Bears (8-8, Wild Card)

With this seeding, that means that the three Wild Card round matchups are Saints-Bears, Seahawks-Rams, and the NFC East winner against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Stay tuned as the full Wild Card schedule will be announced during Sunday Night Football.