Playoffs?! Yes, Packers still can reach postseason, but here's what needs to happen

You're running out of hope for the 2018 Green Bay Packers. It's understandable. But don't shovel that last bit of dirt on the Packers' season just yet.

Could the Packers still make the 2018 playoffs? Sure, they could. Here's what has to go down:

Let's assume the Packers run the table

The Packers could conceivably close the year at 5-0. Let's operate under that scenario. They win their home games against the Cardinals, Falcons and Lions and topple the Bears and Jets on the road. Chicago is easily the toughest of those tests, but the Packers have already pulled off a win over the Bears in the season opener.

That would put the Packers at 9-6-1. Considering 9-7 teams make the playoffs all the time, that should make you feel good, right?

 Take a look around the league and see what the Packers are facing.

Could they still win the NFC North?

People, be serious.

The Vikings hold the tiebreaker with the Packers, so they’d have to lose at least three of their last five to finish behind Green Bay. Road games at New England and Seattle will be tough for them, at least, though the Packers also want the Seahawks to lose games. The Vikings also will host the Bears, and the Packers want both of those teams to lose games, so that’s not a great situation, either.

It would be ideal if the Vikings lost to the Patriots (8-3), at home against the Dolphins (5-6) and Lions (4-7) while beating the Seahawks (6-5) and Bears (8-3). In that scenario, the Vikings finish 8-7-1, behind the Packers, and the Bears and Seahawks take additional losses for good measure.

But the Bears need to lose four of their five remaining games – including the one against the Packers – to dip below Green Bay. They play at the New York Giants (3-8), San Francisco (2-9) and Minnesota (6-4-1), with home games against the Rams (10-1) and Packers. If the Bears lose four of five, they will finish 9-7 and wind up a half-game behind the Packers. It would be an epic collapse. It's probably not happening.

But it's possible.

The Rams and Saints are good guys

The Packers don’t have to worry about division front-runners Los Angeles (NFC West) and New Orleans (NFC South). They’re going to win their divisions and get into the playoffs that way. The Rams face Philadelphia and Chicago, and the Saints face the Panthers twice and the Cowboys once.

The Rams and Saints are officially the good guys who can help the Packers by winning.

Three teams muddled in NFC East race

The NFC East is tricky, with Dallas and Washington tied at the top at 6-5 and Philadelphia one game back at 5-6. The Packers need to finish ahead of the two teams that don't win the division.

It’s theoretically best if Washington wins that division, since the Packers don’t own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Washington, and things will get dicey if they are competing directly with the Packers for a wild-card spot. But for that tiebreaker to matter, Washington would need to have tie, and that’s pretty unlikely to happen, so the tiebreakers aren’t as important this year as they have been in years past. If the Packers finish 9-6-1 in our scenario, then they are ahead of any 9-7 team.

Washington has three road games left – Philadelphia, Jacksonville (3-8) and Tennessee (5-5), with home tests against the Giants and Eagles. Dallas has home games against the Saints (10-1), Eagles and Buccaneers (4-7) with road tests against the Colts (6-5) and Giants (3-8).The Packers should root for some chaos that keeps all three East contenders below nine wins.

The Eagles have road games against Dallas, the Rams (10-1) and Washington with home games against Washington and Houston (7-3). But since the Eagles only have to lose once more in our "Packers win out" scenario, we probably don't have to spend much time fretting about this squad.

The teams to pass

There are two wild-card spots available. Through Week 12, one belongs to the Vikings (6-4-1), with the Seahawks, the NFC East second-place team and Panthers tied for the other one (all at 6-5). Green Bay has to pass at least three of those four teams (as well as the 5-6 Eagles).

The Panthers are in a tailspin, with three straight losses and three road games left among their five remaining contests. They have to play the Saints (10-1) twice, with additional road games against the Buccaneers (4-7) and the hungry Cleveland Browns (4-6-1), plus a home game vs. Atlanta (4-7). The Panthers need to lose two of those if the Packers win out.

The Seahawks are a bigger problem. The Packers lose the head-to-head tiebreaker, but again, that only matters if the Seahawks tie. They also have four home games left – San Francisco (2-9), Minnesota (6-4-1), Kansas City (9-2) and Arizona (2-9) – with a road game against San Francisco. That’s a bad schedule for Packers fans.

It’s why it might be wise for the Packers to cheer for Minnesota to beat the Seahawks in two weeks. Hopefully, Kansas City also beats Seattle, and if both results come to pass, Seattle can only finish 9-7 (with expected wins over the 49ers and Cardinals). That’s behind the Packers in our theoretical situation.

In summary

If the Packers close the year at 5-0, they have an outside chance at the division title (if the Bears really collapse), but that's pretty unlikely. 

To get a wild card, they'd have to pass all but one of the following: Vikings (6-4-1), the NFC East second-place finisher (either the Cowboys or Washington, both 6-5), Seahawks (6-5), Panthers (6-5) and Eagles (5-6). None of those teams are locks for the playoffs, so it's at least within reach.

The Vikings would need to lose three of five since they own the tiebreaker over the Packers, and the Seahawks would have to lose twice more with a fairly easy schedule, so those are the two biggest problems. If both win 10 games, the Packers can't catch them.

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