The Green Bay Packers already had their backs up against the wall heading into their Sunday night showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles. At 4-7 and four spots out of the NFC’s final Wild Card spot, they needed a win in the worst way.
Instead the Packers were handed a 40-33 loss that sent them careening to 4-8 on the year. To make matters worse, Aaron Rodgers was injured and had to leave the game early.
Now, the Packers have a 2% chance at making the playoffs.
Following last night’s loss to the Eagles, the Packers fall to 4-8, their worst record through 12 games since 2006 (finished 8-8).
After being the No. 1 seed in the NFC last season, Green Bay has only a 2% chance to make this season’s playoffs per ESPN Analytics. pic.twitter.com/5NxiZbFD8Y
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 28, 2022
And Matt LaFleur is worried his team will miss the playoffs for the first time since the Packers named him head coach in 2019.
“Well yeah, quite frankly, yeah,” LaFleur told reporters after the game. “It is what it is right now. I don’t think we can look any further than our next opponent which is an NFC North opponent, Chicago Bears. And we know that if [Bears QB] Justin Fields is there, I’m sure we are going to get a lot of the same stuff we got tonight. He is an incredible quarterback as well. A guy that’s been tearing up the league the last few weeks in terms of his ability to run and extend plays and create.”
“Just the way my mind works, it’s always looking at where you are. Staying in the moment. Living day to day. Try to do the best job you can. Trying to put the best plan together for our guys. And then demanding the best out of each individual within our organization.”
Everyone should be worried in Green Bay. Because if the Packers can’t beat the Bears, their season is over. A loss could easily drop the Packers from 11th (their current position) to 14th in the blink of an eye.
The Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers are both on bye, so their record won’t get affected in Week 13. And, the New Orleans Saints play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which is a very winnable game.
And, without looking at all the different tiebreaker scenarios, there is a very good chance the Bears could drop the Packers to 15th, even.
Which, if you’re bad at math like I am, is second-to-last in the NFC.
It’s been a very, very precipitous fall from grace for the former Super Bowl contenders and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.
