Tracking the #1 seed

PackAttack12

R-E-L-A-X
Joined
Sep 16, 2016
Messages
6,499
Reaction score
2,157
Well here we are again. Basically halfway through the 2021 season and the Packers are well positioned to make a push to the #1 seed. For those that may have forgotten or don't realize this, there are now 7 teams that make the playoffs and only 1 team gets a 1st round bye.

In years past, the goal was to obtain one of the top two seeds to get that 1st round bye. Now, there's an even bigger premium placed on getting that top spot.

There are currently five teams that have one loss and another two teams that have two losses. That's just insane at the halfway point.

The Packers will own the tie breaker over the Cardinals and will have the opportunity to earn the tie breaker over the Rams in a few weeks at Lambeau.

Taking a look at the contenders for the top seed:

Cowboys:
Currently at 6-1, they beat the Vikings with no Dak Prescott. That's a pretty impressive win on the road. They have the Chiefs, Raiders, Saints, and Cardinals left. I think at best they will split those games, plus they have some divisional games left as well.

Rams:
Just acquired Von Miller (yikes). Like I mentioned above, the head to head matchup will be key. They have the Titans (albeit no D. Henry), 49ers twice, Cardinals, Seahawks (presumably with Russ back), Vikings, and Ravens. Their schedule is very tough on paper, so as long as the Packers handle business in the head to head, I think it'd be tough to finish below them.

Cardinals:
Already own the head to head tie breaker. They have 49ers, Seahawks twice (at least one with Russ), Bears, Rams, Colts, Cowboys. I think they've been slightly overrated this year and they have some tough games to finish up. I think the Packers are sitting okay here.

Buccaneers:
Their loss last night was huge. They have a pretty light schedule down the stretch. I'm not sure they will be an underdog in any of their remaining games. The only tough games that I see are (maybe) at Indy, Bills at home, and Saints at home. At Panthers could be a close one just with it being divisional rival, but overall that's pretty pedestrian.

Those are the only teams I'm concerned with at the moment taking the #1 seed from the Packers.

And the schedule finishing up isn't the easiest on our end as we have:

Packers finishing schedule:
at Chiefs, Seahawks, at Vikings, Rams, Bears, at Ravens, Browns, Vikings, at Lions

A win in Kansas City would be huge to continue the momentum into the rest of the season. Hopefully we'll get lucky and not have to go up against Russ when Seattle comes to town, though I'm not afraid of that matchup either way. At Vikings is never a picnic. The game in Baltimore scares me a bit.

I think this could be a year where 14 or maybe even 15 wins will take the #1 seed. So the Packers will have to play some really great football the rest of the way to get there.

Right now, I'm most worried about the Bucs finishing with the best record based on their light schedule, but we'll monitor things as the season goes along.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Messages
14,262
Reaction score
5,661
Well here we are again. Basically halfway through the 2021 season and the Packers are well positioned to make a push to the #1 seed. For those that may have forgotten or don't realize this, there are now 7 teams that make the playoffs and only 1 team gets a 1st round bye.

In years past, the goal was to obtain one of the top two seeds to get that 1st round bye. Now, there's an even bigger premium placed on getting that top spot.

There are currently five teams that have one loss and another two teams that have two losses. That's just insane at the halfway point.

The Packers will own the tie breaker over the Cardinals and will have the opportunity to earn the tie breaker over the Rams in a few weeks at Lambeau.

Taking a look at the contenders for the top seed:

Cowboys:
Currently at 6-1, they beat the Vikings with no Dak Prescott. That's a pretty impressive win on the road. They have the Chiefs, Raiders, Saints, and Cardinals left. I think at best they will split those games, plus they have some divisional games left as well.

Rams:
Just acquired Von Miller (yikes). Like I mentioned above, the head to head matchup will be key. They have the Titans (albeit no D. Henry), 49ers twice, Cardinals, Seahawks (presumably with Russ back), Vikings, and Ravens. Their schedule is very tough on paper, so as long as the Packers handle business in the head to head, I think it'd be tough to finish below them.

Cardinals:
Already own the head to head tie breaker. They have 49ers, Seahawks twice (at least one with Russ), Bears, Rams, Colts, Cowboys. I think they've been slightly overrated this year and they have some tough games to finish up. I think the Packers are sitting okay here.

Buccaneers:
Their loss last night was huge. They have a pretty light schedule down the stretch. I'm not sure they will be an underdog in any of their remaining games. The only tough games that I see are (maybe) at Indy, Bills at home, and Saints at home. At Panthers could be a close one just with it being divisional rival, but overall that's pretty pedestrian.

Those are the only teams I'm concerned with at the moment taking the #1 seed from the Packers.

And the schedule finishing up isn't the easiest on our end as we have:

Packers finishing schedule:
at Chiefs, Seahawks, at Vikings, Rams, Bears, at Ravens, Browns, Vikings, at Lions

A win in Kansas City would be huge to continue the momentum into the rest of the season. Hopefully we'll get lucky and not have to go up against Russ when Seattle comes to town, though I'm not afraid of that matchup either way. At Vikings is never a picnic. The game in Baltimore scares me a bit.

I think this could be a year where 14 or maybe even 15 wins will take the #1 seed. So the Packers will have to play some really great football the rest of the way to get there.

Right now, I'm most worried about the Bucs finishing with the best record based on their light schedule, but we'll monitor things as the season goes along.
It’s Been an exciting start!
It would be nice to get that extra week off in the playoffs and we just need to focus on this week and beating KC. The league changes so much from week to week.

After @ KC, we have 5 of the remaining 8 contests @ Lambeau. That going to be huge down the stretch. We’ll need that help against tougher teams like the Rams. I’d be ok with an NFC Tampa rematch @ Lambeau. Not so much @ Tampa though.

I’m with you in that they instill fear now that Brady is leading the charge. However we have the components to beat him. If Z gets back in any similar 2020 form watch out. We will hopefully have Mercilus and Campbell, Stokes, Douglas added and Lowry playing better ball. I’m more concerned with our OL getting healthy and our TE room, luckily we have plenty of season to get that situated.
 
Last edited:

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,174
Reaction score
1,501
Well here we are again. Basically halfway through the 2021 season and the Packers are well positioned to make a push to the #1 seed. For those that may have forgotten or don't realize this, there are now 7 teams that make the playoffs and only 1 team gets a 1st round bye.

In years past, the goal was to obtain one of the top two seeds to get that 1st round bye. Now, there's an even bigger premium placed on getting that top spot.

There are currently five teams that have one loss and another two teams that have two losses. That's just insane at the halfway point.

The Packers will own the tie breaker over the Cardinals and will have the opportunity to earn the tie breaker over the Rams in a few weeks at Lambeau.

Taking a look at the contenders for the top seed:

Cowboys:
Currently at 6-1, they beat the Vikings with no Dak Prescott. That's a pretty impressive win on the road. They have the Chiefs, Raiders, Saints, and Cardinals left. I think at best they will split those games, plus they have some divisional games left as well.

Rams:
Just acquired Von Miller (yikes). Like I mentioned above, the head to head matchup will be key. They have the Titans (albeit no D. Henry), 49ers twice, Cardinals, Seahawks (presumably with Russ back), Vikings, and Ravens. Their schedule is very tough on paper, so as long as the Packers handle business in the head to head, I think it'd be tough to finish below them.

Cardinals:
Already own the head to head tie breaker. They have 49ers, Seahawks twice (at least one with Russ), Bears, Rams, Colts, Cowboys. I think they've been slightly overrated this year and they have some tough games to finish up. I think the Packers are sitting okay here.

Buccaneers:
Their loss last night was huge. They have a pretty light schedule down the stretch. I'm not sure they will be an underdog in any of their remaining games. The only tough games that I see are (maybe) at Indy, Bills at home, and Saints at home. At Panthers could be a close one just with it being divisional rival, but overall that's pretty pedestrian.

Those are the only teams I'm concerned with at the moment taking the #1 seed from the Packers.

And the schedule finishing up isn't the easiest on our end as we have:

Packers finishing schedule:
at Chiefs, Seahawks, at Vikings, Rams, Bears, at Ravens, Browns, Vikings, at Lions

A win in Kansas City would be huge to continue the momentum into the rest of the season. Hopefully we'll get lucky and not have to go up against Russ when Seattle comes to town, though I'm not afraid of that matchup either way. At Vikings is never a picnic. The game in Baltimore scares me a bit.

I think this could be a year where 14 or maybe even 15 wins will take the #1 seed. So the Packers will have to play some really great football the rest of the way to get there.

Right now, I'm most worried about the Bucs finishing with the best record based on their light schedule, but we'll monitor things as the season goes along.
The NFC has some elites this year. The Bucs, Rams, Cardinals, and Cowboys could finish #1. I think we will be either #3 or #4 this year. Hard to overcome what we have endured and continue to win against top teams with that many injuries. Especially on the road. Let us hope the Vikings continue to shoot themselves in the foot because they are wasting a lot of talent.
 

GreenNGold_81

Cheesehead
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
1,734
Reaction score
279
Rams just traded for Von Miller. Win now on full display. I want to see how Gutey and the team responds. Mercilus isn't chop liver, and Z is coming back apparently. I'm not too concerned, but another weapon on offense would be nice. Engram?
 

weeds

Fiber deprived old guy.
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
5,691
Reaction score
1,791
Location
Oshkosh, WI
McCarthy says he is healthy enough to get back on Thursday.

Honestly, I'm leary of the Pack getting a #1 seed...or a bye. Perhaps they'll grow to be "dominant" as the season progresses. If so, it would be when they take the red cross off of the Trainer's Room. If that were the case - I might change my opinion.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2014
Messages
14,262
Reaction score
5,661
The NFC has some elites this year. The Bucs, Rams, Cardinals, and Cowboys could finish #1. I think we will be either #3 or #4 this year. Hard to overcome what we have endured and continue to win against top teams with that many injuries. Especially on the road. Let us hope the Vikings continue to shoot themselves in the foot because they are wasting a lot of talent.
As long as we don’t fall off a cliff we should see #4.
The Cardinals would have to beat our record (we own tiebreaker) and Murray sounds like he might miss a few games. It’s anyone’s guess on injuries, but I think getting Bakhtiari and Meyers back over the next couple weeks is a bigger deal than many people think.
I suspect we will see at least 1 of 2 in J’aire or Z Smith back around the bye week area, give or take. It’s my opinion both will play again this season.

The Rams will have to win at Lambeau after Thanksgiving timeframe which is no small feat. It also gets into colder, windy weather and this isn’t Ford Field anymore. Running the ball begins to gain importance around that timeframe and Dillon is ideally suited.

I think many are underestimating this team in general. We’re not even cranked up on Offense and winning games with our Defense. I don’t blame folks they aren’t used to seeing our Defense win games. When we get 1-2 more of our best D players back and 2 starting OL? You’ll be surprised and I won’t even say I told ya so
Expect the overall dynamic to improve gradually over the next month or two. I only see 2-3 contests that we could/should lose. The fast start puts us pacing a 13-4 to 15-2 record. That’s stout. It all starts with a W at KC
 
Last edited:

Schultz

Cheesehead
Joined
Mar 8, 2021
Messages
2,651
Reaction score
1,537
Yeah it would be nice if all of these injured guys are back when the fans expect them to. The problem is that may not happen. Plus the odds are GB may lose another guy or two. It seems a few big names are going down every week in the NFL as well as the regular starter type guys. At this point to me health for a play off run may be more important than home field. You can crunch the numbers and make predictions based on schedules but the one thing you can never handicap is injuries (or a coach calling 4 timeouts).
 

GreenNGold_81

Cheesehead
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
1,734
Reaction score
279
I think the #1 seed should determine if they're the early or late game. It was ******** when the Bucs played in Lambeau earlier in the day.
 

gopkrs

Cheesehead
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
5,332
Reaction score
1,265
I think the #1 seed should determine if they're the early or late game. It was ******** when the Bucs played in Lambeau earlier in the day.
I'll never understand why they play so many night games in Green Bay. I don't care about a couple hours one way or the other on the schedule. Don't they know it gets cold there?
 

jetfixer

Cheesehead
Joined
Feb 26, 2013
Messages
570
Reaction score
97
Location
Memphis, Tn./Pittsburg, Tx.
pppppppppfffffffffffftt the cowboys are mediocre at best. and with meathead running the show, they'll lose in the first round of the playoffs - if they even get there.
The coach is their weakness, but they have a pretty good team all around, as do the Rams, Bucs, and Cards. We are right there with the best.
 
OP
OP
PackAttack12

PackAttack12

R-E-L-A-X
Joined
Sep 16, 2016
Messages
6,499
Reaction score
2,157
I think the #1 seed should determine if they're the early or late game. It was ******** when the Bucs played in Lambeau earlier in the day.
The AFC championship game and NFC championship game alternate by year. This year, the NFC gets the late time slot. You can't do it based on who gets the 1 seed because the Chiefs got the 1 seed in the AFC and the Packers got the 1 seed in the NFC.

Since the Packers got the early time slot last season, they will get the late time slot this time around if they're able to get the #1 seed.

I do agree though that a combination of the game being played early, along with an uncharacteristically mild (by Green Bay, WI standards) temp day, negated some of the home field advantage.
 

Poppa San

* Team Owner *
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
12,821
Reaction score
2,735
Location
20 miles from Lambeau
I'll never understand why they play so many night games in Green Bay. I don't care about a couple hours one way or the other on the schedule. Don't they know it gets cold there?
Ratings. Prime time baby! If you need to ask, follow the money!!
 

milani

Cheesehead
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Messages
4,174
Reaction score
1,501
The AFC championship game and NFC championship game alternate by year. This year, the NFC gets the late time slot. You can't do it based on who gets the 1 seed because the Chiefs got the 1 seed in the AFC and the Packers got the 1 seed in the NFC.

Since the Packers got the early time slot last season, they will get the late time slot this time around if they're able to get the #1 seed.

I do agree though that a combination of the game being played early, along with an uncharacteristically mild (by Green Bay, WI standards) temp day, negated some of the home field advantage.
I think this is true. Although in regard to Brady he has played in the snow and cold for ages. And very well. Now the rest of his team had not except Gronk.
 
D

Deleted member 6794

Guest
Hard to overcome what we have endured and continue to win against top teams with that many injuries. Especially on the road.

The Packers only play one team currently over .500 on the road in the Ravens for the rest of the season.

If Dak is healthy enough to play Dallas concerns me the most. I think the Cowboys have the easiest schedule left.

The Cowboys still have some tough games left @KC, @NO and vs. AZ.


I do agree though that a combination of the game being played early, along with an uncharacteristically mild (by Green Bay, WI standards) temp day, negated some of the home field advantage.

In addition the Bucs benefitted from less than 8,000 people being allowed in the stadium.
 

Schultz

Cheesehead
Joined
Mar 8, 2021
Messages
2,651
Reaction score
1,537
They all have tough games left. The difference to me is thAT Dallas division sucks
 

Schultz

Cheesehead
Joined
Mar 8, 2021
Messages
2,651
Reaction score
1,537
We weren't comparing anyone in the NFC North's remaining schedules. We were comparing the teams the Packers will be battling for the #1 seed schedules.
 
D

Deleted member 6794

Guest
We weren't comparing anyone in the NFC North's remaining schedules. We were comparing the teams the Packers will be battling for the #1 seed schedules.

Both the Cowboys and Packers have four games remaining against struggling division opponents. I don't think the NFC East teams aside of Dallas struggling will make a huge difference which team ends up securing the #1 seed.
 

Schultz

Cheesehead
Joined
Mar 8, 2021
Messages
2,651
Reaction score
1,537
How hard is this to understand. The Packers remaining schedule has no bearing on the question of which team they are competing with for the #1 seed has the easiest remaining schedule. They do say Covid does cause brain fog. Have you guys been in close contact with AR? If so you might want to get tested.
 

Poppa San

* Team Owner *
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
12,821
Reaction score
2,735
Location
20 miles from Lambeau
We weren't comparing anyone in the NFC North's remaining schedules. We were comparing the teams the Packers will be battling for the #1 seed schedules.
You pointed out Dallas' division sucks. I pointed out the Packers division equally sucks.

And cut the Covid crap. A year ago I sat in my dad's hospital room while he ate, watching and discussing whatever game was on that day. Eagles I recall. No brain fog. Cracking jokes, teasing the nursing staff. 16 hours later he passed on to a better world.
 

Members online

Latest posts

Top