Packers' Playoff Chances Take Hit With Loss To Patriots, Wins By Bears, Vikings

The Green Bay Packers suffered their second straight loss Sunday, falling 31-17 to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. The defeat dropped them to 3-4-1 in the 2018 NFL season, putting them in danger of missing the playoffs.

The year is only halfway finished, but Green Bay’s early-season struggles have given them little margin for error going forward. The Packers own sole possession of third place in the NFC North, trailing both the Chicago Bears (5-3) and Minnesota Vikings (5-3-1). Having Aaron Rodgers usually means Green Bay is among the conference’s best teams, but that hasn’t been the case through nine weeks.

Aside from the division leaders, five NFC teams have a better record than the Packers. Teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks are ahead of Green Bay in the wild-card race. Philadelphia and Atlanta seem to be turning things around after slow starts. Carolina could win more than 10 games and earn a wild-card spot because of how good the New Orleans Saints have been.

Part of Green Bay’s unimpressive record can be attributed to a difficult schedule. The Packers were just defeated on the road against the Patriots and Los Angeles Rams in consecutive weeks. No one has better Super Bowl odds than Los Angeles and New England, and they might be the two best teams in all of football.

The Packers do have a few bad road losses, having been defeated by both the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. Green Bay is 1-1-1 in the division. They started the season by beating the Bears and tying the Vikings.

Green Bay’s fate might ultimately be decided by how they perform in the remainder of their games against NFC North opponents. The Packers will visit the Vikings in Week 12, and they’ll play on the road against the Bears in Week 15. Green Bay will likely be an underdog in both contests.

Rodgers is still putting up very good numbers with 15 touchdown passes and one interception this season. He appears to be largely recovered from the knee sprain that hampered him for the first two months.

The Packers missed last year’s playoffs when an injury forced Rodgers to miss more than half of the team’s games. Green Bay had reached the postseason in each of the previous eight seasons.