{"id":359090,"date":"2025-12-21T05:12:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T05:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/359090\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T05:12:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T05:12:25","slug":"nfl-playoff-picture-how-packers-meltdown-impacts-detroit-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/359090\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL playoff picture: How Packers\u2019 meltdown impacts Detroit Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Green Bay Packers let a huge game slip away from them against the Chicago Bears, and it has put a big damper on the Detroit Lions\u2019 playoff odds. Had the Packers held onto their late, fourth-quarter 10-point lead, Detroit\u2019s playoff odds would\u2019ve jumped to 32%. Now, they sit at 22% (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/nfl-playoff-picture\/2025\/lions\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">per NYT Playoff Simulator<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Let\u2019s break down what it means for the Lions, and the playoff scenarios remaining for the Lions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">*Eliminated from playoff contention <\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Bears now take a pretty significant lead in the NFC North and are in the driver\u2019s seat. That said, there is still a path for the Lions to somehow win the division:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Lions win the division if:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In that scenario, the Lions and Bears finish 11-6 while the Packers are no better than 10-6-1. Detroit would take the division with a season sweep of the Bears.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Wild Card race (top three advance) <\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">5. x &#8211; Rams: 11-4<br \/>6. 49ers: 10-4<br \/>7. Packers: 9-5-1<br \/>8. Lions: 8-6<br \/>9. Panthers: 7-7<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">z = clinched division<br \/>x = clinched playoff spot<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Lions find themselves just a game behind the Packers, and with a win against the Steelers on Sunday, they would move to just a half-game behind Green Bay. Unfortunately, that means the Lions still won\u2019t have their playoff destiny in their hands. They will need some help to get in. Here are Detroit\u2019s four different playoff scenarios:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">So, technically, the Lions will not be eliminated if they lose to the Steelers on Sunday. However, in that instance, they will need the Packers to lose out, and Detroit will have to win their final two games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Green Bay Packers let a huge game slip away from them against the Chicago Bears, and it&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,154844,514,68628,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-359090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-detroit-lions-playoffs","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-playoffs","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}