NFC North’s Unprecedented Domination of Playoff Standings

If the 2024 NFL season were to end today, the Green Bay Packers would be in the NFC playoffs. So would the rest of the NFC North.

In a remarkable display of domination, the four NFC North teams are a combined 19-6. Two of the losses were in divisional matchups.

The Detroit Lions would be the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and the NFC North would sweep the wild-card spots. That’s never happened before.

Here are the latest NFC playoff standings:

1. Detroit Lions: 5-1 (first place, NFC North)

2. Washington Commanders: 5-2 (first place, NFC East)

3. Seattle Seahawks: 4-3 (first place, NFC West)

4. Atlanta Falcons: 4-3 (first place, NFC South)

5. Minnesota Vikings: 5-1 (second place, NFC North)

6. Green Bay Packers: 5-2 (third place, NFC North)

7. Chicago Bears: 4-2 (fourth place, NFC North)

8. Philadelphia Eagles: 4-2 (second place, NFC East)

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-3 (second place, NFC South)

10. Dallas Cowboys: 3-3 (third place, NFC East)

11. Arizona Cardinals: 3-4 (second place, NFC West)

12. San Francisco 49ers: 3-4 (third place, NFC West)

13. Los Angeles Rams: 2-4 (fourth place, NFC West)

14. New Orleans Saints: 2-5 (third place, NFC South)

15. New York Giants: 2-5 (fourth place, NFC East)

16. Carolina Panthers: 1-6 (last place, NFC South)

Never has an entire division qualified for the playoffs, though that statement isn’t quite as remarkable as it seems. The NFL expanded to a 14-team playoff in 2020, meaning this is the fifth season in which it’s even possible for all four teams to get to the postseason.

In 2023, all four AFC North teams finished with winning records but the Bengals (9-8) finished one game out of the playoffs.

In 2022, the Commanders finished last in the NFC East with an 8-8-1 record and missed the playoffs by a half-game.

Last week, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he isn’t looking at the standings.

“You just focus on the task at hand,” he said.

Since losing a divisional showdown against the Vikings, the Packers have won three in a row. After visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, they’ll start getting into the meat of the schedule.

Green Bay will host Detroit in Week 9. After its bye, Green Bay will play its first NFC North road game at Chicago in Week 11. Two weeks later, it’s a trip to Detroit for a rematch against the Lions. The season will conclude at Minnesota in Week 17 and at home against Chicago in Week 18.

“Detroit is loaded in every phase,” LaFleur said. “I just think there’s a lot of good teams in our division right now. So, it will get interesting once we all start playing each other.”

According to Pro Football Network’s Playoff Predictor, here are the Packers’ postseason odds:

Win Division: 8.37 percent

Make Playoffs: 66.74 percent

Make Divisional Round: 39.84 percent

Make the NFC Championship Game: 12.24 percent

Make the Super Bowl: 7.28 percent

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, here are the betting odds (with implied probability):

Win Division: +380 (20.8 percent)

Make Playoffs: -250 (71.4 percent)

Win NFC Championship Game: +700 (12.5 percent)

Win the Super Bowl: +1700 (5.56 percent)

The state of the division increases the importance of every game. Compared to, for instance, the Buffalo Bills, who are three games up in the loss column in the AFC East, the margin for error in the NFC North is small.

Thus, the Packers’ walk-off victory over the Texans on Sunday was incredibly important in the standings. It was important for the team’s psyche, as well.

“I think it can build a lot of confidence,” LaFleur said after the game. “You can never take winning for granted in this league. As sloppy as some of the play was out there today, I loved the effort of our guys, the resiliency of our guys.

“The ability to respond to some adversity I think is huge. Obviously, that’s a playoff-caliber football team – I think one of the best teams in the league. We’ll never apologize for winning.”