Packers continue quest for No. 1 seed
The Green Bay Packers’ path to the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs is straightforward.
Win their final three regular-season games, and the Packers (10-3) have the opportunity to earn a Super Bowl berth without leaving Lambeau Field. That’s a tantalizing possibility for a franchise that has lost on the road in three of the past six NFC championship games.
The conference’s top seed only has to win two playoff games at home to make it to the Super Bowl. The Packers, who already have clinched the NFC North title, will try to take one more step toward earning that No. 1 seed when they host the slumping Carolina Panthers (4-9) on Saturday night.
“Winning two football games at home and then playing in the Super Bowl, that’s crystal clear,” Packers wide receiver Davante Adams said. “That’s kind of the message we’ve had for the past week or two.”
The Packers follow up the Carolina game by hosting Tennessee (9-4) and visiting Chicago (6-7). The Packers and Saints (10-3) share the same record, but Green Bay owns a tiebreaker advantage after winning at New Orleans on Sept. 27.
Green Bay has won three straight thanks in part to the potent passing combination of Adams and Aaron Rodgers. Adams has 14 touchdown catches to tie Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill for first place among all NFL players. Rodgers has thrown an Nfl-leading 39 touchdown passes.
Rodgers’ play has impressed Panthers coach Matt Rhule, who remembers watching tape of the two-time MVP while working as a New York Giants assistant offensive line coach in 2012. Rhule says Rodgers has the same physical skills now that he possessed then.
“He hasn’t aged,” Rhule said. “He’s unbelievable.”
Rodgers will be facing a Carolina defense that has struggled lately against lesser quarterbacks as the Panthers have dropped six of their past seven games.
CAROLINA’S CLOSE CALLS
Three of the Panthers’ past four losses have been decided by a total of eight points. In seven of Carolina’s losses, the Panthers had the ball late in the fourth quarter with a chance to win or send the game into overtime.
“It’s definitely a hump that we want to get over,” Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said. “We are capable of getting over it, but we have to execute when that situation comes. And that starts with me being better in those situations.”
MVP TIMES THREE?
Rodgers’ big season has raised hope that he could earn a third MVP honor after previously winning the award in 2011 and 2014.
Rodgers and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes are considered top contenders.
“There’s not many guys that have won three, so that would definitely mean a lot,” Rodgers said.