Who will they face in the 2024 NFC wild card?

On December 29, 2024By Littum

The Green Bay Packers know they’re headed to the playoffs, and they know they’ll open the postseason on the road as a wild-card team. The question now: Who will they meet?

Using PlayoffStatus.com As a guide, Green Bay could face any of eight possible opponents, but three of them (Washington Commanders, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions) are deeply unlikely. That leaves five teams and one (Seattle Seahawks) only has a 5% probability.

Here’s a look at the rest.

Los Angeles Rams (34%)

The most likely scenario? The Packers remain in their current spot as no. 6 seed, and the Rams maintain their spot atop the NFC West, ending up hosting the Packers at SoFi Stadium.

The Rams face the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday and need a win to stay a full game ahead of the Seahawks for the top seed in the West. However, the Seahawks can regain the tiebreaker between the two teams with a head-to-head win over the Rams in Week 18 … though the Rams are inching closer to holding the higher ground in that matchup.

Los Angeles probably won’t win with a win over the Cardinals on Saturday, but it’s possible.

The Rams have been on fire since the beginning of the season, when the Packers defeated LA, 24-19, and sent the team to 1-4. Now healthy (namely Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp), the Rams have gone 8-2 since, with an understandable loss to the Eagles and the only other setback coming against the Miami Dolphins. Wins in that stretch have come against Minnesota, Seattle and the Buffalo Bills.

Philadelphia Eagles (26%)

Here’s a pretty easy scenario to imagine: The Eagles stay in the No. 2 seed, the Packers lose to Minnesota and Washington wins, putting Green Bay in the No. 7 seed, forcing them to go on the road to face the Eagles.

The teams met in Week 1 in Brazil, of course, a 34-29 Packers loss in which Jordan Love was sidelined late with an injury. The Eagles limped out to a 2-2 start, but then caught fire, winning 10 straight before a wild 36-33 loss to Washington last weekend.

Jalen Hurt’s health is in doubt; he is currently in the concussion protocol and may not be available against the Dallas Cowboys this weekend. A loss that would further cement Philly as the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

Atlanta Falcons (19%)

This would be an enticing matchup for the Packers, a Falcons team that recently made a change at quarterback and have lost four of six with the two wins against last-place teams Las Vegas and the New York Giants.

The Falcons find themselves tied with the Buccaneers atop the NFC South and currently own the tiebreaker. If the Falcons stay put, perhaps by beating Washington and Carolina in the final two weeks, then they will host a first-round matchup. The Packers could easily be the No. 1 opponent. 5 seed, leapfrogging Minnesota with a head-to-head win and a Vikings loss to the Lions in the finals.

There is also a scenario where the Falcons get the No. 3 seed with the Packers still at no. 6.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (15%)

The NFC South winner could also end up being the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who finish the year with favorable matchups against Carolina and New Orleans, while Atlanta still faces Washington.

The Bucs just lost a narrow game in Dallas, but have been on fire, given the team’s four straight wins came against mostly bad teams (except for the Los Angeles Chargers) and they came on the heels of four straight losses against four pretty good teams .

Baker Mayfield is sixth in the NFL in passing yardage and third behind Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson in passing touchdowns (34), although he also has 15 interceptions.

Seattle Seahawks (5%)

The Seahawks have an uphill battle to win the NFC West, which is the only way they would end up tied with the Packers in the first round.

Geno Smith is second in the league in passing yards, but the Packers saw a few weeks ago that they can put pressure on Smith and make him a non-factor as Green Bay won, 30-13.

Then again, the Packers may want to avoid any postseason football games in Seattle, purely to avoid the negative vibes.

This story was updated to correct a typo.