Week 16 was a good one for the Packers.
They beat the Dolphins 26-20 on the road on Sunday and they watched every other result they needed come their way on Saturday. The Giants, Lions, Seahawks, and Commanders all lost their games, which means that the Packers remain in the playoff hunt with two games left to play in the regular season.
A path to the playoffs would be easier if the 7-8 Packers had done more winning earlier in the year, but quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he’ll settle for playing games that matter once the calendar flips to January.
“I’d like to be, you know, 10-5, 11-4, but considering where we were a few weeks ago, a lot of has happened in our favor,” Rodgers said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “All the games that needed to go a certain way went a certain way. Now, there’s obviously much left [to do], but again, we’ve played meaningful games in December, we won all three of those. Now we’re playing meaningful games in January, and we’ve got to win those.”
If the Packers beat the Vikings and Lions, they’ll be in the playoffs with one Commanders loss or two Giants losses. There are other, less straightforward paths available as well, so the Packers have a few paths to bring this season to a happier ending than appeared to be available a month ago.