GREEN BAY, Wis. – Not long ago, the question was whether the Green Bay Packers would wind up with a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Now, following Thursday’s victory at the Detroit Lions, it’s whether they’ll make a surprise run to a playoff spot. Before kickoff at Detroit on Thursday, the Packers were +265 to make the playoffs at FanDuel Sportsbook.
That’s an implied probability of 27.4 percent. On Sunday morning, that had improved to +118, or an implied probability of 45.9 percent. With back-to-back wins over the Chargers and Lions, the Packers have moved into eighth place in the NFC playoff chase.
With a 5-6 record, they are one game behind the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks for the last two wild-card spots. While Super Bowl long shots, everything seems to be trending the right way for Green Bay to continue its season for at least one more week in January. After a Sunday night showdown at Lambeau Field against the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs – the Chiefs are 6.5-point favorites at SI Sportsbook – the Packers will close the regular season with five winnable games.
The final stretch: at the Giants, home against the Buccaneers, at the Panthers and Vikings and home against the Bears. Only the Vikings have a winning record. Meanwhile, the final six games for the: Vikings: home vs. the Bears, at the Raiders and Bengals, home against the Lions and Packers and the finale at the Lions. The Vikings will be getting back elite receiver Justin Jefferson, perhaps for Monday against the Bears, but will need to get by with journeyman quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
Leave a Reply