Los Angeles Rams’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks during the NFC Wild Card Round on Saturday secured only two possible opponents for the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field next weekend.
The Packers will play against Rams, seed # 6, or the Chicago Bears, who will face the Saints in New Orleans as seed # 7 on Sunday.
If the Bears win, the Packers will receive the Bears in the NFC Divisional Round.
If the Bears lose, the Packers will receive the Rams in the NFC Divisional Round.
The Packers are the No. 1 seed in the NFC and will play against the team with the lowest rating remaining on the conference playoff pitch. The Rams’ victory ruled out the possibility of the Packers playing against the Washington Football Team (No. 4 seed) or Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 5 seed) in the second round.
The Packers beat the Bears during the 2020 season, including a 19-point victory in Chicago during Week 17, but LaFleur’s team didn’t face Sean McVay and the Rams, who defeated the Seahawks with a final score of 30-20 in Saturday in Seattle.
The Rams finished with 10-6 and second place in the NFC West in 2020. The defense was first in the NFL in allowed points and has All-Pros Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey, although Donald left Saturday’s victory with an injury . Quarterback Jared Goff is also dealing with a thumb injury.
The Bears went 8-8 and the second place in NFC North in 2020. The Packers had a score advantage of 76-41 in the two meetings with Matt Nagy’s team.
The potential benefit here is to avoid Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in the Divisional Round. The Packers lost to the Bucs 38-10 in the regular season.