GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Chicago Bears beat the Seattle Seahawks 34-17 on Monday night. At one point, a “Green Bay Sucks” chant briefly broke out at Lumen Field.

Really, the Bears did the Green Bay Packers a favor on Monday night.

Here’s a look at the NFC playoff standings entering Week 9.

NFC Standings

The Packers remain the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs. However, there were two key developments following Week 8. First, it’s the playoff opponent. Second, it’s getting some critical breathing room. More on those things in a moment.

In the Playoffs

1. San Francisco 49ers, 6-1

2. Minnesota Vikings, 6-1

3. New York Giants, 4-2-1

4, Carolina Panthers, 3-4

5. Chicago Bears, 6-2

6. Detroit Lions, 5-2

7. Green Bay Packers, 5-3

The NFC North is CLOSE 🍿

Who will take the division? pic.twitter.com/aJuZJsof3q

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 3, 2026

On Their Heels

8. Seattle Seahawks, 4-4

9. Los Angeles Rams, 4-4

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 3-5

11. Atlanta Falcons, 3-5

In the Hunt

12. Arizona Cardinals, 3-5

13. Dallas Cowboys, 3-5

14. Washington Commanders, 2-4-1

15. New Orleans Saints, 2-5

16. Philadelphia Eagles, 2-6

Big Change: The Opponent

If the season were to end today, the Packers would be playing at the Vikings in the wild-card round rather than playing at the 49ers.

With Minnesota losing on Sunday at Detroit while San Francisco was on its bye, the 49ers and Vikings flip-flopped spots in the race for homefield advantage in the NFC. While it’s obviously too early to be projecting playoff matchups, the Packers might prefer Round 3 against a division opponent rather than going on the road and facing a longtime playoff nemesis.

Then again, it wouldn’t really matter. As the standings look now, the Packers would have to beat the Vikings to face the 49ers or the 49ers to face the Vikings.

Big Change: Breathing Room

Here’s the big development from Week 8: The Packers went from seventh place in the NFC because of a flimsy tiebreaker to seventh place in the NFC outright.

The Packers are 5-3 after beating the Panthers on Sunday. The Seahawks fell to 4-4 with their loss to Chicago, so did the Bears did the Packers a favor by giving them a one-game lead over their nearest challenger in the playoff race.

The Rams, who beat the winless Chargers on Sunday, also are 4-4 but in ninth in the NFC. Everyone else is at least two games behind the Packers, including the Falcons, who beat the Packers at Lambeau in Week 3 so would have the critical tiebreaker.

“I feel like that, for sure, that there’s so much more out there for us as an offense,” quarterback Jordan Love said after the Carolina game. “I’ve talked about that time after time. It just comes down to us executing and making plays out there.

“I think that’s the cool part is we know there’s more out there, we know we can be a lot better, we know we can put up more points, but we’ve got to find ways to do it. That’s the challenge for everybody is how do we get there? How do we keep that mindset? Keep improving, keep stacking, improving on the little things. But there’s definitely a lot out there for us, so I think that’s the nice part, the cool part.”

Strength of Schedule

From Tankathon, here are the remaining strength of schedules for the teams that matter to the Packers in the playoff race:

Chicago has the toughest remaining schedule in the league at .585, with Minnesota next at .580. So, the NFC North race is far from decided.

In the race for the final wild-card spots, the Packers are sixth at .561, the Lions are ninth at .526, the Rams are 14th at .514 and the Seahawks are 21st at .486.

For Green Bay, its final nine games include five against teams with winning records – led by the Patriots on Sunday – and a sixth game against the Rams. The Texans, Saints and Dolphins are the three teams with losing records.

What Do Playoff Simulators Have to Say?

Even with their one-game lead in the playoff race, the Packers have only a 50 percent chance of qualifying for the postseason, according to The Athletic. That includes an 8 percent chance of winning the loaded NFC North.

The game at New England will be big. With a win, the Packers would move to a 63 percent probability of reaching the playoffs. With a loss, it would fall to 42 percent.

At NFL.com, the Packers have a 48 percent probability. The Seahawks trail in the standings but are at 50 percent.

At ESPN.com, the Packers have a 49 percent probability, which ranks seventh in the NFC – behind both Seattle and Tampa Bay, with the Bucs being in the thick of the “race” to win the NFC South. The Packers have an 8 percent chance of winning the division.

At Stick to the Model, the Packers have a 47 percent chance of reaching the playoffs and a 6 percent chance of winning the division. What’s a stake against the Patriots? Their chances would rise to 59 percent with a win and fall to 38 percent with a loss.

No simulator likes Green Bay’s chances as much as Playoff Status, where the Packers have a 56 percent chance of qualifying, though only 7 percent as the division winner. By beating the Patriots, that would improve to 65 percent.

Just like the Bears earned a big litmus-test win against Seattle, the defending Super Bowl champions, the Packers will face a measuring-stick game against New England, the defending AFC champion. The Patriots have won four of their last five games and are 3-0 at home.

They are coached by Mike Vrabel, who was Tennessee’s coach in 2018 when LaFleur was offensive coordinator. LaFleur categorized their relationship as “fine” on Monday.

“I learned a lot from Mike,” LaFleur said. “I got a lot of respect for how he goes about his business and holding people to a high standard. Especially, he was always toughest on the best players, and so I learned a lot from my time with him.”

Here's the latest on Josh Jacobs and where you'll find the Packers in the next-team odds for Jonathan Taylor. ⬇️https://t.co/yd0gKVsdh1

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) November 2, 2026