A look at Packers potential NFC divisional round opponent

The Green Bay Packers have the luxury of sitting back and relaxing this weekend. They are the only NFC playoff team with a bye this season, thanks to a new playoff format which was enacted.

Who and when the Packers will meet in the divisional round … well, Green Bay will have to wait until Sunday night to find out.

Here’s what we do know: The Packers will face the highest-remaining seed after this weekend’s games. They can’t play either No. 2 New Orleans or No. 3 Seattle, as neither of these can be the highest seed left.

Let’s take a look at the remaining possibilities, from lowest seed to highest.

No. 4 Washington Football Team

At 7-9, Washington is the rare team in the postseason with a losing record. This is nothing new to head coach Ron Rivera, who took a 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers to the playoffs in 2014 — and then beat an 11-6 Arizona team at home.

Washington will be at home in this one, too, although it is more than a touchdown underdog against Tampa Bay (Saturday, 7:15 p.m.).

WFT is 5-1 with Alex Smith as its starting quarterback, although he didn’t look great in Washington’s season finale, when it barely beat a Philadelphia team which looked like it wasn’t really trying to win.

Washington’s running game is led by Antonio Gibson, who also returned in the last game after missing a couple due to injury. He finished with 795 yards (4.7 average) and 11 touchdowns. Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but leading wide receiver Terry McLaurin (1,118 yards, 4 TD) also missed a game before returning for the finale.

WFT does have a good defense, though, finishing second in the NFL in yards allowed and passing yards allowed. Washington produced 23 turnovers, seventh in the league. Washington had a 25.4% pressure percentage, seventh best in the NFL. Rookie Chase Young (7.5 sacks, 12 TFL, 12 QB hits) would certainly be a handful for a Packers team playing without Pro Bowl left tackle David Bakhtiari.

Nevertheless, Green Bay would be an expected big favorite in this game. For the Packers to play Washington, the three playoff games would need to go chalk, with the Saints and Seahawks also winning.

No. 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Green Bay played in Tampa Bay back in Week 6 and it didn’t go well. Aaron Rodgers had his worst game of the season, passing for just 160 yards with no touchdowns (the only game all season he didn’t throw one) and two interceptions (he had just five all season), one of which was returned for a touchdown, in 38-10 loss. Not that Rodgers needs another chip on his shoulder, but you know he’d have one in a rematch.

The Buccaneers hit a bit of a lull, losing three of four from Weeks 9-12, but after a bye week they reeled off four consecutive wins to end the season — of course all those wins were against losing teams (Atlanta twice, Detroit and Minnesota).

Tom Brady threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns with 12 interceptions this season. Mike Evans, who is banged up, led the team with 1,006 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, but Tampa Bay also has Chris Godwin (840 yards, 7 TD in 12 games) and Antonio Brown (483 yards, 4 TD in eight games), who wasn’t with the Bucs when they played Green Bay. Don’t forget about tight end Rob Gronkowski, who had seven touchdowns, including one against the Packers.

Tampa Bay’s run game might seem like a second thought, but Ronald Jones ended up rushing for 978 yards in 14 games on 5.1 yards per carry.

The defense is strong, as well, finishing fifth in the NFL in turnovers and sixth in yards. However, the Bucs were 21st in passing yards allowed and 20th in TD passes. Tampa Bay finished second in the league in pressure percentage (32.3%).

Like Washington, in order for Green Bay to face Tampa Bay, both the Saints and Seahawks would also have to win. We’d bet a Packers-Buccaneers matchup would be served in prime time.

No. 6 Los Angeles Rams

The Rams aren’t exactly heading into the playoffs on a high.

Quarterback Jared Goff missed the regular-season finale with an injured thumb. But it’s not like the Rams’ offense had been thriving with him in the lineup.

Los Angeles scored more than 27 points just once since Week 5 and was held to 20 or fewer points in nine of 16 games, including each of the last three.

The Rams had no 1,000-yard receivers but did have four over 500, including Cooper Kupp (974, 3 TD) and Robert Woods (936, 6 TD). The run game has been split among three backs, with Cam Akers (625 yards) the back du jour, at least before he got hurt (but he’s expected to play).

Los Angeles’ strength is its defense, where it ranked first in the NFL in yards, first downs allowed, passing yards and passing touchdowns allowed, not to mention third in rushing yards allowed and rush average.

A matchup of cornerback Jalen Ramsey against wide receiver Davante Adams would be quite interesting, not to mention seeing if the Packers could limit All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald (13.5 sacks, 27 QB hits).

The Rams play at Seattle on Saturday at 3:40 p.m. in the NFC’s first playoff game. If Los Angeles wins, the Rams would face the Packers barring a New Orleans loss.

No. 7 Chicago Bears

The Packers played the Bears twice this season — in Week 12 and 17 — and won 41-25 and 35-16.

We saw Chicago’s game plan in the season finale — try to control the ball on offense and limit Green Bay’s time with the ball. It worked out well … for about a quarter.

Rodgers has lost to the Bears just twice since 2014 with one of those coming at Lambeau Field. He’s faced them once in the playoffs, in the divisional round in 2010 — the season the Packers won the Super Bowl.

Chicago won eight games this season, but only one against a winning team (Tampa Bay in Week 5). The Bears were seemingly in a groove, having scored 30+ points in four straight and winning three in a row, before falling at home to Green Bay in Week 17.

You probably know all about a divisional rival like Chicago so we won’t bore you with all their statistics.

If the Bears beat New Orleans on Sunday (3:40 p.m. kickoff) then Green Bay will host Chicago next week. Chicago is a 10-point underdog.

Let the games begin!