By: Bill Huber, Sports Illustrated

From 2013 through 2019, five out of the seven teams to gain the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs reached the Super Bowl. It was the same story in the AFC.

During those seven seasons, none of the 14 teams that played in the Super Bowl played on Wild Card weekend.

The 2020 season, of course, is different from two fronts. First, there has been practically no homefield advantage this season as teams play in empty or mostly empty stadiums. Second, with the expanded playoffs, only the No. 1 seeds get homefield advantage.

That was the hard-earned prize the Green Bay Packers claimed following its 35-16 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. With a 13-3 record, the Packers have the best record in the NFC, meaning the road to Tampa, Fla., for this year’s Super Bowl will pass through Lambeau Field.

“It gives us that opportunity. It’s a different year, so the homefield advantage might not mean the exact same as years past, obviously, with the homefield crowd that can make a difference at certain times in the game,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.

If nothing else, the No. 1 seed essentially means the Packers will advance to the divisional round of the playoffs without having to get out of the recliner. That’s a big deal given the state of the NFC playoff field.

No. 2 New Orleans finished 12-4. It has a veteran quarterback and prolific running back to lead the offense and finished fifth in points allowed.

No. 3 Seattle finished 12-4. It has a star quarterback and two premier receivers on offense and allowed just 15.0 points per game in winning six of its last seven games.


No. 5 Tampa Bay finished 11-5 and smacked the Packers around in October. It has the ultimate winner with Tom Brady at quarterback and finished eighth in points allowed.

No. 6 Los Angeles finished 10-6 and led the NFL in points allowed.

No. 7 Chicago pushed the Packers deep into the fourth quarter.

While Lambeau Field might be empty, it will be cold. Can Saints quarterback Drew Brees cope with the cold? Can Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson finally win at Lambeau, where he’s 0-4? Can the warm-weather-loving Buccaneers and Rams avoid freezing?

“We know the weather issue always in these months, so we’ll definitely be hoping for some cold, frigid temperatures in a couple weeks,” Rodgers said.

The Packers have showed their cold-weather prowess the last two weeks. Against Tennessee and Chicago, both of which qualified for the playoffs, Green Bay rolled by a combined 75-30.

“It’s a world of difference,” receiver Davante Adams said. “People play different, people act different, they talk different. Everything [is different] coming through Lambeau. You can come in and try to bark and be barefoot pregame, shirt off and do whatever you want to do but, at the end of the day, it’s a beast playing in that snow, it’s a beast playing in that weather.”

The Packers are the No. 1 seed for only the third time since the NFL began seeding teams in 1975. They won the Super Bowl in 1996 but got trounced by the Giants in 2011. In 2011, Rodgers sat out a wild shootout against Detroit in Week 17. Then, the son of offensive coordinator Joe Philbin died. The Packers couldn’t recover.


“It’s nice to be able to go in playing,” Rodgers said. “I think we need the bye. We need a couple guys to get healthy. I’m not worried about any rust or anything. We’ve been really solid all season in situational football and we were again today on third down and red zone. So, I like our chances going forward.”

Getting healthy is one thing. Staying healthy is another, with the ever-present danger of COVID-19 at the forefront of coach Matt LaFleur’s mind.

“Just so happy for our players, our coaches, everybody that’s poured so much into this to get us to this point,” he said. “For us to be able to deliver in crunch time, that’s what it’s all about. We will celebrate this, and we’re happy that the road to Tampa goes through Lambeau, but we also understand that there’s a lot in front of us and we’re going to have to continue to be disciplined in our approach and take it day by day not only from the football component but just being responsible off the field.”