The Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were on the bye this week, so the Green Bay Packers could have put space between themselves and the rest of the conference. Instead, their last-second loss dropped them behind both idle teams. Green Bay is fourth in the NFC now.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles were on a bye, but they moved into a tie for the top spot when the Green Bay Packers lost. The Seattle Seahawks are also 6-2 after their Sunday night win. It goes to NFC record for now, and the Eagles win that. Then the Bucs and their win over Seattle make them second.

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The San Francisco 49ers won convincingly to stay in wild card position. The Detroit Lions lost but hang on to the final playoff spot on a tiebreaker. The Chicago Bears are tied with the Lions but Detroit has the better division record.

The Carolina Panthers beat Green Bay and sit just on the outside looking in. The Minnesota Vikings are one game back in a wild playoff race.

NFC standings during Week 9

1. Philadelphia Eagles (6-2, 5-1 NFC)
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2, 4-2 NFC, win over SEA)
5. Seattle Seahawks (6-2, 3-2 NFC, loss to TB)
4. Green Bay Packers (5-2-1)
3. Los Angeles Rams (6-2, loss to PHI, 1-2 NFC)
6. San Francisco 49ers (6-3)
7. Detroit Lions (5-3) win over CHI)
8. Chicago Bears (5-3, loss to DET)
9. Carolina Panthers (5-4)
10. Minnesota Vikings (4-4)
11. Dallas Cowboys (3-4-1)
13. Atlanta Falcons (3-5, win over WAS)
12. Washington Commanders (3-5, loss to ATL)
14. Arizona Cardinals (2-5)
15. New York Giants (2-7)
16. New Orleans Saints (1-8)

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NFC North standings after Week 9

1. Green Bay Packers (5-2-1)
2. Detroit Lions (5-3, win over CHI)
3. Chicago Bears (5-3, loss to DET)
4. Minnesota Vikings (4-4)

A half-game lead over the next two teams in the division is tough. The packers have three games left against the Lions and Bears plus two against the Vikings. With the Eagles coming to town, it isn’t going to get any easier.