Packers can claim second seed with win

A little help from the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night vaulted the Packers to the projected No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.

The Seahawks' 42-13 rout of NFC West leader San Francisco came a few hours after Green Bay steamrollered visiting Tennessee 55-7.

The Packers, who have won nine of their last 10 games, have the conference's second-best record at 11-4. San Francisco slipped to 10-4-1 and out of the second spot.

That puts Green Bay in position to clinch the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs if it wins Dec. 30 at NFC North rival Minnesota in the final game of the regular season.

Atlanta (13-2) is locked in as the NFC's top seed and would have home-field advantage all the way through the conference championship.

The Vikings, however, will be playing for something as well. They are 9-6 and can clinch a wild-card spot by beating the Packers.

Given what's at stake for both teams, the NFL flexed the start time for the game from noon to 3:25 p.m. CST.

"We obviously had a very decisive victory against the Titans (on Sunday), but this football team still has more in front of it," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said Monday. "And, that's what I'm excited about. Having the opportunity to play a playoff-type game, a playoff-game atmosphere on the road with the crowd noise (in Minnesota's Metrodome) and both teams have a lot on the line, shoot, I think it's great for our football team."