Ever since New Orleans opened the door by losing to the Eagles in Week 14, the Packers have latched onto that first playoff seed like an enraged bulldog.
Most of the benefits of the Pack’s top playoffs seeding are obvious: players get an extra week to rest, recharge, and not have to travel; the team gets home field advantage through the conference championship game; the coaches get an extra week to formulate strategy regarding the likely opponent. But there’s another, and perhaps less-mentioned advantage.
I would hazard to guess than in a typical NFL game from two to four players on each side suffer an injury that will keep them from playing for more than one week.