Were the playoffs to begin today, Green Bay would open in Atlanta as a wild-card team.
Yet it feels as if the Packers, one of four NFC teams with 7-3 records, are distancing themselves from the rest of the conference even though they haven't pulled away at all.
Green Bay is trampling its opposition, forcing opponents to abandon game plans, racking up record-breaking numbers and making some believe that it is good enough to win every remaining game this season.
Starting Sunday in Minnesota, the Packers' schedule sets up to where they probably will not be underdogs in any remaining game. Not at Minnesota, not at home against an equally hot Patriots team, not at home versus Atlanta, not at Buffalo, not at Tampa Bay and not at home in the regular-season finale against Detroit.
It's hard to find more than one loss in that slate of games. Which means that Green Bay is headed to the postseason.
Then the question becomes whether Arizona can hold on to home-field advantage in the NFC and whether Detroit can hold off Green Bay for the NFC North lead. Should Green Bay find a way to tie or pass Arizona, which has to play a tough slate of NFC West games starting Sunday in Seattle, then the Packers' path to the Super Bowl in Arizona will become about as open as a desert highway.
At home, the Packers have looked every bit as invincible as the 1985 Bears, the 1995 Cowboys, the 1999 Rams, the 2004 Patriots or any great team that began steamrolling opponents on its way to a title.
In the first half of their past four home games, the Packers have led by a combined score of 128-9.
In their five home games this season, all of which they've won, the Packers have outscored their opponents 219-85, with an average margin of victory of 26.8 points.
Aaron Rodgers has thrown 18 touchdowns at home this season with no interceptions. In fact, Rodgers now has thrown an NFL-record 322 passes at home without an interception, the longest streak in NFL history.
Maybe the closest corollary is the 1998 Vikings, who scored a then-record 556 points in the regular season, didn't lose at home that regular season and beat opponents by an average of 18 points per game.
Now, sometimes funny things happen in the postseason to players and teams that were dominant in the regular season. Vikings kicker Gary Anderson became the first NFL kicker in history to make every one of his field goals and extra points during the regular season only to miss a potentially game-winning, 38-yard field goal with 2:18 left in the 1999 NFC Championship Game against Atlanta.
But if Green Bay does gain home-field advantage, the already-potent Packers will become even more so.
And even if this team has to travel, it is playing as if that might not matter.
Draft trade revisited: Three and a half years after the two teams consummated a blockbuster draft-day trade, Cleveland and Atlanta meet up in person to get an up-close look at what the other side received.
With the No. 6 overall pick the Falcons acquired from the Browns in 2011, Atlanta selected wide receiver Julio Jones, one of the game's most dynamic young talents -- even if he has been plagued by the types of foot issues that bothered him at Alabama. Still, Jones and Roddy White have given the first-place Falcons -- and that's hard to process, Atlanta actually in first place with its 4-6 record -- an offensive identity, for better or worse.
Cleveland, for its part in the trade, has many regrets.
In exchange for the No. 6 overall pick, the Browns turned Atlanta's 2011 first-round pick into defensive tackle Phil Taylor, the Falcons' 2011 second-round pick into wide receiver Greg Little, the Falcons' 2011 fourth-round pick into fullback Owen Marecic and the Falcons' 2012 first-round pick into Brandon Weeden. The Browns also received an extra fourth-round pick as part of the package, which they used (along with two other picks) to trade up for Jones' former Alabama teammate, running back Trent Richardson.
Taylor is the lone remaining player in the deal in Cleveland, and he is on injured reserve.
So it didn't work out the way the old Cleveland regime, and Browns fans, had hoped -- not even close.
But now Cleveland is in a position to make it right, as much as it can. Once again the Browns are in possession of a surplus of draft picks. They have an extra first- and fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft, the same lot they had back in 2012. There's a new Cleveland front office, led by general manager Ray Farmer, and there is more hope around the Browns these days than there has been in any recent season.
These Browns need to make sure they capitalize on those picks and shore up the roster. Cleveland's visit to Atlanta this weekend will serve as a reminder of how important each draft is.
The Browns squandered a great draft opportunity once, with the in-person reminder coming Sunday in Atlanta. Cleveland cannot let it happen again.
Johnson vs. Revis, Part III: For the third time in their careers, Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson and Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis will square off Sunday.
Back in 2010, when Revis played cornerback for the Jets, he limited Johnson to one catch for 13 yards on four targets during New York's 23-20 win over Detroit.
Then last year, with Revis coming off the ACL injury he suffered the season before, he struggled to contain Johnson, who had seven catches for 115 yards, 54 of which came during a second half in which Revis didn't play due to a strain groin he suffered.
Now Revis is healthy, Johnson appears to be healthier, and the two meet again. Yet in a way, these two always have had some sort of connection. They also were a part of the same 2007 draft class that produced stalwarts such as Joe Thomas, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Willis and Marshawn Lynch.
Johnson went No. 2 to Detroit. and then, when the Jets traded multiple picks to move up to Carolina's spot at No. 14, their fans chanted, "Bra-dy! Bra-dy! Bra-dy!" -- a reference to Brady Quinn, the quarterback New York fans wanted their team to take.
Instead, the Jets opted for Revis, who has had the same type of impact at cornerback that Johnson has had at wide receiver. Now, two of the best at what they do square off to see who's best in this unofficial rubber match.
SCHEF'S SPECIALTIES
• Player of the Week: 49ers RB Frank Gore -- A game against Washington's defense is a perfect opportunity to get Gore the types of carries he wants and needs to be the great player he is.
• Cardinals at Seahawks: Arizona was the first team to hand Russell Wilson a loss in Seattle, and now it will be trying to do so again.
• Upset of the Week: Detroit over New England -- Few are giving the Lions a chance after watching how the Patriots have won six straight in dominant fashion and Detroit falling to Arizona last week. But with a win, Detroit has a shot at proving its a legit contender with a win against the NFL's top team.