Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Why the Lions might want Aaron Rodgers to return this week

The Detroit Lions stayed alive in the race for the playoffs. To do so the rest of the season, they must keep winning. If that happens, the Lions will likely go into the final week of the year with at least a chance at a playoff berth.

But they'll need help.

To help break some of this down, here's a look at what games around the league are of import for Detroit in Week 15.

NFC North

Chicago Bears at Detroit (7-6), Saturday: It's simple. The Lions need to win. They beat Chicago last month 27-24, but need to have a better performance than they did then -- and better than Sunday's win over the Tampa Buccaneers -- to beat a Bears team that handled the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

Cincinnati at Minnesota Vikings (10-3), Sunday: It's improbable at best, but the Lions are still alive for the NFC North title. The one way that happens? The Vikings drop their final three games while the Lions win their last three. So Cincinnati is the easy team to pull for here for Detroit.

Green Bay Packers (7-6) at Carolina Panthers (9-4), Sunday: Did you ever think the Lions would want to see Aaron Rodgers? Right now, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Detroit (although it could be really bad for the Lions in Week 17). But Detroit could use a Packers win over the Panthers to push them back to the pack for a wild-card spot. A Carolina win over Green Bay wouldn't be devastating for the Lions' playoff hopes as it would knock the Packers out barring the unlikely, but a Panthers loss is the better outcome. Realistically, any Lions playoff berth is coming with a Week 17 win over Green Bay, so the Lions could use the help.

Wild-Card:

Los Angeles Rams (9-4) at Seattle Seahawks (8-5), Sunday: At this point, Detroit would benefit from a Rams' win in Seattle. It would all but give Los Angeles the NFC West title and knock the Seahawks into a tie with Detroit. It would also give the Seahawks another conference loss, which could be the critical tiebreaker for playoff purposes. There's also this scenario: If Seattle wins and then both Los Angeles and Seattle win out, both would be 11-5 and that's a number the Lions can't get to. So a Rams win would be big here.

New York Jets at New Orleans Saints (9-4), Sunday: If the Saints lose out, they would not be a playoff team (almost assuredly meaning the Atlanta Falcons and the Panthers would reach the playoffs) and at nine wins, the Lions would have the edge. The Saints hold the tiebreaker over the Lions head-to-head and also, at this point, have a better conference record.

Dallas Cowboys (7-6) at Oakland Raiders, Sunday: The Cowboys are, like the Lions, still in the playoff race. If they hang on this week against the Raiders, they would also get star back Ezekiel Elliott back for the stretch run. So Detroit needs the Cowboys to be out of it -- especially since the Lions are likely to need Dallas' help in Week 16 against Seattle. Such is life on the playoff bubble.

Atlanta (8-5) at Tampa Bay, Monday: The Bucs are not a good football team. The Lions, however, could use them finding the potential they had -- and showed in brief segments against Detroit on Sunday -- against their division rival. A Tampa Bay upset of the Falcons would be a massive benefit to the Lions' playoff hopes, especially considering the Falcons close with the Saints and Panthers.

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