The NFL regular season is one week away from being over, meaning that postseason is on the way. However, two Super Bowl championship contenders, the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers may have to enter the playoffs with a broken squad.

The Saints' running back Alvin Kamara tested positive for COVID-19, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The team had to put him on the reserve/COVID-19 list, meaning that Kamara will definitely miss the game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Moreover, the league's COVID-19 protocols ban a player from returning to the game for at least 10 days since the day he tested positive – for Kamara it's Friday. The four-time Pro-Bowler will come back no earlier than January 10 if, of course, he tests negative.

The Saints, which are currently No. 2 in the National Football Conference (NFC) with a 11-4 record, do not stand much chance of getting a first-round bye to rest until January 16 or 17. That means they will play in the wild card game on either January 9 or 10 without one of their best-performing players Kamara.

Having played all 15 games so far this season, Kamara has achieved 21 touchdowns, the most in the league and he got six of them in the 52-33 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day. Kamara is also only 68 yards from finishing his first 1,000-yard season, which won't happen this season.

However, the Saints should consider themselves less unfortunate because there is hope for Kamara to return for the playoffs. The Packers, by contrast, won't have All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari on the field in this season after he injured his knee in Thursday's practice, according to ESPN.

The NFL Network reported that the primary diagnosis is a torn ACL. Though it will take further tests to confirm the problem, this season is over for the highest-paid offensive lineman of the league.

With one game to go, the Packers top the NFC with a 12-3 record after averaging 31.6 points per game. As long as they don't lose to the Chicago Bears (8-7) on Sunday, they won't play until January 16 or 17.

That did not make the team's quarterback Aaron Rodgers feel any better. The two-time MVP said he was still "in the grieving process." "I got a call from him yesterday, late in the afternoon. I was hoping for some good news. Didn't get it. You gotta move on, but right now it's still a little raw. We're still sad and hurting for Dave, just because it's our brother and it's our left tackle, our teammate. It's been a tough time for us and times that by infinity is probably where he's at right now."