Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images
You know, things like weather, days of rest, time of day, and the like.
Over the next several days you will see any number of people attempt to rank the Green Bay Packers’ schedule by degree of difficulty, travel distance, fairness, impact of the Gold Package, and any other number of ways. And so I thought we would take a stab at ranking every game in the Packer schedule using all of these factors in addition to aesthetics, holiday impact, prime time impact, and climate.
A noon Bears game on a crisp fall day at Lambeau? That’s a 10, but it’s not the only way to get a 10. A late December night game against the Dolphins in Lambeau could be a 10, but not if it’s on Christmas or creates a short week. It’s a complicated system! Do we award more points to the game against the Browns because they have five quarterbacks and are really really funny? Do we downgrade the Giants because they’re more sad than funny? Do we downgrade a boring bad game for NOT being a Gold Package game? Let’s get into it.
Week 1: Lions at Packers, Sunday, September 7th, 3:25 PM CT. Green Package
Rating: 9
The Packers have been sent on the road so much to open the season of late that we definitely give this game a boost just for being at home. We’re also upgrading this game because it’s better to open against a traditional divisional rival than some rando team from the AFC, though I think I would maintain the high score had it been the Eagles due to the playoff revenge angle.
The Lions are a good get, and while they are not rivals on par with the Bears and Vikings, historically speaking, they are the current kings of the division and when healthy, are probably still the best team in the conference. If this were a noon kickoff it might even get the coveted 10, but 3:25 is almost as good, and as the Green Package will be in attendance, nothing to worry about there.
Week 2: Commanders at Packers, Thursday, September 11th, 7:15 (TNF), Gold Package
Rating: 3
The Commanders only rank as high as a three because at least we get to see Jayden Daniels play, but as it’s the Gold Package that will be seeing him, does that tree really even make a sound? Playing on a short week already in Week 2 is horrible, playing on Thursday is, in general, horrible, and playing WASHINGTON on the 24th anniversary of September 11th is going to make the broadcast unbearable. Washington will be coming off of a noon game against the pathetic Giants while the Packers will have played the 3:30 game against a great Lions team, which, while small, doesn’t help matters.
Week 3: Packers at Browns, Sunday, September 21st, 12 Noon
Rating: 6
The Packers’ first road game takes them to Cleveland in September, and while, as previously mentioned, the Browns are really funny, this is still pretty disappointing. On the plus side, this game is early enough that the Browns’ QB situation is probably still unsettled, and that’s a good thing. You get extra points for playing Cleveland early, as they probably become more boring as we get later in the season. And a noon game in September is fine and dandy.
That said, there are plenty of negatives as well. Going to Cleveland is an easy road trip, and the Browns went 3-14 last season, so this is a complete waste of the additional rest you receive after a Thursday night game. The Packers will travel West twice this season, against Arizona and Denver, and the 10-day break would have served them much better in either scenario. This one is a mixed bag, but could certainly be better.
Week 4: Packers at Cowboys, Sunday, September 28th, 7:20 (SNF)
Rating: 5
It’s not surprising that the Packers’ game against the Cowboys in Jerryworld is getting the prime time treatment, and at least it’s on a Sunday, so not terribly disruptive, but I don’t think the Cowboys really warrant prime time treatment this year, and I think we need to downgrade this game at least a bit to address the macro factor of the Cowboys making prime time boring. The Cowboys have seven prime time games this year, second only to Kansas City. This is hardly new as the Cowboys are allegedly a ratings draw, though the interest in the Cowboys of late is based far more on soap-opera factors and not on-field competency. I suspect by season’s end many people are saying things like “the Cowboys AGAIN?” and “what idiots thought the Cowboys would be this good?”
And so, while some may view the Packers having prime time games something of an honor, this one is ill-gotten. We don’t even have the Mike McCarthy subplot anymore. Maybe George Pickens will do something insane, I suppose.
Week 5: Bye
Rating: 0
That rating isn’t just because this is a bye, it absolutely reflects the merits of a Week 5 bye. This is simply awful. The ideal bye takes place from weeks 8 through 11, and the further away you get from that window, the worse it is. Moreover, if you are going to be subjected to an extremely early or late bye, the late option is far superior as it may give you an advantage for a playoff run, including an opportunity to get healthy for the playoffs themselves. Playoff games are more valuable than regular season games, and so that is the way to go.
This garbage bye is simply a waste. Some might argue that an early bye can indeed be useful, and to just look at last year’s early injury to Jordan Love as an example of how an early bye could benefit a team, but that was a very weird early season injury, and in any case, the man was back by Week 4!
The fact is that players may suffer injuries early, or late, or whenever, and the distribution is unpredictable, but what is not unpredictable is the general wear and tear on players over the course of a long season. There is not nearly as much wear and tear by Week 5, and so the Packers will not reap the benefits of the bye. Early byes are awful. The schedule is off to a rough start.
Week 6: Bengals at Packers, Sunday, October 12th, 3:25, Green Package
Rating: 7
This is a pretty fun matchup at a pretty normal time. This would have been good as a Gold Package game as it’s an AFC opponent, but the 2nd/5th home game rules don’t let it work. What I am against, at least a bit, is a home game after the bye. We’ve already seen the mini-bye of a post-Thursday game wasted on a trip to Cleveland and now we get a home game after the real bye, against another lower leverage AFC opponent? The Packers visit Arizona the very next week. Would it have been so hard to schedule that after our stupid early bye?
All of that aside, this should be an aesthetically pleasing game on a beautiful October Sunday, and some people may even get Monday off due to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, or Evil Genocidal Explorer day depending on your political persuasion. There’s really no weather advantage to be gained against the Bengals earlier or later, and so it may as well be mid-October. On that note, I am happy we are not playing the Chiefs in this slot, which would have knocked this to a 5.
Week 7: Packers at Cardinals, Sunday, October 19th, 3:25
Rating: 6
It is aggravating that that the Packers are traveling West on normal rest when extended rest was just sitting there a week earlier, but at least the Cardinals are similarly disadvantaged as they will be in Indianapolis the week before returning home for this game. Also of note, the average high temperature in Phoenix on October 19th is around 82 degrees. That’s still hot, and temperatures do still occasionally get into the 90s or even 100s this late in the year, but at least this game did not take place in September when the average is well into the 90s. Still, it will likely be hotter than the Packers are used to. If this was an away game in LA or San Francisco, with a more normal temperature, this would rank higher.
The Packers don’t travel a ton in terms of pure mileage, as they will have the fifth fewest miles traveled this year, but the travel they do have includes temperature and altitude issues at Arizona and Denver, and on normal rest at best.
Week 8: Packers at Steelers, Sunday, October 26th, 7:20 (SNF)
Rating: 5
All things being equal, a Packers-Steelers prime time game can be a beautiful thing, but here, all things are not equal. The Packers will be on normal rest from a game out in Arizona while the Steelers will be on 10 days rest from a Thursday night game at Cincinnati and playing at home. I would also wager heavily that this game is getting prime time treatment on the speculation that the Steelers will sign Aaron Rodgers, which would obviously make this a hugely interesting game for purely prurient reasons.
With all of that said, this may very well turn into a rock fight between a tired Packer team and a Mason Rudolph, or perhaps Will Howard-led Steelers team, which might be better served at noon instead of stinking up everyone’s early Halloween parties. Then again, if Rodgers ends up not playing for the Steelers, it might get flexed to one of those earlier time slots.
I’d love to give this historic matchup a higher rating. The Steelers and the Packers have a pretty fun history together, Pittsburgh has the draft next year, and it deserves a higher rating, but I can’t go above a five for the scheduling shenanigans that are likely to turn what should be an easy Packer victory into a more competitive game.
Week 9: Panthers at Packers, Sunday, November 2nd, 12 Noon. Green Package
Rating: 4
If ever a game called out for the Gold Package, this is it. If this was a Gold Package game, this is an easy 7 at least. An uninteresting Carolina team at Noon in early November (that won’t interfere with Trick or Treating in any serious way) is totally fine, and they may even be kind of frisky with Tet McMillan and a possibly decent defense.
But ideally this would have been a Packer short week game and/or a Gold Package game. Every team is going to have some short rest, and home against the Panthers would have been a good time for it. No one really cares about this game, and so it should have served as a sort of sacrificial lamb. It was not, and so it’s just a boring fine meh kind of game. Total 4.
Week 10: Eagles at Packers, Monday, November 10th, 7:15 (MNF), Gold Package
Rating: 5
This would be an easy 8 in a vacuum with the Green Package in attendance, but instead we’re having our playoff rematch with the Super Bowl champs as a Gold Package game, which, booooooo. And while I prefer my games on Sunday, I can’t punish this too much for being featured on Monday as it’s certainly earned that. However, the Eagles will be coming off of their bye, while the Packers will be on regular rest.
That’s a huge advantage for the Eagles, who get to rest and heal, while the Packer bye will be five weeks gone by this point. It’s an ideal travel situation for the visitors in a game that could have huge implication for the NFC. This should be an 8, but instead it’s annoying.
Week 11: Packers at Giants, Sunday, November 16th, 12 Noon
Rating: 5
The Packers head to New York on short rest, which is also annoying, but at least the Giants will be coming off a road game in Chicago. The Giants are a boring opponent with almost as many quarterbacks as the Browns (Wilson/Winston/Dart, and the dreaded Tommy DeVito) and a bunch of those guys are even pretty funny. You’ve got educational bread guy, captain interception, and Jaxson Dart. That’s pretty funny!
But it’s still the Giants, and there’s a ceiling on how good a Giants’ game can be.
Week 12: Vikings at Packers, Sunday, November 23rd, 12 Noon, Green Package
Rating: 8
This one is objectively pretty good, but the back half of the season is weird and this is a part of the weirdness. Over Green Bay’s last 7 games, 5 are against opponents from the NFC North. It’s a very concentrated in-division schedule, and honestly it’s kind of irritating. It’s made more so because it would be better to play Minnesota early while their quarterback situation is still in question, and the Packers do not.
It’s also an extremely difficult schedule because the Vikings and Lions were quite good last season, and will likely be at least good this year. The Bears will probably be better as well. And the two non-division games dons the stretch are the Ravens and Broncos. It’s a REALLY hard back-half.
But hey, this game is fine. It’s at home, it’s the Green Package, it’s the Vikings at noon in late November. There are no scheduling shenanigans directly related to this game. This is how you do it.
Week 13: Packers at Lions, Thursday, November 27th, 12 Noon
Rating: 2
Ugggggh. Playing the Thanksgiving noon game in Detroit is HORRIBLE. It’s smack dab in the middle of a major US holiday, it’s a short week, it’s a road game, and the Lions will be in the middle of a three game homestand. For my money, the noon Thanksgiving time slot is the worst time slot you can play in all year. If you
are on Thanksgiving it’s better to be later, so we can watch after festivities have wound down. Even the afternoon slot is slightly better just by virtue of stretching into the evening.
At noon, there’s cooking going on, setting up extra tables, and the potential of not being able to watch the game at all depending on family dynamics. It’s also the shortest rest possible from the previous game. Bah.
Week 14: Bears at Packers, Sunday, December 7th, 12 Noon. Green Package
Rating: 8
This should be a 10, but the league just cannot get out of their own way. We’ve seen instances of Packer opponents gaining a rest advantage over the Packers, and this would have been a perfect place to pay that back, but no! The Packers do enjoy a long break after the Thanksgiving game, but the Bears will be enjoying a break that is nearly as long, as they play on Black Friday at Philadelphia. Is this fair in terms of the matchup itself? Yes, yes it is. But we had to face the Eagles off of their bye. Come on, throw us a bone.
Still, Bears at Lambeau at noon in December can only be so low, and this is still a solid 8, especially with the Green Package in attendance.
Week 15: Packers at Broncos, Sunday, December 14th, 3:25
Rating: 8
The Broncos are a fun up-and-coming team, and this should be a pretty fun game if nothing else. Both teams are on regular rest, with Denver playing at Vegas the previous week. And if you are going to Denver for a game, with the weather and elevation, it’s better to do so later in the year when people have gotten themselves into good cardiovascular shape. Any cold or snow won’t impact Green Bay like it would certain other opponents, and all in all, I’d rather go to a cold weather spot than a tropical one at this point.
This should be a good one. No complaints.
Week 16: Packers at Bears, Saturday, December 20th, 3:30 or 6:00
Rating: 7
The Packers are playing one half of a Saturday double dip against the Bears in Chicago, and this just isn’t as good as the first meeting between the two. For starters, that game was two weeks ago! How about some space?! But I also do not like late December night games at Soldier, as they have the potential to be cold-cold, with the wind whipping off Lake Michigan. If the game is at six, knock another point off, but if it’s the afternoon game, that’s mostly fine. Both teams will be on equal rest, and as always, it’s a fun rivalry game. I do wish the Packers would have gotten Ben Johnson at least once in the early season to catch him before he can fully implement his system, but it’s not a huge deal.
Week 17: Ravens at Packers, probably Saturday, December 27th, probably either 3:30 or 6, Green Package
Rating: 10
The Ravens are no stranger to cold weather games, but aside from that, it’s hard to complain about this one in any real way. It should be a phenomenal game between two very good teams who haven’t managed to get over the hump in their respective conferences. The Packers will actually get a rest advantage for one of the only times this season as the Ravens will be on slightly short rest
This is potentially a huge late season game, in a cold December Lambeau field, it’s importantly NOT on Christmas Thursday, it’s the Green Package fans, and who knows, maybe we’ll get snow. It is a tough game of course, like every game in the back half, but hey, it’s not an easy league.
Week 18: Packers at Vikings: TBD
Rating: 4
While we do not know exactly when this game will happen, we do know that the Vikings will probably have a substantial rest advantage, as they play on Christmas day and the Packers will not. Compounding all of this, the ideal time to play in Minnesota is in the fall, because it’s an indoor experience and there is less cognitive dissonance between indoor and outdoor in the fall. Playing at Minnesota in the winter is just a waste. You have the outdoor footage and idea of the winter, but it’s just a tease. When the Packers and Bears play outside in the winter, it’s the winter. But playing in Minnesota this late? Nah. That bird-killing atrocity is a betrayal of what Midwest football is supposed to be.
Packers v. Vikings at Lambeau is a great matchup between old rivals, with an easy 10 ceiling. Packers v. Vikings in Minnesota has like a 7, tops in winter. As they will be better rested with back-to-back home games, this is trash.