If the Green Bay Packers plan to win the NFC North and get one of the better seeds in the NFC Playoffs in 2025, they’re going to have to get a lot of work done in the first half of the season.
On Wednesday evening following the release of the full schedule, APC’s Zach Rapport broke down the “easiest” portion for the Packers. This was no simple task, since the Packers face a challenging schedule overall. Not only do they face the rest of the NFC North teams twice — including the Lions and Vikings, who both finished with at least 14 wins last season — but they also have the NFC East and AFC North divisions, both of which sent two teams to the postseason.
As Zach noted, stacking a series of early wins in weeks 2 through 6 will be crucial for the Packers. That’s because their schedule from week 10 through the end of the season is an absolute gauntlet. Five of Green Bay’s six divisional games come in the last seven weeks of the season, and they probably will need to win at least three of those five to have a chance at a division title.
Practically speaking, there are two separate four-game stretches in November or December that stand out for different reasons. Let’s examine each of those to determine which is likely to be the toughest stretch overall.
Brutal mid-November
This stretch runs from Week 10 to Week 13 and finds the Packers playing four games in the span of just 18 days — including three games against teams that won 14 or more games last season. Ouch.
Week 10: Home vs. Eagles (Monday Night Football)
The first game of this stretch finds the Packers with an extra day of rest before playing the reigning Super Bowl champions. That’s great! Here’s the bad news: The Eagles will be coming off their bye week and therefore have a full 14 days of rest before this game. Gold Package ticket holders had better make sure that those seats are filled with the right color of green.
Week 11: Away vs. New York Giants
This game on paper looks like it should be a win for the Packers, but we all remember the Tommy DeVito debacle the last time they played at MetLife Stadium. Plus, this is a decently long road trip, it comes on a short week, and it’s ahead of back-to-back huge divisional games. If there’s any one game you can circle on the whole schedule as a classic “trap game,” this is it.
Week 12: Home vs. Minnesota Vikings
After the trip to the Meadowlands, the Packers return home for just their second NFC North game of the season as they host the Vikings on Sunday afternoon. Of course, we have no idea what the 2025 Vikings might look like by this point in the season, but you’d love to get a look at J.J. McCarthy earlier in the season rather than him having ten games already under his belt. Then again, you could probably put me at quarterback and win a few games with that receiving corps and defense.
Week 13: Away vs. Detroit Lions (Thanksgiving Day)
Finally, the Packers get their second game against the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, giving them a third straight year with a game on that holiday. Detroit’s injury luck finally ran out in the playoffs last season, but there’s opportunity for some significant regression to the mean this year. By this point, we should know pretty well if Anthony Lynn is remotely able to capture the success that Ben Johnson had with the Lions offense, but this will be the cap to a brutal stretch, both in terms of the opponents the Packers will face and the rest/travel situation.
The Final Four Weeks
Although that stretch is particularly difficult, the Packers’ final four games are just as worthy of consideration as the “toughest” stretch of the season. With just one home game in this span — and that coming against a really good opponent — Green Bay will be scraping and clawing to make it to the end of the season.
Week 15: Away vs. Broncos
Playing at altitude sucks no matter when the game takes place, but at least the Packers aren’t heading to Denver in the first few weeks of the season. Still, the Broncos were a surprising playoff team with rookie Bo Nix at quarterback last season, and they feature the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Patrick Surtain.
Week 16: Away vs. Bears (Saturday)
After a fairly long road trip, the Packers have another short week ahead of a second straight road game, though at least this one will not make for a long travel day. They face the Bears for the second time in 13 days, however, having hosted them two Sundays prior.
Week 17: Home vs. Ravens (Saturday or Sunday)
The only home game in this stretch will find the Packers hosting the Baltimore Ravens, who have won 10 games or more in six of the last seven seasons and have made the Divisional Playoffs four times in that span. That Ravens offense, led by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, is hardly a group that one wants to see late in the season; Henry put up more than 135 yards in each of the season’s final three games last year and averaged at least 5.4 yards per carry in all of those contests as well, so the Packers’ run defense will need to be ready to go.
Week 18: Away vs. Vikings
The Packers then finish the season against the Vikings, meeting them in week 18 for the first time since 2015. The Packers lost by two points to Minnesota in each of their two games last season, needing second-half comebacks in both contests to try to get back in the games. Of course, there’s a good chance that both of these teams will desperately need a win to either clinch a playoff spot or improve their seeding.
Which of these stretches do you see being more difficult for the Packers? Drop a vote in the poll below and a comment on your reasoning.
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Which is the toughest stretch of the Packers’ 2025 schedule?
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Mid-November
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Last 4 Games
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