Karen from South Beloit, IL
So which one of you is Bert, and which is Ernie?
I’ll let Wes decide. But I still don’t want to get too far away from Statler and Waldorf. I just thought I should mention another duo. Yes, it’s me two days in a row. Nothing crazy going on. Just a mid-week adjustment. Carry on.
Brian from Charlottesville, VA
That would be Dr. Bunson Honeydew, to you.
And just like that, a mere seven years later, the Packers get another season opener at home. I wonder how much blue will be seen at Lambeau Field, though. There’s always some nit to pick.
Hopefully the Lions game being the opener will mean fewer tickets available to visiting fans, but I guess we’ll see. It’s interesting that not only have the Packers waited forever to open at home, but now that they get to, they’re playing two home games in five days out of the gate. Go figure.
Detroit Lions in Week 1 at Lambeau. With two new coordinators, better to see them in Week 1, or later when the team and coordinators get settled in?
Hard to say. It cuts both ways. They won’t be settled in, as you suggest, but there will be no meaningful film on the new coordinators in Week 1 either.
I might be late to the party since I got to II late today, but in case no one else mentioned it, the Athletic did a story this week on Howard Katz, longtime NFL scheduler, retiring. It mentioned that no three-game road trips is a rule they feed into the computers that spit out schedules. That’s one clue to answer our question about that.
That must be a new stipulation because the Packers had three straight road games as recently as 2022. Also in 2016 and 2012. This year, they may not be playing three straight on the road, but they are traveling four out of five after those first two home games, with the early bye week mixed in.
Randy from Klamath Falls, OR
Well, most people got their wish, a home opener. But after the two quick home games the next nine out of 15 are on the road. I hope the warriors are ready.
I cautioned against that type of possibility last week in the push for a home opener, though I didn’t consider getting two straight at home to start with the ninth road game this year. But after the four of five on the road through the end of October, the home-road split is 5-5 from the start of November through the finale.
Don’t know what worries me most, the Sunday-Thursday games against playoff teams to start, the not-necessarily-helpful early bye, or the Sunday-Thursday games against division foes in November. Yikes!
Those two Sunday-Thursday gauntlets jumped out to me more than anything else.
Jeremiah from Middleton, WI
Immediate thought on the schedule: Did the NFL punish the Packers for daring to ask for a home opener by schedule five of the division games in the last seven weeks of the season?
That stretch run is as NFC North-loaded as I can recall. The last time with five division games in seven weeks to finish was 2012, which was also the last time the Packers opened with a Sunday-Thursday “doubleheader” at home. With the exception of the bye week placement, it’s very much a replication of the ’12 schedule.
Jeff from Indian Lake, NY
Most underrated part of the schedule? Weeks 11-14, four straight 1 p.m. (ET) kickoffs. Spoff and Hod rejoice.
We’ll see if those kickoff times hold. Thanksgiving is locked in, but those other three are all subject to flex. Anything beats four straight night games like last year, though. Another run like that will send me into retirement.
Jonathan from Richmond Hill, GA
First takeaway of the schedule: Finally opening at Lambeau. Second: Week 5 bye is trash, especially with the gauntlet that is the back half of the schedule starting with the Eagles (AND five division games in seven weeks!). What are you thinking?
I think the NFC North won’t be decided until very late, as it should be. The Bears finish with three of five division games, while the Vikings and Lions both have division games the last two weeks.
First glance at the schedule and I love that we open at home but other than that the schedule looks brutal. Am I wrong?
There’s no way it wasn’t going to look brutal with nine games against ’24 playoff teams.
The 2025 schedule release was very entertaining, but where are the clowns? There ought to be clowns. Well, maybe next year.
We can’t do clowns every year, though Wes’s face paint came close. I enjoyed my hidden role in the Filming.