{"id":74034,"date":"2025-05-23T23:14:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T23:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/74034\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T23:14:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T23:14:14","slug":"green-bays-toughest-and-easiest-games-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/74034\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Bay’s Toughest (and Easiest) Games In 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week<\/a>, I reviewed the Green Bay Packers\u2019 schedule and separated the games into tiers based on sheer anticipation. This week, let\u2019s sort them based on the difficulty of each matchup, in a slate filled with tough opponents.<\/p>\n

Tier 1: Season-defining games<\/p>\n

Week 13: Packers @ Lions<\/p>\n

One plus of Green Bay\u2019s schedule is that they play many of their most formidable opponents at home. Their road divisional matchups will likely be three of their four toughest road matchups, and Week 13 against the Detroit Lions is the toughest of them all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a short week against the reigning division champs, coming off another divisional matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, on the road with a raucous Thanksgiving crowd. This game could tell us where the Packers stand in the NFC.<\/p>\n

Week 10: Packers vs. Eagles<\/p>\n

The Packers get the Philadelphia Eagles at home this time after playing them twice on the road last season. However, Philly gets a massive rest advantage coming in with a Week 9 bye. The defending Super Bowl champions will be one of the more demanding matchups and will require Green Bay to play maybe their best game all season to win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Green Bay\u2019s proposal to end the Tush Push and the league\u2019s failure to ban it will also add a whole different element to this game now. If the Packers win this game, they could solidify themselves as one of the NFC\u2019s top contenders at this point in the season, although the schedule doesn\u2019t get much easier after that.<\/p>\n

Week 17: Packers vs. Ravens<\/p>\n

With two weeks remaining, neither team is likely locked into a playoff seed. That would set us up for a game with a lot on the line despite it being an out-of-conference matchup. Some people would argue the Baltimore Ravens were the best team in the league last season despite their lack of playoff success. They\u2019ll also likely be one of the best this upcoming season.<\/p>\n

Tier 2: The other toughest tests<\/p>\n

Week 18: Packers @ Vikings<\/p>\n

While this game could mean nothing, for the sake of ranking, I believe both teams will still be playing for something.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like with Green Bay\u2019s Week 12 matchup, the difficulty of this game will depend on how good J.J. McCarthy<\/a> is at this point in the season. Minnesota\u2019s defense will be good, but we don\u2019t know that about the offense. Still, the floor is pretty high with Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/a>, Justin Jefferson<\/a>, and Co. By this time, McCarthy will have played a full season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If McCarthy is even just average for a rookie, I expect the Vikings to be in the mix for a playoff spot come Week 18. The Packers will have their hands full between this game and the schedule leading up to it. They must be on their A game to avoid stumbling into the playoffs for the second straight season.<\/p>\n

Week: 15 Packers @ Broncos<\/p>\n

Playing on the road, against a formidable defense and a well-coached offense with a great offensive line sounds awful. So does playing at altitude, in December, at a stadium that Green Bay hasn\u2019t had much success<\/a> in the last decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This will be the toughest non-divisional road game of the year, and the Packers will need both a great defensive performance and Toyotathon Jordan Love<\/a> to show up. However, one thing on Green Bay\u2019s side is that playing at altitude in December is better than playing in the early season or summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, it is not a fun task.<\/p>\n

Week 1: Packers vs. Lions<\/p>\n

This game is the opposite of the other matchup with the Detroit Lions. I like this draw for Green Bay. Getting the Lions in the first game after the brain drain of the coaching staff at home is as good as you could ask for as a Packers fan. Still, the Lions have a great roster and will be the favorite to win the division entering the season.<\/p>\n

Week 2: Packers vs. Commanders<\/p>\n

Week 2 was the hardest game for me to rank for multiple reasons. The Commanders were good last season, Jayden Daniels<\/a> was outstanding as a rookie, and it will be an awesome game. However, Washington had a lot of turnover on both the offensive and defensive lines, and this will be just the second game of those changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also an early-season game, which invites sloppiness. And it\u2019s a Thursday game, with both teams are coming off divisional matchups in Week 1. This could go several different ways.<\/p>\n

Week 16: Packers @ Bears<\/p>\n

At this point in the season, Ben Johnson<\/a> and Caleb Williams<\/a> will have nearly a full season with each other under their belt. There are still a lot of unknowns about the whole team with a completely new staff and offensive line, so it\u2019s hard to truly gauge how the Bears are playing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, they gave the Packers two tough games last year, and you\u2019d expect them to be better bringing in Johnson. It\u2019s also a late-December game in Chicago, which brings in a whole other element.<\/p>\n

Week 6: Packers vs. Bengals<\/p>\n

The Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 high-octane offense will make them competitive in every game, which is why this game qualifies for the backend of Tier 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You\u2019d expect the defense to improve with a new defensive coordinator. However, there are still many holes on that side of the ball. The Packers will also be at home and have a rest advantage coming out of the bye. I expect this to be the highest-scoring game they play all season.<\/p>\n

Tier 3: Remaining home divisional games<\/p>\n

Week 12: Packers vs. Vikings<\/p>\n

Green Bay gets a bit unlucky not catching Minnesota earlier in the J.J. McCarthy<\/a> era, but this will likely (weather permitting) be his first game on the road in the elements in the NFL. The Vikings don\u2019t have one outdoor game (in the United States) between Week 1 and this game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Week 14: Packers vs. Bears<\/p>\n

You\u2019d hope Green Bay was getting a rest advantage with the mini-bye coming out of the Thanksgiving game in Detroit, but that\u2019s not the case. The Bears play in the Black Friday game, but it\u2019s against the Eagles. Both teams will be coming off tough games and will be rested up for their first matchup of the season, which should be a great showdown.<\/p>\n

Tier 4: Road Games that Green Bay will likely be favored<\/a> in<\/p>\n

Week: 8 Packers @ Steelers<\/p>\n

If the Pittsburgh Steelers sign Aaron Rodgers \u2013 which NBC expects, considering this game is on SNF \u2013 it could change the game\u2019s outlook a bit. Nonetheless, Rodgers isn\u2019t the field-tilter he used to be (though he is better than Mason Rudolph<\/a>), and the Packers are just a better team if he\u2019s playing for Pittsburgh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Week: 4 Packers @ Cowboys<\/p>\n

I think the Dallas Cowboys will be a solid team, but nothing to be scared of. As many of us know, the Packers have always fared well in Jerry World. This will be a fun primetime game and one that Green Bay should come away with.<\/p>\n

Week 7: Packers @ Cardinals\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Arizona Cardinals should be tougher opponents than last season<\/a>. They got better in the offseason, and I believe they have a decently high ceiling. Still, I find it hard to believe they\u2019ll be better than the Packers. Regardless, this will be a game that Green Bay has to show up for to win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tier 5: Trap Games<\/p>\n

Week 9 Packers vs. Panthers<\/p>\n

\u201cTrap game\u201d isn\u2019t my favorite term, but I believe teams can take a lesser opponent moe lightly when they have a matchup like the Eagles coming up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bryce Young<\/a> and the Carolina Panthers were much improved by the end of last season. While I think the defense will still be terrible, if Young\u2019s development was real, the offense can make them frisky. The Packers can\u2019t overlook Carolina.<\/p>\n

Week 11 Packers @ Giants<\/p>\n

Who knows what the New York Giants will look like at this point in the season? I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if they have a different coach and Tommy DeVito<\/a> is starting by Week 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That being said, with a divisional matchup coming up and the Thanksgiving showdown coming shortly thereafter, Green Bay needs to come in locked in and take care of business early, unlike the last time<\/a> they played the Giants in New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tier 6: Browns<\/p>\n

Week 3 Packers @ Browns<\/p>\n

After two tough games to start, albeit at home, the Packers will get a moment to breathe off the field with a mini-bye after the Thursday game against Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They should also get one on the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cleveland Browns\u2019 quarterback situation is murky at best, and I assume they won\u2019t figure it out by Week 3. The defensive line featuring Myles Garrett<\/a>, Mason Graham<\/a>, and Maliek Collins<\/a>, along with a solid secondary, could cause some resistance. Still, I don\u2019t expect that to win Cleveland many games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week, I reviewed the Green Bay Packers\u2019 schedule and separated the games into tiers based on sheer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[7,41,345,2514,2513,6,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-74034","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-green-bay","10":"tag-green-bay-packers","11":"tag-greenbay","12":"tag-greenbaypackers","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-packers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114559691791197690","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}