Packers 2017 schedule release: Game-by-game predictions

The NFL just released the 2017 season schedule, so now feels like a great time to take a look how this season could turn out for the Green Bay Packers.

We already have known their opponents for some time now, but that is only part of the equation. It doesn’t only matter who a team plays, but when they play them which can determine if a team will manage to come out victorious.

Just look back at last season for a perfect encapsulation of that. Green Bay’s opponent slate made for what many predicted to be a 13-3 season. Among other things, the opponents themselves did not really seem to be all that difficult; only five games were played against teams from the 2015 playoff field (Minnesota x2, Seattle, Washington, Houston), and three of those were at home.

Things didn’t work out quite as well as it appeared they should have however, in part due to how the schedule was laid out. They started out the season on a two-game road trip which included a trip to Minnesota to open their new stadium, going 1-1. They also had a stretch of four road games in five weeks right in the middle of the season; in it, they lost three of those four road games and found themselves at 4-6 at one point.

On the other hand, three of their final five were home games which let them catch multiple teams at the wrong part of their own schedules, giving the Packers an advantage over teams like Seattle and Minnesota which they wouldn’t have had earlier in the year. If those games came in the September or October, Seattle would’ve had Earl Thomas to stabilize their secondary, and Minnesota would’ve still been in or near their 5-0 season-opening run of play.

Suffice to say, a team’s schedule can make a major difference. Now, since we know their schedule, let’s look at how Green Bay’s 2017 could go.