The Green Bay Packers will soon learn their Week 1 opponent, but by reading the tea leaves, one scenario stands out above the rest.
Through various leaks and reports, we already know the Packers won't meet the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, or Denver Broncos in their season opener. We can also assume the NFL, as it usually does, will want the Packers in a marquee matchup to open the season. Green Bay often meets a division rival in Week 1, and last year, it was a showdown with Philadelphia in Brazil.
Enter Aaron Rodgers.
It doesn't get much bigger than a Rodgers versus Packers revenge game to kick off the new season, and we have a theory of why it will happen in Week 1 and exactly when the game will take place. Bear with me.
Why the writing is on the wall for a Packers-Aaron Rodgers showdown in Week 1
We can eliminate the Eagles, Cowboys, and Broncos, and there's a possibility the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions are also off the table. Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold caught attention with this social media post on Tuesday night:
"Wait till y'all see who our first game is," he wrote. Arnold then added that it's "crazy."
OK, maybe he knows nothing and is just trolling, but he may also know the Lions' Week 1 opponents. And if it's truly "crazy," it's probably not the Packers. It could hint at Lions-turned-Bears coach Ben Johnson making his head coaching debut against his former team.
The NFL loves a revenge narrative in Week 1.
If Johnson's Bears take on the Lions in the season opener, that rules out two more teams and, crucially, two divisional opponents.
Like we said, the NFL loves some season-opening revenge. If they can send Russell Wilson into Seattle in his first game after leaving, they can certainly cash in on a Rodgers-Packers matchup at the first opportunity.
Especially if it's on the grand stage of Monday Night Football.
If it's Packers-Steelers to bring in the new season, it likely won't happen early in the week due to a clash with Pittsburgh Pirates home games. The MLB club has home games scheduled from Tuesday to Sunday that week.
The one day they have off? Monday.
It sets the table beautifully. After opening the season with Eagles-Cowboys and following it with a (presumably) Chiefs-Chargers game in Brazil and Ben Johnson's loss on debut, how about the NFL closes out Week 1 with Rodgers versus the Packers?
And who knows, maybe Romeo Doubs will be on the other side of the field, too?
We'll see. Nothing is guaranteed, but based on everything we know, it feels perfectly set up for Packers-Steelers in primetime in Week 1. Hopefully, the NFL agrees.