NFL wastes chance to give Packers a box office QB matchup in primetime

The NFL is a business, and they know what they're doing. From free agency to the draft to even the schedule release, they ensure eyes are on their product even in the depths of the offseason. No other league can do that.

However, sometimes they make head-scratching decisions that seem to make zero sense.

They have loaded Week 1 with dream matchups, including the Green Bay Packers taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in the first-ever Brazil game. That works. Opening weekend will be filled with drama, revenge games, and storylines. Aaron Rodgers meets the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens, and Matthew Stafford returns to Detroit.

That is NFL scheduling at its very best.

It makes some of their other decisions even more puzzling.

NFL screws Packers out of dream primetime matchup vs. Texans

If you had a list of every matchup on the NFL calendar and ranked them based on potential to be the most entertaining game of the year, Packers-Texans would sit near the top of the list.

Jordan Love and C.J. Stroud are coming off breakout years. Their debut seasons as starters shared plenty of similarities. They both threw for over 4,100 yards and had passer ratings above 96.

Their playoff debuts couldn't have been more similar. Love threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers' stunning 48-32 upset win over the Dallas Cowboys. Stroud put up a near-identical 274 yards and three touchdowns in an equally impressive 45-14 playoff victory.

Love and Stroud are among the league's best young quarterbacks, and they meet for the first time at Lambeau Field in Week 7. It's a matchup fitting for primetime, but the NFL has it kicking off at...

Noon?!

One of the most exciting games of the entire season is wasted in an early-window Sunday slot? How does that make any sense?

Love versus Stroud is a box-office matchup.

Love. Stroud. Josh Jacobs. Joe Mixon. Stefon Diggs. Christian Watson. Dontayvion Wicks. Tank Dell. Romeo Doubs. Luke Musgrave.

What more could you possibly want? The NFL gets a lot right with its schedule, but why did the league save Packers-Seahawks and Packers-Saints for primetime slots and allow the Texans' trip to Lambeau Field to kick off at noon?

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