After starting the year 2-0 against two of the best teams in the NFL from last season, the Green Bay Packers have a chance to run the table for at least their first seven games.
In one of the most competitive divisions in football, every single win looms large for the Packers, especially after we saw the Detroit Lions bounce back in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears. But what do the next five games look like for Green Bay? Who presents the toughest test?
Frankly, looking over the next five games on the Packers' schedule, it's difficult to see where they're really going to struggle. Let's look at the Packers' next five games and see if we can accurately predict what will end up happening.
Predicting the Packers' next five games entering Week 3
Week 3 at Cleveland Browns
I mean, come on. The Browns have it rough as it is, but they've got to play back-to-back games against the Baltimore Ravens and now the Green Bay Packers? It's really not fair for them, is it?
Anything can happen any given Sunday in the NFL, we all know this. Everybody gets paid to play when you're at this level. But when it comes to talent discrepancy, there might only be a bigger chasm between the Browns and one or two other teams besides the Packers.
This is one of those games where you expect to fill out your box score BINGO card. Who's going to catch a TD, who's going to run for one, who's going to get a defensive TD, can you manage a return TD, etc.
Packers win, 34-13 (3-0)
Week 4 at Dallas Cowboys (SNF)
With the Cowboys playing host to the Packers, we're going to get a Micah Parsons reunion with his old team. This matchup was giving Thanksgiving vibes until I remembered that detail.
The Cowboys are a lot better than people realize at this point. They just got into a shootout with the New York Giants, so obviously their defense needs to tighten up, but they also had the Philadelphia Eagles on the brink back in Week 1. Dallas is getting the good version of Dak Prescott this year, which will keep them in just about every game.
Over the next five games, this might be the Packers' biggest challenge. And to be fair, it's going to be tough to win them all. But you just feel like Parsons isn't going to let his old team off the hook, right?
Packers win, 27-24 (4-0)
Week 5: BYE WEEK
Week 6 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
This game on October 12 will represent the Packers' first home game in a full calendar month. Hopefully, the fans enjoyed that win against the Commanders, because it'll be the last game at Lambeau until the Packers welcome Joe Bur-- I mean Jake Browning to Green Bay.
Joe Burrow is out for a minimum of three months, and unless Browning hits some kind of bizarre stride, it's difficult to take the Bengals super seriously in this one. A Bengals win on the road against the Packers, who are coming off a bye, with their backup quarterback, is simply not happening. It's too big a gap for them to overcome.
Packers win, 31-20 (5-0)
Week 7 at Arizona Cardinals
This one is a tougher shot to call from a long way out. The Arizona Cardinals are currently 2-0 at the time of writing, but those two wins were nail-biters against the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. And those aren't exactly two of the NFL's elite teams this season.
The Packers are a better team than the Cardinals, but I don't think it would be a surprise at all if the Packers slipped up here. The Cardinals have talent, they have playmakers, and they have a good head coach. Still, even if Green Bay struggles here, you've got to think they'll be able to pull this one out on the road. It's not like going to Arizona is a super hostile environment for visiting teams.
Packers win, 23-19 (6-0)
Week 8 at Pittsburgh Steelers (SNF)
We got a reunion earlier between the Cowboys and Micah Parsons, but here we have the Aaron Rodgers-led Pittsburgh Steelers playing host to the Packers in Week 8.
The Packers are spending the majority of the next six weeks on the road, as fate would have it, and in the NFL, you're just not going to win every single game. As much as I would want to project the Packers to run the table for the next five games, I'm going to give them their one arbitrary loss here.
We saw how Rodgers got up to face the New York Jets. He'll do the same for Green Bay, playing at home under the lights of Sunday Night Football.
Packers lose, 29-26 (6-1)
The Packers have a really good chance of going 5-0 over their next five games, as you can see. They've got plenty of road games against tough teams there, but the talent discrepancy between the Packers and other NFL teams is significant right now.
There's a path to 5-0, but the Packers wouldn't be upset about coming away from this next stretch 4-1. They've got a chance to really take control of the NFC North in the first half of the season as they host the Panthers in Week 8 as well.
If Green Bay isn't 8-0 or 7-1 by the time they take on the Eagles in Week 9, I would be shocked.