The Green Bay Packers’ opponents will largely determine the difficulty of the game schedule, but there are other factors at play that make games more or less challenging than they currently are.
This may include long matches at home or on the road, facing top opponents in consecutive weeks and, most importantly, the amount of travel and rest opportunities factored into the schedule.
The NFL season is long and many teams often struggle with injuries. When the bye week falls or whether a team has a remaining lead over its opponent are elements that matter throughout the season. For the Packers, the schedule is shaping up quite well in this regard.
While the Packers do start the season with a flight to Brazil, it’s a Friday night game, which gives them two extra days of rest – not to mention they’ll be at home against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.
When it comes to travel, the Packers will be on the books 10th most airline miles this season with 22,209. However, when you consider that their round trip to Brazil and back is over 10,000 miles, the rest of the schedule doesn’t look too bad from a travel standpoint.
The bye week comes at what should be a favorable time for the Packers, right in the middle of the season, in Week 10. Where the bye week has fallen in recent seasons has not been kind to Green Bay at all, with their bye week last season occurring very early in Week 6, while in 2021 and 2022 it occurred in Week 13, respectively. and week 14.
“I think we’re excited about it,” Matt LaFleur said of the bye week via Packers.com. “You’re never quite sure when it’s the right time to say goodbye, even though it looks like it’s going to be quite good for us.”
The Packers will also have an advantage against their opponent more times than they will have a disadvantage. Andy Herman from the Pack-A-Day podcast they did the math and in four cases the Packers will have more rest than their opponents compared to the only two cases in which they won’t
Packers + 2 days vs. Colts (after Packers game in Brazil)
Packers + 7 days vs. Bears (after the Packers leave during the week)
Packers +3 days vs. Seattle (after Packers game on TNF)
Packers – 3 days vs. Bears (after the Bears game on TNF)
Packers – 1 day vs. Vikings in Week 17 (after Packers game at MNF)
This adds up to an advantage of eight additional days of rest the Packers will have compared to their opponents.
The NFC has played nine home games this year, compared to just eight on the road. This plays a role in the Packers only having one instance of being away from Lambeau Field in consecutive weeks, playing at Detroit in Week 14 and then at Seattle in Week 15.
However, the game in Detroit is on Thursday night, which, as mentioned above, gives the Packers extra time to rest before traveling to Seattle.
As LaFleur noted earlier, other teams don’t care if you’re struggling with injuries or that you have a compact week off and less time to prepare. Ultimately, you either perform on Sunday or you don’t.
However, with that said, in an NFL season that is very physical and marathon-like, extra rest and less travel does make a difference.
Read all the best Packers coverage in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Packers Wire.
