It’s possible no team is facing a more difficult schedule to finish the 2021 season than the Green Bay Packers.
Matt LaFleur’s team has won five straight games after starting 0-1 and is currently in possession of a two-game lead in the NFC North. The strong start through six games could be important with what’s ahead.
According to Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders, the Packers will face the toughest remaining schedule in the NFL over the final 11 games by DVOA.
It’s not hard to figure out why. The Packers will face teams such as the Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings (twice), Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns to finish the season. That’s eight games against teams currently ranked in the top 16 of DVOA.
The good news? The other three teams in the NFC North are also in the top five for most difficult schedules to finish the season, so the Packers won’t be running the gauntlet alone.
Trying to predict the difficulty of a future schedule, even during the season, can be difficult. So many factors go into the difficulty of an individual game, including injury situations. For instance, there’s no guarantee the Packers will face Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (finger surgery) next month.
But it’s safe to say the Packers will need to play excellent football to win games against several of the top teams left on the schedule.
The quarterback schedule looks especially daunting. Wilson, Kyler Murray and Matthew Stafford are currently the top three quarterbacks in passer rating through six weeks. The Packers could face all three. And two MVP quarterbacks – Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson – are also on the schedule.
Sunday’s visit from the Washington Football Team won’t feature a top quarterback or defense. Backup Taylor Heinecke isn’t playing well, and Washington’s defense ranks 32nd in the NFL in points allowed. There are no layups in the NFL, but Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field is one the Packers need to win, regardless of the future schedule.
Getting to 6-1 could help cushion the Packers against any future bumps in the road over the final 10 weeks.
LaFleur’s team is in a great spot at this point in the season, especially considering the Week 1 result and all the injuries affecting both sides of the football. This is a resilient team that knows how to win. In fact, no team has had more regular-season wins since 2019 than the Packers’ 31. And key players are returning or will return soon, including All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari.
This team’s one and only goal is the Super Bowl. The Packers can increase their chances of getting there by obtaining the top seed in the NFC and preparing for the stressful moments involved with playing great teams in a one-and-done tournament. The final 11 games in 2021 will provide the Packers with a championship-worthy challenge.
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