A 20-16 loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 18 last season telegraphed the end of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay.
Sure enough, the Packers traded Rodgers to the New York Jets before the 2023 NFL Draft. Now, it's 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love's turn to follow a legend; much like Aaron Rodgers did when he took over for Brett Favre in Green Bay in 2008.
The Packers went 6-10 that season, but Rodgers led the Packers to a victory in Super Bowl XLV two years later. Rodgers won four NFL MVP awards with Green Bay, dominated the NFC North and left a tough act to follow for Love and fifth-year coach Matt LaFleur.
The rest of the Packers' competition is feeling it as a result. The Lions have the highest win total on early over/unders at 9.5, the Vikings are second at 8.5 and the Bears and Packers are on equal footing at 7.5. This is unfamiliar territory for a franchise that has dominated the division with Favre and Rodgers. Is that drop-off warranted?
Green Bay has a third-place NFC North schedule that features games against the NFC South and AFC West.
Here is a complete breakdown of the Packers' 2023 schedule, including dates, start times and analysis for all 17 games.
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Green Bay Packers schedule 2023
| Week | Date | Opponent | Kickoff time | TV |
| 1 | Sept. 10 | at Bears | 4:25 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 2 | Sept. 17 | at Falcons | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 3 | Sept. 24 | vs. Saints | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 4 | Sept. 28 | vs. Lions (TNF) | 8:15 p.m. ET | Amazon Prime |
| 5 | Oct. 9 | at Raiders (MNF) | 8:15 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| 6 | BYE | |||
| 7 | Oct. 22 | at Broncos | 4:25 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 8 | Oct. 29 | vs. Vikings | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 9 | Nov. 5 | vs. Rams | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 10 | Nov. 12 | at Steelers | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| 11 | Nov. 19 | vs. Chargers | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 12 | Nov. 23 | at Lions (Thanksgiving) | 12:30 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 13 | Dec. 3 | vs. Chiefs (SNF) | 8:20 p.m. ET | NBC |
| 14 | Dec. 11 | at Giants (MNF) | 8:15 p.m. ET | ABC |
| 15 | Dec. 17 | vs. Buccaneers | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 16 | Dec. 24 | at Panthers | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| 17 | Dec. 31 | at Vikings (SNF) | 8:20 p.m. ET | NBC |
| 18 | TBD | vs. Bears | TBD | TBD |
Green Bay will play a third-place schedule that includes matchups against the Rams and Giants in the NFC and the Steelers in the AFC. New York is the only of those three teams that made the NFL playoffs last season. The NFC South tour makes it a bit easier, but the AFC West schedule makes the schedule a little tougher.
The Packers have six games against teams that made the NFL playoffs last season, including two against the Vikings. The Buccaneers, Giants, Chiefs and Chargers also made the playoffs. The Lions and Steelers each missed the playoffs with 9-8 records.
MORE: NFL strength of schedule breakdown for all 32 teams
Packers strength of schedule
The Packers have the 12th-easiest schedule in the NFL for 2023, per Sharp Football Analysis. This analysis is based on the projected win totals for each of Green Bay's opponents for the upcoming season rather than their record in 2023.
That formula favors the Packers and is good news for Love, but it ranks as the third-easiest among NFC North teams. Chicago (5th easiest) and Detroit (8th easiest) have friendly schedules, which has led to breakout predictions for Justin Fields and some loose Super Bowl talk for the Lions. The Vikings (8th hardest) have the toughest schedule; one that includes the Bengals, Eagles and 49ers.
Green Bay still has a decent schedule, if Love can play to the strengths.
Toughest tests: The Packers are 20-13 on the road the last four seasons, which is the eighth best mark in the NFL. Will that change with Love?
That goes beyond the road environments in the NFC North. The Giants (5-3-1) beat the Packers in London last season. Atlanta (6-3) and Carolina (5-4) had winning records at home last season. The Broncos (4-4) and Raiders (4-4) were .500 teams at home last year, and Green Bay has lost the five meetings at Pittsburgh (4-4). Love did impress when he replaced Rodgers on the road at Philadelphia last season – but that was a small sample in a pinch-hit appearance.
Biggest breaks: Including postseason, Green Bay is 29-7 at home under LaFleur. That's the home winning percentage (.806) in the NFL since 2019. Even better than Kansas City at 33-9 and .786. Good thing the Chiefs come to Lambeau Field.
The Rams were 1-7 on the road last season and Green Bay has knocked them off three times at Lambeau Field in the last two years (including playoffs). The Chargers, Rams and Buccaneers had a combined record of 11-15 on the road last season.
Rodgers was 91-23-1 at Lambeau Field, which created an intimidating home-field advantage over a 15-year period.
Bottom line: Why all the celebrating from the NFC North rivals? Rodgers led the Packers to eight NFC North division titles in 15 seasons. He was 24-5 against the Bears, 18-8 against the Lions and 17-11-1 against the Vikings. That's a combined winning percentage of .708. That came after Favre, who led the Packers to seven NFC Central and NFC North titles from 1992-2006. The Packers have won the division 50% of the time with those QBs.
Love will be measured by that success against the Lions – the NFC North betting favorites – along with the Vikings and Bears. Rewind to 2008 – which was Rodgers' first season as a starter. Despite that 6-10 record, he finished 4-2 in the division. There will be ups and downs with Love, but the late-season push the Packers made before Week 18 last season showed there is enough young talent on this roster to compete for a playoff berth.
Just like last year, however, it falls a little short.
Record prediction: 8-9
