The easiest and hardest stretches in the Packers' season

Now, we know the full 2024 schedule for the Green Bay Packers. The team opens the regular season in Brazil on September 6, against the Philadelphia Eagles, and closes it hosting the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field on January 5.

Let's talk about the easiest and hardest parts of their year.

Easiest: Weeks 2-4

The Packers don't have a clear and obvious easy stretch, and we will only know that after the season has started. However, it looks like the start of the season is the easiest stretch.

In week 2, the Packers host the Indianapolis Colts, an average team with a young quarterback in Anthony Richardson who barely played as a rookie and is coming back from a shoulder injury.

In week 3, the Packers goes to Nashville to play the Tennessee Titans, another team with a young quarterback — and even the Titans don't know exactly what they have in Will Levis.

To close out the sequence, the Packers host the Minnesota Vikings in week 4, their first NFC North game of the season. At this point, the Vikings might still be playing Sam Darnold over JJ McCarthy, but even if the rookie is starting, it's unlikely that he will be excellent from the get go.

It's a big opportunity for the Packers to start the season on the right track, differently from what they did in 2022 and 2023.

Hardest: Weeks 12-14

This is a really difficult sequence of games for the Packers, and it wouldn't be absurd to foresee a scenario with three losses.

In week 12, the Packers receive the current NFC champions and the team that has knocked the Packers out of the playoffs five times over the last 12 years, the San Francisco 49ers. It's a good way to measure how far the Packers can go, but it's an extremely difficult matchup.

Then, Green Bay comes back after a short week to face the Miami Dolphins — at least, both games are in Wisconsin. But the Dolphins have an explosive offense, including great receivers in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and a well-scheme running game.

To close out the series, the Packers will have another Thursday night game in week 14, visiting the Detroit Lions. This game might very well decide who will win the NFC North, and even though the Packers won at Ford Field last year, it's a tough matchup.

More notes about the Packers' schedule:

> The Packers will have only one divisional game (week 4, vs Minnesota Vikings) through the first eight weeks of the season. The other five games are from week 9 on, including having only three games between the two matchups against the Detroit Lions.

> Green Bay is slated to have five standalone games. The first one is in Brazil, on the Friday right after the NFL Kickoff. Then, the next four are consecutive ones, between weeks 12 and 15. Beyond the aforementioned sequence of hard games, the Packers close out the primetime slate against the Seattle Seahawks in week 15.

> Just like in 2023, the Packers will finish their regular season against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.

> Week 1 will be in Brazil as an away team. A byproduct of that is the Packers haven't opened a regular season in Green Bay since 2018, when they won a crazy game against the Chicago Bears.