NFL schedule makers hand division title to Packers on a silver platter

A year ago, it felt like the Green Bay Packers were heading into a bit of a rebuilding season for the first time in a while.

The Packers had moved on from Aaron Rodgers as their longtime starting quarterback and replaced him with an unproven young passer in Jordan Love. Most assumed Green Bay was going to take a step back in 2023 with Love leading the offense.

But then the actual games were played, and after only winning two of their first seven matchups, the Packers got things on track and finished the 2023 regular season with a 7-3 record in the final 10 games on their schedule.

Love and Green Bay didn't stop there, though. They went on to upset the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 2023 playoffs and then fell short by just three points in a divisional-round loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Following their performance last season, it seems like the NFL's schedule makers enjoyed seeing the Packers continue to compete among the best teams in the NFC, as the team's 2024 schedule appears to be perfectly set up for it to win the division title for the first time since 2021.

Green Bay will open the 2024 campaign with a unique Friday matchup in Sao Paulo, Brazil, against a Philadelphia Eagles team that was pretty underwhelming last season after earning a spot in the Super Bowl in 2022.

Following their trip to Brazil, the Packers will then take on five non-2023 playoff teams in their next seven games. If they can come out of Week 1 with a win over the Eagles, Green Bay has a great chance to get off to an impressive start with only one or two losses in its first eight games of the season.

After a cushy first half of their schedule, the Packers' bye week is conveniently positioned in Week 10, right in the middle of the regular season. An ideal spot that almost every team in the NFL would love to have for their bye week.

The second half of Green Bay's schedule is a little more difficult, but after the bye week, it gets to face two of the toughest remaining opponents (the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins) from inside its home stadium.

Five of the Packers' final eight contests also have them going up against teams that failed to make the playoffs last season.

Unless Green Bay's roster ends up getting significantly impacted by injuries, the way the schedule is set up is going to make it very difficult for the team not to finish the 2024 season as the winners of the NFC North.