2025 Packers Schedule: Easiest Stretch of Season

How difficult is the Green Bay Packers’ 2025 schedule? A four-game sequence that includes matchups against the quarterback who led the NFL in touchdown passes in 2023 and the quarterback who led the NFL in touchdown passes in 2024 is the “easiest” of the season for Green Bay.

Given the difficulty of the closing stretch to the season, the Packers need to take advantage of this part of the schedule.

WEEK 3 – Away: Cleveland Browns

The Browns looked like a potential Super Bowl contender a couple years ago, but it’s all gone off the rails and into a Dumpster fire next to a stockpile of expended uranium.

The acquisition of Deshaun Watson might wind up being the worst trade in NFL history. The Browns still went 11-6 in 2023 but plunged to 3-14 last season. They finished 32nd in points scored, 27th in points allowed, 31st in scoring differential and 27th in yardage differential.

Cleveland got a king’s ransom for trading back in the first round of this year’s draft, with the Jaguars getting Travis Hunter with the No. 2 overall pick and the Browns collecting No. 5, No. 36, No. 126 and a first-round pick next year.

That will help the Browns rebuild but it won’t do them any good in this game. Presumably, the quarterback matchup will be Jordan Love vs. 41-year-old Joe Flacco. Flacco’s not bad, but there might be more TV shots of Shadeur Sanders on the bench than Flacco completions.  

WEEK 4 – Away: Dallas Cowboys

The disclaimer on financial advice is “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” The same goes for the NFL. Just because the Packers have won five consecutive road games in the series – their last loss came in 2007 – doesn’t guarantee a win in this game. Still, the Packers have felt right at home at AT&T Stadium.

The Cowboys should be better because, well, they could hardly be worse than they were in Mike McCarthy’s failed final season. After three consecutive 12-5 seasons, Dallas fell to 7-10 last season. It ranked 21st in points scored, 31st in points allowed and 26th in scoring differential.

Yes, it will help that Dak Prescott will be back in the lineup. He was MVP runner-up in 2023, when he threw for 4,516 yards and an NFL-leading 36 touchdowns. Then again, Dallas went only 3-5 in his eight starts last season, with his passer rating tumbling from 105.9 to 86.0.

With a new coach (Brian Schottenheimer), new receiver (trade for George Pickens), new pass rusher (Donovan Ezeiruaku in the second round) and new cornerback (Shavon Revel in the third round), it feels like getting the Cowboys early in the season will be a good thing.

WEEK 5 – Bye

WEEK 6 – Home: Cincinnati Bengals

Playing after a bye week surprisingly has little impact. Under coach Matt LaFleur, the Packers are only 3-3, including last year’s victory at lowly Chicago, which was saved by Karl Brooks. Last season, teams went only 15-17.

These Bengals feel like the 1980s Packers, who had a chance to win any game in which Lynn Dickey put 30 points on the scoreboard. Cincinnati went 9-8 last season, its five-game winning streak to end the season being not quite enough to get into the playoffs. In the Bengals’ final six losses of the season, they allowed at least 34 points in each.

With a terrible defense, the Bengals are in a standoff with NFL sacks leader Trey Hendrickson, and their big additions on defense were Shemar Stewart, a project pass rusher in the first round, and Oren Burks, a former Packers linebacker, in free agency.

Joe Burrow, who led the NFL with 43 touchdown passes last season, is No. 1 all-time in completion percentage and twice finished fourth in MVP voting, and his premier receivers could have a big day. So should Jordan Love.

WEEK 7 – Away: Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals look like they’re on the rise. After winning a total of eight games in 2022 and 2023, they won eight games in 2024. While the Packers routed them 34-13 at Lambeau and most of their wins came against bad teams, they went from 24th to 12th in points scored and 31st to 15th in points allowed. To that rising defense, they added Josh Sweat, Calais Campbell and Dalvin Tomlinson in the draft and Walter Nolen, Will Johnson and Jordan Burch in the draft.

Arizona went 6-3 at home last season. There should be a large contingent of Packers fans in attendance. On the other hand, a mid-October game in Arizona could be a challenge.