2025 Packers Schedule: One Big Question for Every Opponent

While the NFL will unveil the 2025 schedule on Wednesday, the list of opponents is known. Here is the key question for all 14 opponents.

Home and Away: Detroit Lions

2024 record: 15-2 (first place, NFC North; lost divisional playoffs). 2024 point differential: Plus-13.1 (first).

Big question: The Lions won 15 games last year even with the start of a playoff-caliber roster on injured reserve. Now that they’re healthy, can they take the next step? The starting point will be the age-old coaches vs. players debate. Were the Lions great because of their players or because of their coordinators? We’ll find out after the Lions lost offensive coordinator Ben Johnson (to the Bears) and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn (to the Jets).

Home and Away: Minnesota Vikings

2024 record: 14-3 (second place, NFC North; lost wild-card game). 2024 point differential: Plus-5.9 (ninth).

Big question: Is quarterback J.J. McCarthy the real deal? The Vikings won 14 games last season behind former first-round bust Sam Darnold. Can they take the next step with McCarthy, the 2024 first-round pick who sat out his rookie season due to a knee injury? The roster is loaded, otherwise, with the offseason dedicated to building both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Home and Away: Chicago Bears

2024 record: 5-12 (last place, NFC North). 2024 point differential: Minus-3.5 (22nd).

Big question: Can Ben Johnson maximize quarterback Caleb Williams and make the Bears, who haven’t won a playoff game since 2010, championship contenders? This is worth noting: Since the Vikings hired Kevin O’Connell, they are 4-2 against the Packers; since the Lions hired Dan Campbell, they are 6-2 against the Packers. If Johnson can have the same type of success against Matt LaFleur, the Packers could be trying to dig their way out of the basement.

Home: Philadelphia Eagles

2024 record: 14-3 (first place, NFC East; won Super Bowl). 2024 point differential: Plus-9.4 (second).

Big question: Can the Eagles overcome the losses of defensive tackle Milton Williams, defensive end Josh Sweat and cornerback Darius Slay to make a run at a Super Bowl repeat? That’s a lot of defensive firepower, no matter the depth of the roster. On the other side of the ball, can Saquon Barkley replicate his 2,000-yard season to make life easier for Jalen Hurts?

Home: Washington Commanders

2024 record: 12-5 (second place, NFC East; lost NFC Championship Game). 2024 point differential: Plus-5.5 (10th).

Big question: Life in the NFL comes at you fast. At this point last year, nobody in their right mind would have considered the Commanders a better team than the Packers. However, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels took the NFL by storm last season in leading the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. With the additions of receiver Deebo Samuel and left tackle Laremy Tunsil, are Daniels and Co. poised for an extended run as Super Bowl contenders?

Home: Carolina Panthers

2024 record: 5-12 (third place, NFC South). 2024 point differential: Minus-11.4 (32nd).

Big question: Is Bryce Young a franchise quarterback or a first-round bust? Of 32 quarterbacks with at least 500 passing attempts the last two seasons, Young has the second-lowest passer rating, the lowest completion percentage and the lowest yards per attempt. However, the only three games with 100-plus passer ratings last year were the final three games of last season.  

Home: Baltimore Ravens

2024 record: 12-5 (first place, AFC North; lost divisional playoffs). 2024 point differential: Plus-9.2 (third).

Big question: Can Lamar Jackson ever take the next step? Jackson has been Superman during the regular season. He’s a two-time MVP and perhaps should have won a third last year, when he led the NFL in passer rating and accumulated 5,087 yards and 45 total touchdowns. The player with the best rushing average in NFL history has become a prolific passer. However, in five career playoff defeats, he’s been guilty of 10 turnovers.

Home: Cincinnati Bengals

2024 record: 9-8 (third place, AFC North). 2024 point differential: Plus-2.2 (12th).

Big question: Can Joe Burrow play defense? Burrow led the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns last season but the Bengals went only 9-8. Why? Of their eight losses, they allowed 34-plus points in six. To solve those issues, their two major additions were potential-packed but no-production defensive end Shemar Stewart in the first round and linebacker Oren Burks in free agency.

Away: Dallas Cowboys

2024 record: 7-10 (third place, NFC East). 2024 point differential: Minus-6.9 (26th).

Big question: After the Mike McCarthy era ended after five seasons – including three 12-5 finishes but one playoff win – Jerry Jones hired Brian Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer was the offensive coordinator in 2023, when Dak Prescott was MVP runner-up with 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and 2024, when Prescott threw 11 touchdowns vs. eight interceptions before landing on injured reserve. Can Schottenheimer get Prescott and the Cowboys turned around?

Away: New York Giants

2024 record: 3-14 (last place, NFC East). 2024 point differential: Minus-8.4 (29th).

Big question: Who will be the quarterback? The Giants acquired 36-year-old Russell Wilson, who hasn’t won more than seven games since 2020, and Jameis Winston, who has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns the last three seasons, then used a first-round pick on Jaxson Dart. Good luck to Brian Daboll in the competitive NFC East.

Away: Arizona Cardinals

2024 record: 8-9 (third place, NFC West). 2024 point differential: Plus-1.2 (14th).

Big question: Is Kyler Murray a real-deal quarterback? The No. 1 pick of the 2019 draft has led Arizona to just one winning season and zero playoff wins. It’s time, because a defense that improved from 31st to 15th in points allowed should be better after drafting defensive tackle Walter Nolen, cornerback Will Johnson, edge Jordan Burch and linebacker Cody Simon in the first four rounds.

Away: Pittsburgh Steelers

2024 record: 10-7 (second place, AFC North; lost wild-card game). 2024 point differential: Plus-1.9 (13th).

Big question: Who will be the quarterback? The presumption is it will be Aaron Rodgers, who has thrown passes to DK Metcalf but hasn’t signed a contract. Assuming it’s Rodgers, can the 41-year-old, who has a mediocre passer rating of 90.7 the last three seasons, resuscitate a franchise that’s been spinning its wheels? Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016 and has scored a total of 52 points in its last three playoff appearances.

Away: Cleveland Browns

2024 record: 3-14 (last place, AFC North). 2024 point differential: Minus-10.4 (31st).

Big question: Who will be the quarterback? The old saying is that if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any. The Browns have four – five if you count injured Deshaun Watson – with retread Joe Flacco joined by Kenny Pickett and rookies Shadeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. Can any of them revive a franchise that’s won one playoff game in three decades?

Away: Denver Broncos

2024 record: 10-7 (third place, AFC West; lost wild-card game). 2024 point differential: Plus-6.7 (seventh).

Big question: After seven consecutive losing seasons, first-round pick Bo Nix helped the Broncos to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth in his debut season. With the ascension of Nix and the dominating play of Vance Joseph’s defense, which finished third in points allowed, can Denver actually challenge the Chiefs in the AFC West?