The last Sunday of the year without NFL football has passed, and so, discussion around the Green Bay Packers’ win-loss record and overall standings for the 2023-2024 season have ramped up as we prepare for Week 1.
With the final roster mostly settled and preparation beginning for the first contest against the Bears this Sunday, here are my week-by-week win-loss predictions for the 2023 Packers:
Week 1 @ Chicago – W
Week 2 @ Atlanta – L
Week 3 vs New Orleans – W
Week 4 vs Detroit – L
Week 5 @ Las Vegas – W
Week 6 @ Denver – L
Week 8 vs Minnesota – W
Week 9 vs Los Angeles Rams – W
Week 10 @ Pittsburgh – L
Week 11 vs Los Angeles Chargers – L
Week 12 @ Detroit – L
Week 13 vs Kansas City – L
Week 14 @ New York Giants – W
Week 15 vs Tampa Bay – W
Week 16 @ Carolina – W
Week 17 @ Minnesota – L
Week 18 vs Chicago – W
Overall: 9-8
Points of Note:
- Division Matchups
In what should be a tightly-contested NFC North division, the Packers end 2-4 against their most familiar opponents. One of the toughest decisions in this exercise was deciding if Green Bay splits with Detroit or are swept in the two-game series. The Packers have lost three straight games to the Lions, and for the first time in what feels like forever, Detroit enter the 2023 season as favorites to win the division. All signs point to the Lions improving on a strong finish last year, while the Packers are a mostly unknown team at this point.
The Packers sweep a Bears team that, at the risk of sounding like an unreasonable homer, are generally quite overrated by the NFL cognoscenti. I’d be shocked if the Bears finish anywhere but in the basement of the NFC North in 2023. Despite posting one of the best rushing seasons by a quarterback ever last year, Bears QB Justin Fields remained one of the worst passers in the league. The Bears also sport a bottom-tier defensive front.
The Vikings are the most boring but most predictable team in the division. Minnesota’s offense should continue to be great, but a defense that was awful last year arguably got even worse. They’ll be a solid team that the Packers should be able to go 1-1 against.
- The Schedule Tells a Story
The way the Packers’ schedule shapes and flows through the season in terms of highs and lows tells of the state the team is in and what they could be soon. The Packers are an unknown, mostly expected to be a middling team that rides the potential of their young QB. The start of the season reflects this much – Green Bay won’t see their first winning streak until early November. Until then, ups and downs as the result of growing pains from the NFL’s youngest team are reflected in a series of alternating wins and losses.
In Weeks 10-13, a four-game losing streak against playoff-level opponents tests the young Packers’ resilience. Overreactions by Packers’ fans and the media will question if Jordan Love is truly “the guy.” Then, as all hope seems lost on the season, Green Bay makes one final push at a playoff berth, winning four of their last five and narrowly finishing with a winning record of 9-8.
Though this might not be enough to squeeze into the postseason, Green Bay and their fans end the year on an uplifting note and full of positivity for the next season. The Packers are such a young team, especially on offense surrounding their QB. Patience and time to grow must be given. Although 2023 may not be the Packers’ year, the future is bright in Green Bay.
- Close Games and Upsets
I don’t think anything I’ve predicted on the Packers’ schedule would shock most fans of the team. Seven to 10 wins seems to be the consensus prediction for 2023, and my predictions fall just a bit on the positive end of that spectrum. The wildly unpredictable nature of the NFL demands that some of the “safe” bets I’ve made on the schedule will certainly not happen.
A possible deviation could happen in the four-game losing streak I’ve penciled in right in the middle of the year. I could see Green Bay sneaking a win against what I think will be a very good, double-digit win Pittsburgh Steelers team. And despite the Los Angeles Chargers once again (on paper) looking like they could be one of the very best teams in the NFL, they somehow always find a way to catastrophically collapse. Perhaps the Packers could catch them on one of those “Charger-y” days in the comfort of Lambeau Field.
It’s also possible the Packers don’t let the Lions sweep them for the second straight season, and a win is snagged against Detroit in this stretch. A 2-2 finish in the most difficult part of the schedule isn’t out of the question, and in that case, those extra couple wins could vault the Packers to the top of the division and grant them a ticket to the postseason.
Interestingly, Atlanta and New Orleans were two of the most difficult games to pick. They’re about exactly on the level that I view Green Bay. Atlanta’s young QB Desmond Ridder is somehow even less proven than Love, but they wield one of the best rushing attacks in the league that just added rookie running back and top-10 pick Bijan Robinson. The Packers were a bottom-three rushing defense last season.
New Orleans’ offense is led by the dreadfully middling Derek Carr, but he has a great supporting cast around him. For the first time in years, the Saints’ defense may be their weakness and should regress from last season. Their talent across the roster matches Green Bay’s. This should be a close game that could have sneaky playoff implications come the end of the season. I think it’s unlikely Green Bay will win or lose both games, but it’s a toss-up as to which opponent they’ll beat.
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Liam O’Donnell is a devoted Packers fan and an aspiring sportswriter from Milwaukee. He writes for PackersTalk.com and you can follow him on twitter at @liamodonnell___.
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