Packers 2019 Schedule: Quick Hits

The Green Bay Packers (and NFL) 2019 schedule is coming out soon, likely this week.  The past two years, the schedule has come out this very week on Thursday.  If that holds up, April 18th will be the date.

Regardless of when the games fall, we know which teams the Packers will be facing.  Here are a few quick notes on each opponent, as it stands right now.

Chicago Bears

The Packers visit the Bears to open the 2019 season.  It's a departure from the usual format of having the defending Super Bowl champion host a game.  And, let's be honest, we're tired of watching the Patriots, right?

Besides a long-standing match up, this is the debut of Matt LaFleur's Packers.  It's easy to give a new coach a hall pass, but fans and the team aren't taking that same approach.  Winning is still the expectation with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and this is a very key early game.

Minnesota Vikings

Enough of the jokes and laughing, as we see in the image above.  The Packers have lost three straight road games to the Vikings (they have yet to notch their first win at U.S. Bank Stadium) and last beat the Vikings on Christmas Eve, 2016. 

Enough is enough.

The Vikings quarterback is Kirk Cousins and Clay Matthews isn't around for the refs to pick on.  It's time to execute a sweep and re-establish the winning side of this match up.

Detroit Lions

The Packers have yet to beat the Lions under the leadership of head coach Matt Patricia.  Some of Green Bay's most disgusting efforts have come against the Lions in the past two seasons.  No wonder Detroit has won four straight.

Nothing was more disgusting than the 2018 season finale which saw the Packers score zero points at home and give up a touchdown pass thrown by kicker Matt Prater.  Does it get any worse?

Matthew Stafford is still throwing the ball for the Lions (at least as of today).  The Packers need to eat often and punch these guys in the mouth.  Back to last place, where you belong, Lions.

San Francisco 49ers

A rematch of last season's only Monday Night game for the Packers.  A game at Lambeau Field that the Packers needed every last second to win.  The game ended on a Mason Crosby field goal.

A win is a win, but the 49ers were without Jimmy Garoppolo and the Packers should have easily beaten them. 

This year's match up is in San Francisco and features a fun match up between Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur.  LaFleur coached quarterbacks for Shanahan in Atlanta so these two know each other well.

Both of these teams need a bounce back season.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers visit Lambeau Field, where they have not fared well over the years.  The last meeting between these teams was in 2017 in the return of Rodgers from a collarbone injury.  The Packers had their chances, but ultimately fell to Carolina and were officially eliminated from postseason play.

There's not much else to this match up.  Former Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis won't be around to throw any cheap shots.  He knocked Davante Adams out of the last game with a blindside block during an interception return that resulted in Adams getting diagnosed with a concussion.

New York Giants

The Packers return to New York where they beat the Jets last season.  This time, they'll face the Giants who they last faced in the 2016 postseason.  The Packers ran the Giants out of Lambeau Field.  The last time they notched a road win in this match up was in 2011.

From what it looks like, the Packers will face Giants quarterback Eli Manning yet again as he enters his 16th NFL season.  Gone is receiver Odell Beckham, Jr but added is running back Saquon Barkley, who had a stand out rookie season.

The Packers new front will get a test in this game.

Dallas Cowboys

Visiting Dallas used to a curse for the Packers but AT&T Stadium has produced some very favorable results for the Pack in recent years.  They've won their last three games on the road dating back to 2013.  

The latest meeting came in early 2017, one week prior to Rodgers breaking his collarbone and derailing a promising start to the season by Green Bay.

Former Packers receiver Randall Cobb is slated to face his former team for the first time.  It's still hard to imagine Cobb in a Cowboys uniform, but we'll see it up close and personal soon.

Washington Redskins

The Packers suffered their first loss of last season in Washington in a game they should have won, on paper.  The loss was our first glimpse at some of the issues that befell the Packers all season.  Couldn't get their offense going and the defense couldn't find a way to stop dinosaurs Adrian Peterson and Vernon Davis.  

This one is at Lambeau Field and, once again, the Packers should be favored to win.  Time for some payback.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Packers haven't seen the Eagles since late in the 2016 season when they won to start their table run.  The Eagles took a step backwards last season after winning a Super Bowl in 2017.  

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson visits Lambeau Field, where he stood many a game and held the clipboard for his friend and teammate Brett Favre.  

Nick Foles if off to Jacksonville and it's once again Carson Wentz's show.  If the Eagles plan to bounce back and contend again for the NFC, this game becomes a key one for both teams.

Kansas City Chiefs

One of the, if not the marquis match up on the Packers schedule this year.  This will be billed as "Rodgers vs. Mahomes" - the present vs. the future.  

Hopefully it's a fun game to watch, but the reality is that it's an NFC-AFC game and the result likely won't factor as much as most other games this season.

The Packers lost their bid for a perfect season with a loss in Kansas City in 2011.  Fortunately, Kyle Orton isn't around to spoil the fun, once again.

The Packers face their former quarterbacks coach Andy Reid for the umpteenth time, adding a bit more flare to this game.

Oakland Raiders

Chucky returns to Lambeau Field in regular season action.  Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, another with ties to the Packers organization, brings his squad to Green Bay.  

The game itself may not be very exciting if the Packers are winning and the Raiders keep letting marquis players walk out the door.  Depending on when this game falls on the schedule, Antonio Brown may have already played (or talked) his way out of Oakland already.  Or he may go off for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

It's a major reach but the Packers should be plenty irritated at the Raiders for trading All-Pro linebacker Khalil Mack to their division rival Chicago Bears.  A little payback, please.

Denver Broncos

Since winning the Super Bowl following the 2015 season, the Broncos have fallen out of the spotlight.  They've become an average team and, being an AFC team, this game is an unpredictable as it gets.  

If Joe Flacco trots out as Denver's starting quarterback, see my comments about the Vikings.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Packers travel to LA to face the Chargers and possibly the last time they see long-time Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.  This one is similar to the Denver game - an unfamiliar AFC opponent and hard to predict.  

The last time these teams met, the Packers won with some late heroics by then rookie Packer Damarious Randall.  The last time the Chargers hosted the Packers was in 2011 in San Diego in an offensive explosion that the Packers won due to some defensive heroics, for a change that year.

 

Get your browsers set to get those hotel rooms booked as soon as the schedule comes out! 

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Jason is a freelance writer on staff since 2012 and also co-hosts Cheesehead TV Live, Pulse of the Pack and Pack A Day podcasts.  You can follow him on Twitter here

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Comments (13)

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EddieLeeIvory's picture

April 15, 2019 at 06:10 am

Living in Frisco Texas, home of the Cowboys headquarters & where most Cowboys players live, I am most curious & eager about when that game will be.

Fox wanted to protect it, but you know NBC & ESPN bid big for it. I think it gets on primetime on either MNF or Sunday Night. In October.

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RCPackerFan's picture

April 15, 2019 at 07:07 am

If I were to put the teams in groups of who I think will be the hardest to easiest I would do something like this.
(not including division teams)

I think the "hardest" teams to play will be 49ers, Eagles, Chiefs and Chargers.
49ers will be getting Garoppolo back. Eagles are a tough team especially if Wentz is fully healthy. Chiefs could be the best offense in football. Chargers are a really strong team.

The next group will be the Cowboys, Panthers, Broncos.
Cowboys will be a tough team. Especially when they have Cooper, Cobb, Gallup, Hurns. They have a dangerous group of WRs. I just don't really know about Prescott. Panthers I don't know what to make of yet. And Broncos will have a stout defense.

Then the "easiest" group I think will be the Raiders, Redskins and Giants.
Raiders are apparently in a huge rebuild after getting rid of their top 2 players last year. Redskins don't even know who their starting QB will be. Giants traded their best player away.

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stockholder's picture

April 15, 2019 at 08:32 am

I think this is the easiest schedule in years. They can even screw up their draft and be .500.

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Johnblood27's picture

April 15, 2019 at 08:35 am

Lets take a bit of a different angle on the above post.

What will the opponents be saying about their matchup with the 6-9-1 GBP when we play them?

You got it.

They will all be circling this game as one that they will count in the W column.

The GBP have looked that bad the past 2 years and it will be up to MLF and the new staff to motivate and coach the remaining 53 up to knock that kind of idea out of opponents heads.

Lets get into camp for chrissakes!!!

In the words of Mick:

"What are waiting for?!"

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4thand1's picture

April 15, 2019 at 10:45 am

10 DAYS 8 HOURS 15 MINUTES

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GBPDAN1's picture

April 15, 2019 at 03:08 pm

11-5 with playoffs. Go Pack!

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Samson's picture

April 15, 2019 at 04:52 pm

Time for the North Division to kneel to the Pack once again starting in season 2019.

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

April 15, 2019 at 04:27 pm

"Some of Green Bay's most disgusting efforts have come against the Lions in the past two seasons."

Well now HaHa can do that for Da Bears. And, PFF can rate him as the #1 FS in the universe for shirking tackles at the goalline.

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4thand10's picture

April 15, 2019 at 11:57 pm

I don’t think the rest of the NFC north is checking off anything as wins just yet. To them....playing the Packers is like a version of the Super Bowl for them :-).

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EddieLeeIvory's picture

April 16, 2019 at 08:30 pm

Only God knows.
And Las Vegas.

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PAPackerbacker's picture

April 17, 2019 at 04:44 pm

Never, ever, take an opponent to lightly or you just may be looking at a game in the loss column. I am hopeful the Packers can get back on the winning track and into the post season. However, there are many challengers that lie ahead. Last season is no indication of what will happen this coming season for the Packers or any other team in the NFL. I will support the Packers no matter what happens. Go! Pack! Go!

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IceBowl's picture

April 19, 2019 at 09:52 pm

Like I said,

Score, relentlessly score, every possession, 35 pts a game. Hope the D allows only 31.

Go,Go, Go. Every play all out. New NFL, new Pack. Score from everywhere.

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EddieLeeIvory's picture

April 18, 2019 at 05:28 pm

Has Nick Perry not signed with anyone yet?

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