5 Biggest Takeaways From Packers 2023 Schedule

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It is time to go over the Packers full 17 game schedule. It was released earlier this morning by Matt Schneidman of the Athletic. Now we know when and where every game will be played for the Jordan Love led Packers. 

I want to give my 5 biggest initial takeaways. 

For those of you who haven’t seen it, here it is per Matt Schneidman. 

1) Jordan Love Vs Justin Fields Week 1 

This is quite the matchup to start off the Packers season. First off it’s an NFC North Battle. Every non Packers NFC North fan has been waiting for the day that Aaron Rodgers packed his bags and got up and out of Wisconsin. Many of them seem to have more hope than ever before with Aaron Rodgers out the door. They shouldn’t get their hopes up too much because Jordan Love may have something to say about that, and in week 1 we’ll get to have a first glimpse of how the Packers could fare in the NFC North going forward. 

Then you add in the fact that we will get to see two young unproven quarterbacks in Love and Fields duke it out. Personally I’d easily take Love over Fields any day of the week. 

Either way you just know that whichever fan base wins is going to have a lot to say. I can already see the “Jordan Love is the new owner of the Bears” comments if we come out of week 1 with the win. That would be a wonderful sight to behold. 

As I said earlier today, I think Jordan Love is being slept on by the rest of the NFL. And I’m not saying that he’s 100% going to come in and play at a high level. I’m just saying that I think there’s a much better chance of him being a very solid QB than many people are giving him credit for. We have to remember that this guy has learned behind Aaron Rodgers for three years. If there’s one thing Aaron has taught him it’s how to beat the Chicago Bears. 

2) Davante Adams Vs Jaire Alexander Week 5 

The Packers will be traveling to Las Vegas to face off against the Raiders on Monday night football in week 5. This will be the first time the Packers face off against former Packer Davante Adams. I’m still a big Davante fan, but come week 5 that fandom will be put on pause for a night. 

I’m just hoping that Joe Barry will let Jaire Alexander line up across from Davante Adams every snap and follow him across the field. Last year the Packers got torched by Justin Jefferson in their first matchup when Jaire was hardly on him. Come the second time up Jaire was allowed to follow him around and things went much better. You have to allow your best corner, who happens to be one of the best in the game, to match up with the opposing team's top weapon who will likely be a hall of famer. 

Regardless, it’s going to be a fun matchup. 

3) Five Prime time games

Even though the Packers are no longer led by Aaron Rodgers they still have a good amount of prime time games. 5 in total. The NFL clearly thinks people will be tuning in to see how the Packers will operate in life post Aaron Rodgers. 

The Packers are almost more intriguing than they’ve been in years past. In the past you knew that with Aaron Rodgers, the Packers were great. That’s just how it went. 

Now the question is, can Jordan Love keep the Packers competitive? 

I think the week 1 game will get crazy ratings. I bet most NFL fans, if their team isn’t playing at the time of the game, will be tuned in to see just how good Love really is. I’m almost more excited for week 1 this year just because I can’t wait to see Jordan Love. The last time we saw him was in limited playing time vs the Eagles and he looked great. Week 1 every NFL fan will get some answers. 

If he can keep games close and show promise the Packers will get huge ratings. But if he comes in and the Packers stink it up there’s a chance come later in the season that a few of the December games get flexed from prime time. Let’s hope that’s not the case. If we are playing meaningful football in December I’ll be pumped. I really don’t see why this Packers team couldn’t sneak in as a wild card team. The NFC doesn’t have nearly as many talented teams as the AFC and because of that, there’s a chance. 

4) Holiday Games Galore 

The Packers have a game on thanksgiving, christmas eve, and new years eve. 

I don’t know about you guys but it’s lots of fun to be able to sit around with family on holidays and watch Packers football. Last year we had the Christmas game win vs the Dolphins which made Christmas that much better. And if we lose you can just eat your sorrows away with *insert favorite holiday foods here*. It’s a win win! 

5) Jordan Love Gets To Face Off Against Patrick Mahomes At Lambeau In December

Jordan Love’s first start in his career was in week 9 of 2021 against the Chiefs when Rodgers had to sit out with covid. Both offenses struggled and the game ended with the Packers losing 13-7. Love went 19-34 with 190 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. 

It wasn’t a great showing in his first performance, but there were some bright spots. The Chiefs brought pressure all night and the offensive line was struggling. He also had to prepare on short notice and it was his first start in his entire career. There was a lot stacked against. 

Now he’ll get to match up against Patrick Mahomes once again. This time it’ll be much different. At the time of the first matchup, Love had only been in the league about 1.5 years. Now he’s been around for 3. He’s taken huge strides since that game and I think we’ll see a much different Love this year than we saw in his first start in 2021.

Who knows what our record will be by this point in week 13. Hopefully we’re at least somewhere around .500. We’ll have home field advantage which is a huge plus. If we win this game I’ll go crazy. That would be a sign that BIG things are possible with Jordan Love. 

Those are my initial takeaways. Feel free to subscribe so you receive all of my Packers newsletters in the future. If you’d like to help the newsletter go feel free to share it with a friend. I’ll be out with a Packers Q&A sometime tomorrow so if you’d like to receive it you can enter your email below. Have a great night!