The Green Bay Packers finished with a 13-3 record under first-year head coach Matt LaFleur and came up one game short of the Super Bowl in 2019. However, Green Bay had a return to form in winning the NFC North and qualifying for the playoffs after missing the previous two seasons.
Running back Aaron Jones had a career year in leading the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns and surpassing the 1,000 rushing yards mark for the first time in his career with 1,084. Aaron Rodgers turned in a solid year with 26 touchdowns and just four picks.
The emergence of the “Super Smith Bros.” in Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith revitalized a Green Bay defense that has been missing star-power for quite some time. General manager Brian Gutekunst added to his defensive outing by signing former Chicago Bears safety Adrian Amos, drafting safety Darnell Savage in 2019, and signing former Cleveland Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey before the 2020 season.
Green Bay: Any Given Sunday
Green Bay currently ranks 15th in strength of schedule with opponents coming in at .504 ahead of the 2020 season. They’ll also play first-place teams in their rotation — which sees them once again playing the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara.
2020 proves to be a challenging year with games against the New Orleans Saints, San Francisco, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not to mention darkhorse teams such as Tennesee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, and, of course, their divisional opponents.
With their polarizing NFL Draft behind them, Green Bay will look to get to work and show that 2019 wasn’t a fluke and they are one of the powerhouses in the NFC in 2020.
As part of a yearly tradition here at Last Word on Pro Football, we’ll take a look at all 16 games for Green Bay ranking them from 16-1 in terms of most winnable to most challenging. So, without further ado, here are the eight most winnable games.
Green Bay Packers Easiest Games in 2020
9. Week 7: at Houston Texans
With the Houston Texans trading away star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals, they have taken away a huge piece from quarterback Deshaun Watson‘s arsenal. Despite this, Watson is still a deadly player with both his arm and his legs — as we saw in last year’s playoffs. Green Bay has had great success playing in Houston under Rodgers (1-0) and has beaten Houston in at Lambeau Field in 2016. However, this will be the first meeting between Rodgers and Watson.
10. Week 13: vs Philadelphia Eagles
If there’s one thing that Green Bay has yet to truly address this off-season, then it’s their run defense against power backs. In last year’s Thursday Night meeting, the Philadelphia Eagles created opportunities for Jordan Howard to run through holes the size of the Grand Canyon. Now with Miles Sanders taking that role, Green Bay cannot afford to have a repeat of that game. Carson Wentz and company will come into this game with weapons to throw at Green Bay, but if Philly’s run game gets going again, it may result in the same way as in 2019.
11. Week 15: vs Carolina Panthers
If you’re sensing a theme here, then you’ve hit it on the head. The Carolina Panthers travel back to Lambeau Field in 2020 but this time instead of Kyle Allen at quarterback, they’ll contend with Teddy Bridgewater — who went a perfect 5-0 when Drew Brees went down in New Orleans. A proven quarterback paired with the equally dangerous Christian McCaffrey — who came up one-yard short of the tying score in last year’s thriller — is a recipe for an upset.
12. Week 11: at Indianapolis Colts
They’ll match up against another team that may or may not have fixed its quarterback problem. Philip Rivers got the best of Green Bay last season in Los Angeles but now leads an Indianapolis Colts that had identity issues all of 2019. With this being on the road, Green Bay has to be careful of not falling into a trap game as it’s one of the few road venues Rodgers has not won at in his career. Still, Green Bay has been better of late at beating teams who have struggles aplenty.
13. Week 8: vs Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have had some interesting games in Lambeau Field since Kirk Cousins became the quarterback. In his first season, he battled back to force overtime and drew a tie. In 2019, Minnesota cut it to five points before a Kevin King red zone-interception sealed their fate. Cousins’ ability has proved that he can match score for score in Green Bay, but perhaps, with the departure of Stefon Diggs, there might not be enough firepower in his third trip to Wisconsin.
14. Week 4: vs Atlanta Falcons
Whenever Rodgers and Matt Ryan hook up, the scoreboard is sure to light up. The two quarterbacks both have outstanding weapons in Davante Adams and Julio Jones, both of whom are capable of scoring in bunches. But Ryan has only won once in Lambeau Field throughout his 10+ years in the league — although they’ve mostly been close games. Still, Green Bay should pounce on an Atlanta team that’s missing stars at key areas on both sides of the ball.
15. Week 12: vs Chicago Bears
Week 12 is the earliest Green Bay will meet their storied rivals in the Chicago Bears in 2020 and it’ll depend on whether or not Chicago has solved their quarterback problem (Nick Foles/Mitchell Trubisky). The Monsters of the Midway should have another strong outing from their defensive stars in 2020 but where their offense lies will be the question. Green Bay has had its way with its rivals at home throughout Rodgers’ entire career. If this game turns out to be a shootout, it’ll favor Green Bay. And if it’s a defensive spectacle — it’ll still favor Green Bay. Chicago has too many question marks to give them a fighting chance in this one.
16. Week 10: vs Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been in a state of flux and rebuild ever since their AFC Championship Game appearance three seasons ago. Even with Gardner Minshew taking over as the full-time starter, giving him the tall-task of heading into Green Bay against Rodgers with a team devoid of playmakers is a huge ask. Given this is a Week 10 matchup, Green Bay should be well into their groove at this point of the season, and losing to lesser teams is something that doesn’t occur that often at Lambeau Field.
Be sure to check out the most difficult games on the Green Bay Packers 2020 schedule.
