The Green Bay Packers schedule was leaked early yesterday, and the rest of the NFL teams’ schedules were released Thursday evening. Ever since, there has been a great deal of fun speculation over how good teams will be and what the best games of the season will be.
There has also been some analysis of what teams have drawn favorable schedules and which ones may find the season a bigger grind. In a recent article posted by The Athletic, NFL teams and players were named “winners” or “losers” of the schedule release, and the lists included Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers’ new team, the New York Jets. Which one was the “winner” and which one was the “loser” may be surprising.
Jordan Love Named a Winner of the NFL Schedule Release
The Packers start and end their season against the Chicago Bears, meaning Love’s first season as a starter will be sandwiched by Green Bay’s oldest rival. In addition, the Packers do not play a 2022 playoff team until Week Eight. For Jeff Howe at The Athletic, though, it is the Packers’ five Prime Time games that really make Love a winner of the schedule release:
“For better or worse, quarterback Jordan Love has an awesome opportunity to show why the Packers were ready to move on from Aaron Rodgers. The Packers have five prime-time games — tied for the fifth most in the NFL — and Love can win over a lot of people if he plays well under the spotlight.”
And those five Prime Time games do not even include Green Bay’s Thanksgiving matchup against the Detroit Lions. Love and the Packers will have a lot of eyes on them this season, and Howe thinks that will be a good thing for them.
Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets Are Named Losers of the Schedule Release
Whereas the Packers do not play a 2022 Playoff team until Week Eight, the New York Jets will play six 2022 Playoff teams in their first eight games. This, according to Howe, could be detrimental to the Jets:
“Six of the Jets’ first eight games are against reigning playoff teams, and the exceptions are the Patriots and Broncos, who each have reason to be better in 2023. Surely, there’s a lot of deserved hype with the Jets because they’re carrying over a talented defense and added Rodgers. But if there are any offensive growing pains with the new system, the Jets are going to have a lot of catching up to do in the second half against a loaded AFC.”
If Rodgers falls back to his tendency of force-feeding the receivers he is most comfortable with (Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb), the Jets offense is going to struggle. In addition, the AFC is a much more difficult conference to advance in than the NFC. While the Packers are younger and may make more mistakes this year, their margin for error is a lot greater than the Jets’, especially in the less-than-stellar NFC North.
Of course, it is only preseason and much can change in 2023. Hopefully Jordan Love keeps on being considered a winner.
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