While the Packers now prep for an upcoming playoff run, the future for Green Bay is now certain. No, we don’t know if Rodgers is staying. But we do know the opponents the Packers will play in 2022. Each year we need to wait until the final game of the season to find out, but it’s calculated the same way every year.
If you want an in-depth explanation as to how the schedule is made, scroll past the opponents below. But if you just want to find out who the Green and Gold play Next year, here you go!
Packers 2022 Opponents
Home Opponents: Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams, Tennessee Titans
Away Opponents: Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Washington Football Team, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
These opponents aren’t randomly selected by the NFL however. There is a system to the schedule every single year for the now 17 NFL games.
How the Packers 2022 Schedule is made
NFC North Teams
The first six 2022 Packers opponents are obviously the division mates of the NFC North: the Vikings, Bears, and Lions. The Packers play each of those three at Lambeau and travel to each city every year.
NFC Divison Rotation
The next four opponents are each team in another NFC division. There is a rotation every three years of the NFC West, NFC East, and NFC South. In 2021, the Packers played every NFC West team. This year, they will play every NFC East team: the Giants, Eagles, Football Team, and Cowboys.
The location of these games switches every three years. In 2019 when the Packers played the NFC East, Green Bay travel to New York to play the Giants. In 2022, they will play in Green Bay.
10 down, 7 to go.
AFC Divison Roation
So just how the schedule rotates between the three NFC divisions, it also rotates between the four AFC divisions: the AFC North, AFC East, AFC West, and AFC South.
In 2021, the Packers played every team in the AFC North. In 2022, they will play every AFC East team: the Bills, Patriots, Jets, and Dolphins. Also, just like the NFC rotation, home and away games switch every four years. In 2018, the Packers played the Patriots in Foxborough. In 2022, they will play in Green Bay.
So those 14 games are set before the season even starts. You could do that for every future year. The next three are unknown until the final game of the season.
Other NFC Divison Teams
The Packers play one team in the other two NFC Divisions, this year being the NFC South and NFC West. However, they play the team that finishes the same standings in their own division.
For example, the Packers won the NFC North, so they placed first in the division. The Buccaneers won the NFC South this year, so they will play the Packers in 2022. The Rams ended up winning the NFC West, so Green Bay will play them this year.
But the Vikings. who placed 2nd, will play the 2nd place teams in those divisions (Saints and Cardinals).
The venue is also on rotation every three years. In 2019, the Packers placed 3rd in the NFC North. So they played the Panthers because they placed 3rd in the NFC South in 2018, and played them in Green Bay. So in 2022, the Packers will play the Buccaneers in Tampa. In 2019, the Packers played 49ers in San Francisco, so they will play the Rams in Green Bay in 2022.
So that’s 16 games! For decades that’s all it was to it. But starting this year, the NFL decided to add an extra game, because money. So they had to figure out how to schedule an extra game where it made sense. And I think they did a good job.
Other AFC Divison Team
In the AFC, the Packers play each division in the exact rotation of AFC North, AFC East, AFC West, and AFC South.
In 2021, they played the AFC North, but they also played the Kansas City Chiefs who are in the AFC West. That’s because from now on they will play against an AFC Team that has the same division placement as them.
So when the Packers play the whole AFC West division, they will play one team in the AFC North. When they play the whole AFC South division, they will play one AFC East team.
In 2022, they face the entire AFC East division, so they will play an AFC South team that placed the spot as them. That would be the Titans. That game will be in Green Bay this year. So in 2026 when they play a single AFC South team, that game will not be in Green Bay.
And that’s it! Now the crazy NFL scheduling is understandable for years to come. If there are any questions still, feel free to ask me on Twitter @Logan_Winser. But now that we know the future, let’s focus on the now and get to the Super Bowl, hopefully.
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