Green Bay Packers: Ranking 2018 games from least to most difficult

Week 5 at Detroit

Such as with the Bears, playing the Lions on the road is a whole new ballgame.

However, this game comes earlier in the season which is a huge difference from playing in the final week if the season. By this time the Packers will have Aaron Jones, another offensive weapon, back from his suspension.

Last season the Lions handled the Packers at home by a score of 35-11. Say what you want about Rodgers not playing, however, he wouldn’t be responsible for the 35 points given up. Defense needs to buckle down at Ford Field to prevent Matt Stafford from making them look like swiss cheese.

The two prior times the Packers played the Lions on the road they gave up 24 and 23 points. This Packers offense is, in fact, capable of putting up 30 or more points on the Lions defense. However, why make the game a shootout? It’ll be a lot less stressful for all if the defense can limit what the Lions offense can do. They don’t have much of a run game, however, Golden Tate and Marvin Jones always find a way to have big games against the Packers, regardless of home or away.

Sure, the Packers may have tougher teams on their schedule. But consider how hard it is beating a division team on the road with a quarterback and receivers who can find many ways to carve up your defense.

This can very well be a sneaky hard game for the Packers that fans shouldn’t overlook.

Week 2 at Green Bay

It won’t take long for the Packers to run into a tough opponent when the defending NFC North champions come into Green Bay during week two.

Along with the defending division champions comes arguably the leagues most well-rounded and intense defenses in the league. The Vikings finished first in the entire league last season in points and yards allowed. Not to mention they became better on the defensive line by adding Sheldon Richardson.

Their offense also became better as second year running back Dalvin Cook returns from injury. Kirk Cousins is also taking over at quarterback and it’ll be interesting to see if he’ll be settled in with his new offense by week two.

For the Packers, they need to be perfect in this game to have a chance. As brutal as that sounds, it’s true. The Vikings defense is that good and their offense can explode at any given time.

The offense needs to be able to move the ball efficiently and not get stalled out on the majority of drives. As for the defense, blown coverages can’t happen. If the Vikings are to win this game, make them earn it. The secondary needs to stay with their assignments and let the chips fall where they may.