Packers: Next 5 games before Bye will make or break season

The Green Bay Packers have feasted on lesser teams so far this season, as they’ve cruised to a 6-1 record through the first seven games. However, their next five games won’t be quite so easy.

After an embarrassing season-opening defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, the Packers have won six straight contests to move into first place in the NFC North and a tie for second in the NFC (behind the 7-0 Arizona Cardinals whom they play this week).

There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it–six wins is six wins and a great accomplishment. Still, the opponents Green Bay accomplished this feat against and the lack of style points they accumulated during the process leave a lot of questions to be answered. During that streak, the Packers beat the Detroit Lions (0-7), San Francisco 49ers (2-4), Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3), Cincinnati Bengals (5-2), Chicago Bears (3-4) and the Washington Football Team (2-5).

For those keeping score at home, that’s just one victory against a team with a winning record and a combined 15-25 record.

The Green Bay Packers’ schedule is about to turn for the worse and these next five games will make or break their season.

Unfortunately, the next stretch of games isn’t quite so friendly to the Packers. They begin with a short week and a Thursday game against the undefeated Cardinals. To make matters worse, they will be even more short-handed than they’ve been this season with an outbreak of COVID-19 on the team. As of now, it’s only been announced that defensive coordinator Joe Barry and stud wide receiver Davante Adams have tested positive, however, there’s still a couple of days before the game so that could change in a hurry.

Even if it’s just Adams who tests positive, that could leave Green Bay without Jaire Alexander, David Bakhtiari, Za’Darius Smith and Adams–arguably four of their five or six best players.

Following their road trip to Arizona, Green Bay will travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. The Chiefs have been struggling this year, but it’s probably only a matter of time until Patrick Mahomes and company right the ship.

After that, they take on the Seattle Seahawks who could very well be getting Russell Wilson back for that contest. That might be the easiest game in this stretch, however, as the Packers travel to Minnesota the next week to take on the Vikings. Minnesota is currently in second place in the North at 3-3, but could creep up the standings and have a chance to overtake the Packers at this point. Their schedule is no joke either (they play the Cowboys, Ravens and Chargers before taking on Green Bay), but anything could happen.

The last game in this gauntlet for the Packers is a home contest against the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams are currently at 6-1 and looked rejuvenated following last year’s playoff exit to the Packers. They’ll be motivated to get revenge in a game that could have serious playoff seeding implications.

It’s a good thing the Packers got off to a fast start and built some cushion in the division. But if they have bigger goals like getting back to the Super Bowl, they’ll need to win more than they lose during this stretch. If they fail to do so, their season outlook could quickly go from potential home field advantage throughout the playoffs to playing in the first weekend. That’s a game-changer for Green Bay.