Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The saying is to the victor go the spoils, but the NFL didn’t spoil the Packers with their 2011 NFL schedule. The Packers rate as the 13^th hardest schedule in the league and could make their campaign for another Super Bowl a difficult one to accomplish.
At first glance the Packers schedule looks rough, but the Packers have a pretty nice travel schedule(only logging 10,000 miles through the season) and while there are some tough games on the slate, this isn’t as bad as it’s being made out to be.
Of their road opponents the Packers only have three top-level games away from Lambeau. They will face the Bears, Falcons and Chargers. Keep in mind that the Chargers didn’t make the playoffs, nor did the Giants who they face in September.
Of their 16 game slate, only 5 games are against playoff teams. While there are a number of teams who appear to be knocking on the door(like the Raiders, Giants, Buccaneers and Rams) the rest of the schedule is pretty workable.
The key to this is if teams play to their potential, I could see the Packers having roughly 10 tough games, but that’s a big if.
Remember too that the Super Bowl champs will have a lot of guys coming off the IR this year, and any time lost due to a lockout will be extra rest for a team that played an extended second-season.
There is no reason the Packers can’t win the NFC North with their schedule.