Packers’ 2021 Schedule Will Feature Parade of Playoff Teams

There will be no homecoming for Mike McCarthy, whose Dallas Cowboys were eliminated.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The 2020 Green Bay Packers faced one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. The 2021 edition of the team could play as many as 10 games against teams in this year’s playoffs.

Thanks to the NFL’s schedule rotation, most of the Packers’ opponents were known years ago, with the home-and-home series against the NFC North teams and matchups against the NFC West and AFC North. That’s 14 of the 16 games. The final two will be against the first-place finishers in the NFC East (Washington) and NFC South (New Orleans).

So, here is how it lays out:

Home: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Football Team, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Seahawks (12-4), Steelers (12-4), Browns (11-5), Rams (10-6), Bears (8-8) and Washington (7-9) made the playoffs.

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Away: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. The Saints (12-4), Ravens (11-5) and Bears (8-8) made the playoffs. Moreover, the 49ers (6-10) reached last year’s Super Bowl but couldn’t overcome a barrage of high-impact injuries this year.

The NFL is expected to add a 17th game next season as a way to drive up revenue. That 17th opponent will “be an interconference matchup based on divisional standings” from the previous season, and “on a rotating divisional basis.” That means the Packers would play one of the AFC’s other division champions: Buffalo (AFC East), Tennessee (AFC South) or Kansas City (AFC West). If the 17th game becomes a reality, that would be the 10th game against a playoff foe.

Contrast that to the 2020 schedule. Green Bay played six games against teams that reached the playoffs. Its 16 games came against teams with a combined 109 wins. That's the fewest in the league.

The Washington Football Team knocked off Philadelphia on Sunday night to win the NFC East. Earlier in the day, the New York Giants knocked off Dallas 23-19 to eliminate the Cowboys from the race.

That means the Packers will not face the Mike McCarthy-led Cowboys next season.