Packer Central

Packers vs. Lions Impacts 2023 NFL Schedule

The outcome of Sunday’s Packers-Lions game will determine division placement in 2022 and the schedule for 2023.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions on Sunday night. Win, and the Packers will be in the playoffs. Lose, and the offseason will start earlier than usual.

Those are high stakes. Not quite as important is how Sunday’s outcome will impact next year’s schedule.

A 17-game schedule includes 14 set-in-stone games. For the Packers, that’s the home-and-away matchups against the NFC North for a total of six games and the eight predetermined matchups as part of the divisional scheduling rotation. For next season, that means games against each team from the NFC South and AFC West.

The last three games are based on placement in division. Those are games against the other NFC divisions – the West and East for 2023 – and Game 17, which will be against the AFC North. If Green Bay beats Detroit, it will finish second in the NFC North and play the second-place finisher from those divisions. If Green Bay loses to Detroit, it will finish third in the NFC North and play the third-place team from those divisions.

So, here is Green Bay’s schedule.

Packers Home Games for 2023

NFC North: Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago.

NFC South: Tampa Bay, New Orleans.

AFC West: Kansas City, L.A. Chargers.

NFC West: If Green Bay finishes second – Seattle (clinched). If Green Bay finishes third – L.A. Rams (5-11, currently in third, at Seattle on Sunday) or Arizona (4-12, at San Francisco on Sunday).

Packers Road Games for 2023

NFC North: Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago.

NFC South: Carolina, Atlanta.

AFC West: Las Vegas, Denver

NFC East: If Green Bay finishes second – Dallas (12-4, currently in second, at Washington on Sunday) or Philadelphia (13-3, currently in first, home vs. Giants on Sunday). If Green Bay finishes third – N.Y. Giants (clinched).

AFC North: If Green Bay finishes second – Baltimore (clinched). If Green Bay finishes third – winner of Sunday’s Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland.

More on Packers vs. Lions

Three reasons for optimism

Satire: Lions are really mad at Aaron Rodgers

Packers have only one player on injury report

Linebacker suffers broken leg

Packers-Lions tickets aren’t cheap

James Jones on Packers’ playoff prospects

Turnover titans: Jared Goff vs. Packers defense

Week by week, Packers made their move

Packers make another big move in Super Bowl odds

Packers vs. Lions: Insider perspective

Packers vs. Lions: Previewing Detroit’s offense

Packers vs. Lions: Previewing Detroit’s defense

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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