Yesterday I dissected the current roster for the 2013 Green Bay Packers as the team prepares for the 2013 NFL Draft. Last year I took a quick look at each game when the scheduled was release before the draft so here is my second annual look:
Sunday, September 8th (3:25 pm on Fox) at San Francisco 49ers: The Packers open the season against the 49ers for the second year in a row. Last year the Packers lost to the 49ers at home in the season opener and on the road in the playoffs to end their season. Unfortunately at this point I see the Packers losing to the 49ers for the third time in a row.
Sunday, September 15th (Noon on Fox) v. Washington Redskins: Despite what Dr. James Andrews says, I think it is a long-shot to expect that RGIII will be healthy in time to lead the Redskins at the start of 2013. Even if RGIII is healthy, there is no way the Packers are losing their home opener.
Sunday, September 22nd (Noon on CBS) at Cincinnati Bengals: In-Law-Cheese lives in Dayton so Cheesehead Chick and I will be accompanying them to see the Packers throttle the Bengals in Cincinnati.
Sunday, September 29th open: Cheesehead Chick and I have a two week South America trip planned in the first part of October. Selfishly I was hoping that one of the Sunday would be a bye week. Unfortunately the Packers have one of their earliest bye weeks in recent memory that predates our trip.
Sunday, October 6th (Noon on Fox) v. Detroit Lions: The Packers will notch their 23rd consecutive home win over the Lions in a cake walk to improve to 3-1.
Sunday, October 13th (Noon on Fox) at Baltimore Ravens: Despite the reigning Super Champs losing a number of their main contributors (Ray Lewis, Matt Birk, Anquan Boldin, Dannell Ellerbe, and Ed Reed just to name a few) they will re-stock enough to be a Super Bowl contender in 2013. If this game was played in Green Bay I would pick the Packers but since it is being played in Baltimore I went with the Ravens.
Sunday, October 20th (3:25 pm on Fox) v. Cleveland Browns: With the Browns now lead by general manager Mike Lombardi, I see them
being competitive in a few years but it takes time to rebuild a morbid
franchise. After losing to an AFC North opponent the previous week, the Packers will take out their frustrations on a different AFC North opponent to improve to 4-2.
Sunday, October 27th (7:30 pm on NBC) at Minnesota Vikings: It is looking more and more like this will be the second time I see the Packers live, oddly both coming on the road. This will be the last time the Packers and Vikings face each other in The Humpty since the Vikings are going to play at the Gophers stadium for two years before they open their new stadium in 2016. At the very least Sug, Nick, and I are going to see the last Packers/Vikings game at The Humpty with the hope that we can get the entire group that saw the Packers beat the Vikings in the playoffs to join us.
Monday, November 4th (7:40 pm on ESPN) v. Chicago Bears: I like that the Packers get to play each divisional opponent at least once before December because last year they didn't play the Vikings until December, which meant they played the Vikings three times in six weeks including two consecutive weeks since they met in their regular season finale (Vikings won) and the first round of the playoffs (Packers won). In their only Monday Night Football appearance I see the Packers improving to 6-2 with a win over the Bears.
Sunday, November 10th (Noon on Fox) v. Philadelphia Eagles: If there is any karma in football, the Eagles should struggle under Chip Kelly since he left Oregon Pete Carroll style just as investigations into major recruiting violations gained steam. Things keep getting better for the Packers as they improve to 7-2.
Sunday, November 17th (7:30 pm on NBC) at New York Giants: As I've said many times in this space, the Giants are my least favorite team in the NFL since they've knocked off the Packers the last two times they've met in the playoffs en route to winning the Super Bowl. Unfortunately the Giants will continue their dominance of the Packers to drop the Packers to 7-3.
Sunday, November 24th (Noon on Fox) v. Minnesota Vikings: A great tonic for the Giants is the smooth taste of the underachieving Vikings. Unless the two-headed quarterback monster of Mastian Pondassell morphs into a serviceable quarterback, the Packers roll at home to get back on track following their loss to the Giants to improve to 8-3.
Sunday, November 28th (11:30 am on Fox) at Detroit Lions: Holidays get complicated when you get married, especially when each spouse's respective parents live outside traveling distance. I have great parents (Mama Cheese and Papa Cheese) and in-laws (In-Law-Cheese) that are very understanding but coordinating holidays is still hard. Thus I am not sure whether I am going to see the Packers defeat the Lions in Chicago, Dayton, Milwaukee, or Detroit. If I am watching the Packers and Lions live in Detroit on Thanksgiving there is a good chance I am no longer married though so let's take Detroit off the list. My guess is that we have Thanksgiving in Chicago this year for the first time as a married couple.
Sunday, December 8th (7:30 pm on NBC) v. Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons continue to be the regular season juggernaut that is a playoff pretender. Thus the Falcons will knock off the Packers to drop the Packers to 9-4 but if they meet in the playoffs I see the Packers winning big, just like they did in the playoffs on the road against the Falcons en route to winning Super Bowl XLV.
Sunday, December 15th (3:25 pm on Fox) at Dallas Cowboys: I would love to see Jerry's World in person, not only because I've heard it is an amazing experience, but more importantly it is the site where the Packers won Super Bowl XLV. I see the Packers continuing their winning ways in Dallas to improve to 10-4.
Sunday, December 22nd (3:25 pm on CBS) v. Pittsburgh Steelers: This will mark three Super Bowl XLV mentions in as many games since the Packers defeated the Steelers to win Super Bowl XLV. I see the Packers beating the Steelers again to put themselves in position to secure home field advantage in the playoffs throughout the playoffs.
Sunday, December 29th (Noon on Fox) at Chicago Bears: The last time the Packers closed the regular season in Chicago they were eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the day so basically the Packers were playing for pride on NYE 2006 since they knew it was their last game of the season while the Bears were on their way to the playoffs. To make matters worse, I thought it was Favre's last game as a Packer so I lost my head at the end of the game as I tried to get as close to Favre as I could as he left the field. Luckily this game will be much better since the Packers will secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win on the road over the Bears.
As I said last year, I can't predict injuries but if Aaron Rodgers stays
healthy I see the 2013 Green Bay Packers going at least 12-4 in the regular,
winning the NFC North for the third year in a row, and making a strong Super Bowl run. Check back over the next few weeks for my wall-to-wall coverage of the 2013 NFL Draft, which will go a long way to determining whether the Packers will be a Super Bowl contender in 2013.
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