What will happen in the second half of the season for Green Bay?
The Green Bay Packers last left us all on a bit of a sour note when they lost a divisional matchup against the Detroit Lions just before the bye week. And the Lions kind of made things worse by coming back and beating the Houston Texans last week despite Jared Goff throwing five interceptions.
The Packers are losing some ground in the NFC North at this point, and the NFC Wild Card race is heating up significantly here in the second half of the season already.
The Packers need to come out of their Week 10 bye ready to take care of business, and they start off with a road matchup against a Chicago Bears team that is…going through it.
Let’s predict the remainder of the Packers’ 2024 schedule following the bye week.
Game-by-game predictions for the Packers after the bye week
Week 11: at Chicago Bears
The Packers are coming out of the bye week and quite possibly catching the Bears at the best time. Sometimes teams that fire coaches go on a short heater in response to the drastic changes that get made, but we could see Green Bay get the Bears at their lowest.
The Bears just fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. They released former big-money free agent guard Nate Davis. Heck, there are even rumors that the Bears are discussing benching Caleb Williams for Tyson Bagent. Could you imagine if we saw that happen during the game against the Packers?
With Green Bay coming off its bye and Chicago coming off of an ugly loss, I see the Packers winning this week on the road.
Prediction: Packers win 31-21 (7-3)
Week 12: vs. San Francisco 49ers
I hate to say it, but I just hate the timing of this matchup for the Packers. The San Francisco 49ers haven’t been their usual dominant selves this season, but that’s not good news for anyone in their path in the second half of this season. The 49ers just came off of their bye last week and we saw them travel to the East Coast and beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The win against the Bucs pushed the 49ers above .500 for the season, and I think we’re going to see that team start to steamroll everything in their path. The Packers have the benefit of playing at home here and they should by no means be counted out, but I’ve got the 49ers winning this one (sadly).
Prediction: 49ers win 28-24 (7-4)
Week 13: vs. Miami Dolphins (Thanksgiving)
So, the Packers lose against the 49ers in Week 12, but they’ll have a chance to quickly get that taste out of their mouths on Thanksgiving. The Miami Dolphins coming to the Midwest for a late-November Thanksgiving tilt is exactly the type of game that plays in Green Bay’s favor.
Miami has a chance to go on a run here in the second half of the season, but it has proven to be rather flawed, regardless of its speed offensively. I’m taking the Packers playing at home on Thanksgiving in a game where the offenses could be trading barbs all afternoon while we all shove our faces full of turkey and apple pie.
Prediction: Packers win 38-33 (8-4)
Week 14: at Detroit Lions (Thursday Night Football)
The Packers and Lions will both be playing back-to-back Thursday games here, but this is just a brutal draw for Matt LaFleur’s team entering the month of December.
The Lions are playing as well as any team in the NFL right now. Even when Jared Goff throws five interceptions, this team is capable of coming away with a win. But when they play mistake-free football? Not many teams are even really keeping it close.
I’m going to have to take the Lions at home in this one.
Prediction: Lions win 30-24 (8-5)
Week 15: at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday Night Football)
This game will be a real test of the Packers’ mental fortitude as we get toward the end of the 2024 season. Playing in Seattle is never easy for anybody, regardless of the Seahawks’ record. The one major advantage teams have over the Seahawks right now is the weakness of the Seattle offensive line.
And even though there’s still time between now and this game, the problems are not going to get fixed until the 2025 offseason. Seattle’s offensive line is a significant problem that the Packers can take advantage of on the road. We know Green Bay has the weapons to keep up with Seattle, but do the Seahawks have what it takes to prevent the turnover machine that is the Packers’ defense from feasting in this one?
Prediction: Packers win 27-23 (9-5)
Week 16: vs. New Orleans Saints (Monday Night Football)
Well, nobody said the Packers were going to be staying out of the spotlight this year, did they? The Packers are playing one primetime game after another here as we get into the meat of the season, and this game against the New Orleans Saints doesn’t scream “primetime” in terms of the matchup, but you can be assured the implications will be huge for Green Bay.
They are going to need every NFC win they can possibly get, and although the Saints haven’t been overly competitive so far this season, you can’t count them out as long as they are even remotely healthy. We’ll see where they’re at by this point, but after firing Dennis Allen, the Saints have already signaled that they have one eye on 2025. The Packers need to take care of business here.
Prediction: Packers win 27-17 (10-5)
Week 17: at Minnesota Vikings
It’s possible that we could see this game get flexed into a primetime slot with the way things are trending for both the Packers and Vikings. This could be a matchup with a playoff spot at stake.
I have to say, I hate to discount what they are doing this season because so much of it has been impressive, but I’m not buying the Vikings as the season rolls along. Sam Darnold has been much more mistake-prone as the season has gone along, and the Vikings have had some real clunkers at times defensively.
I’m not sold that this team is going to be as good at the end of the season as we’ve seen from them earlier in the year. With that said, this is going to be a nail-biter one way or the other. But the Packers will prevail.
Prediction: Packers win 28-25 (11-5)
Week 18: vs. Chicago Bears
The Bears will probably be looking to play spoiler at this stage, but the Packers could be simply jockeying for seeding in the NFC. The division is, of course, not out of the question yet, but my guess is that the Packers will be fighting for that fifth seed, the top Wild Card spot in the NFC.
And the Bears are going to want to go into the offseason on a high note.
But the Packers are going to shut that down and get another win here. They are just much further along than the Bears are.
Prediction: Packers win 23-16 (12-5)
So, we’ve got the Packers rolling through the back half of their 2024 schedule with just two losses in these predictions (against the 49ers and Lions). Now, divisional matchups can swing either way regardless of record and I’m not 100 percent sold that the Packers are going to steamroll the Dolphins just yet.
But with that said, I think this is a very viable path for Green Bay coming off the bye, which would put them at 12-5 on the season. I think pretty much any Packers fan would take that option, and the only thing preventing them from a divisional title here is a ridiculous year from the Lions. But the Packers will be a threat in January once again.