NFL Playoff Watch: Breaking Down Green Bay Packers' Road to 16-0

It’s easy to look at a 10-0 team, judge that it’s the best team in the league and proclaim that Green Bay Packers, given their quality, have to be favored to go 16-0.

Actually, it doesn’t work that way.

The Packers play in the toughest division in the league, the NFC North, and they have half of their division games still to play, although admittedly, two of the three are at home.

At the same time, they have only one game left against a team with a losing record, and that’s on the road.

The Packers are good, maybe even great. But there have been plenty of great teams that weren’t perfect teams. Only four teams have gone undefeated in NFL history, only two in the last four decades and only one in recent history, the 2007 New England Patriots.

And lest we forget, the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants.

Here’s how the rest of the Green Bay schedule looks.

Week 12 at Lions: Perhaps the Toughest Challenge

The Lions are the only team in the NFC North that the Packers have yet to play, and they had a huge rally Sunday, coming from a 24-7 deficit against Carolina to beat the Panthers 49-35 with two TDs in the final three minutes.

This meeting with Green Bay comes on Thanksgiving, meaning the two teams have just three days rest before squaring off in Ford Field.

It’s been seven consecutive losses for the Lions on Turkey Day, and two of those losses have come to the Packers. At the same time, the last team to lose to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day was Green Bay, back in 2003.

Are the Lions due?

Maybe.

Week 13 at Giants: It’ll Be Aaron vs. Eli

New York is not to be toyed with when playing at home, even if their actual home is New Jersey.

The Giants have only lost once at MetLife Stadium this season, and that one was an almost inexplicable defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, a team that has trouble winning anywhere.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Giants QB Eli Manning have Old Testament biblical first names, but they are very new age quarterbacks, both ranking among the top five in the game. 

Figure Manning to be up to the challenge. He averages 40 more yards per game at home than on the road. Will Rodgers be able to do the same?

This could be the game when the wheels come off for the Packers.

Week 14 vs. Raiders: Thank Goodness for the AFC West

Assuming the Lions and Bears fall to the wayside, things get much easier for the Packers down the stretch.

The Raiders will come to Lambeau Field, and they’ll be heavy underdogs despite currently having the best record in the AFC West. The addition of Carson Palmer as the quarterback has helped, but will that help be enough? Probably not.

The West is the worst division in the NFL, which makes the Raiders the best of the worst, not something you generally aspire to.

It’s very difficult to see the Packers losing this one.

Week 15 at Chiefs: Remember What We Said About the AFC West?

The only game the Packers play against a sub-.500 team the rest of the way (based on records coming into Sunday) is the Chiefs, who are 4-5.

And while Kansas City is the worst team left on the Green Bay schedule, and the Chiefs are at home, it’s difficult to see the Packers losing this one, too.

Arrowhead has seen the Chiefs go 2-3 this year, including a couple of blowouts to the Bills and the Dolphins. Miami and Denver have emerged winners in K.C. the last two weeks, and the Packers should win this one.

Week 16: Vs. Bears: Forte and Chicago Have Revived Since Last Seeing the Pack

One of the reasons the Bears had a slow start (2-3) to the season was a 27-17 loss to Green Bay at home in Week 3.

Running back Matt Forte was embarrassed in that one, getting nine carries and two yards. He came back a week later with 205 yards against an obviously weaker Carolina, and he’s going to be up for some revenge in this one.

More than that, the Bears have not lost since Oct. 10, and they could come into this game with a full head of steam.

This is a winnable game for the Packers, but it’s also a winnable game for the Bears.

Week 17: Vs. Lions: Will the Packers Go All out to Win This One?

Should the Packers make it this far, how do the Lions beat them at home?

Detroit has a lot of weapons, but in what could be a snowy, cold Lambeau Field on Jan. 1, the Packers would be a load for anyone.

Still, you have to consider the likely situation with home field advantage probably already locked up for the playoffs.

You have to figure a 15-0 Packers team wouldn’t be letting down, but if the division is already clinched, how much time will Aaron Rodgers and the starters spend on the field?

After all, 16-0 isn’t as important as another Super Bowl.

Just ask the 2007 Colts.