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The Green Bay Packers are locked into third place in the NFC North for 2017. That is the situation they face going into week seventeen — even though they play the Detroit Lions and could pull even with Detroit at 8-8 with a win, tiebreakers dictate that Green Bay cannot overtake the Lions.
If the Packers do win, they would move up to 8-8, tying the Lions. That would also give the two teams a 1-1 split on the season. However, Detroit’s 4-2 division record would be better than the Packers’ 3-3 record, which would still give Detroit the edge.
In other words, the Packers are in third place. That, combined with the fact that the third-place teams in the other NFC divisions are also locked in, means that all of the Packers’ opponents are decided for 2018.
As a refresher, each NFL team has 14 of their 16 games decided in advance each year. That consists of six divisional games (one at home and one on the road against each of three divisional rivals), four games against the teams from one full division in the same conference, and four more against a full division from the opposite conference. The final two games are against the teams in the other divisions within the same conference that finished in the same place — therefore, the first-place teams play the other first-place teams, second-place teams play second-place teams, and so on.
The Packers’ 2018 schedule features the NFC West division and the AFC East. As such, that means that they will play the third-place teams from the NFC South and East divisions. Based on the standings, that means that they will play the Atlanta Falcons out of the South — that game being at Lambeau Field — and Washington from the NFC East.
The Falcons are 9-6, two games behind the Saints and Panthers in the South. Washington is 7-8 and only one game back of Dallas in the East, but the Cowboys swept them this season.
With that settled, we now know the Packers’ full slate of opponents and the venues for those games, which goes as follows:
Packers 2018 Opponents
| Team | Division | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Division | Location |
| Minnesota Vikings | NFC North | Lambeau Field |
| Detroit Lions | NFC North | Lambeau Field |
| Chicago Bears | NFC North | Lambeau Field |
| Arizona Cardinals | NFC West | Lambeau Field |
| San Francisco 49ers | NFC West | Lambeau Field |
| Buffalo Bills | AFC East | Lambeau Field |
| Miami Dolphins | AFC East | Lambeau Field |
| Atlanta Falcons | NFC South | Lambeau Field |
| Minnesota Vikings | NFC North | U.S. Bank Stadium |
| Detroit Lions | NFC North | Ford Field |
| Chicago Bears | NFC North | Soldier Field |
| Los Angeles Rams | NFC West | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
| Seattle Seahawks | NFC West | CenturyLink Field |
| New England Patriots | AFC East | Gillette Stadium |
| New York Jets | AFC East | MetLife Stadium |
| Washington | NFC East | FedEx Field |