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According to analysis by Warren Sharp of Fox Sports, the Green Bay Packers have an average rest differential compared to their opponents in 2023. That should be a massive breath of fresh air for the Packers, who were dead last in rest differential just last season.
In 2022, Green Bay played on fewer 12 days of rest than their opponents, due to multiple factors. First, their opponents got the benefit of playing the Packers off of their bye weeks and their “short byes” after Thursday Night Football games. Second, Green Bay requested that the league not give them a bye week following their international game (Week 5 in London), which meant that the team didn’t get a bye week until all the way in Week 14.
we need to focus closely on rest disparity this yr since imbalance is at historic highs
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) May 16, 2023
which teams benefit most?
which are challenged most?
let's dig in team-by-team
start by reading this for @NFLonFOX https://t.co/TVnV7w09bU
INTRODUCING: 2023 Net Rest Edges
bookmark! pic.twitter.com/pkEqRw4r0S
Still, the Packers’ hell schedule of 2022 pales in comparison to the schedules of the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers this year, who will all have a worse rest differential than the Packers did last season. Here’s what Sharp had to say on the subject:
The Jets are at +12 while the 49ers are at -20. That’s a 32-day swing in rest edge. To put that in perspective: in a sport that spans four months from start to finish, one team has over a month more days of rest edges than another. That is hard to overcome.
And it’s the widest gap we’ve seen in recent memory. Last year, the straddle between the two teams at polar opposites was 24 days (Bills at +12, Packers at -12).
So while quarterback Jordan Love will make just one start on a Sunday at Lambeau Field before October 29th, it could be significantly worse. When it’s all said and done, the Packers’ schedule is neutral — without taking into account of the strength of schedule. The team won’t have any insane stretch of games in 2023, like their five weeks in five stadiums stretch back in 2022. That run, which began in London, also coincided with Aaron Rodgers’ broken thumb and led to a five-game losing streak. Outside of that stretch, the Packers were 8-4 last year. Hopefully, a neutrally-rested 2023 squad can post something close to those results.
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