Well everybody, the beginning of the end of summer is upon us. We are finally coming to the end of July and I have exhausted all the patience that I had with sports not involving the Milwaukee Bucks’s arena and a football at an acceptable psi. Not to take the air out of the amazing summer that sports had this year (shout out to USWNT), but it is around this time of year where my football withdrawal becomes too real and I find myself perusing through any kind of football related medium out there. Yes, this means I spent last Sunday afternoon throwing touchdown passes to Dimitri Petrovich and listening to Sunny Day and Chuck Downfield call each game of my unforgettable Backyard Football Championship run. An afternoon wasted you ask? Hardly the case. At the very least it was a Sunday more enjoyable than listening to Joe Buck and Troy Aikman echo aimlessly back and forth between my ear drums.
Stepping away from my impressive offseason accomplishments for a bit, the end of July also marks the somewhat official beginning of the NFL season. Training camp begins for most NFL teams today, as we are now just a mere six weeks and four days away from the beginning of the Green Bay Packers 2015 regular season. Although I will undoubtedly be watching all 16 regular season games this year, here are a few of the games that I have circled on my own calendar that will most undoubtedly be some of the “Must See” Packer games of the year.
Week 1: September 13th @Chicago Bears on FOX (12:00 PM CT)
HALLELUJAH! IT’S FINALLY HERE! After what will definitely be a boring NFL season opener, where a most likely Brady-less Patriots team will face off against a most likely Bell-less Steelers, my football appetite will not be satisfied until this game kicks off. Better yet, it’s against my favorite opponent…TO BEAT. Sure the Bears have been pretty laughable the past couple of seasons, but it will still be a nice appetizer for the Packers to begin their season against Chicago. Long live Jay Cutler.
Week 2: September 20th vs. Seattle Seahawks on NBC (7:30 PM CT)
This will be a big and exciting home opener for Green Bay. Either you have completely erased last year’s NFC title game from memory, or that game has been waking you up in the middle of the night since late January. One thing I’m sure of is that the Packers have not forgotten, and have been waiting for this game ever since the schedule came out. This is going to be a revenge game, as well as the first big test of the season. Get ready for a close one with a couple nasty hits, explosive plays, and a lot of skittles.
Week 6: October 18th vs. San Diego Chargers on CBS (3:25 PM CT)
Probably not the most exciting game of the season or even that week, but I am excited to see Melvin Gordon go up against the Packers. The highest profile Badger since J.J. Watt is coming home to play. This will definitely be a fun one to go at Lambeau if you are a big Sconnie sports fan.
Week 13: December 13th vs. Dallas Cowboys on FOX (3:25 PM CT)
Another revenge game, but this time for Dallas. The catch that wasn’t sent Dallas home in last year’s playoffs, yet the Cowboys are locked and loaded for another playoff run. Another possible playoff preview, with maybe even some playoff seeding implications that will be another fun and intense game to watch. Will probably have to do a live rapid reaction piece with Jeremy Gopin, because this one is going to get heated.
Week 17: January 3rd vs. Minnesota Vikings on FOX (12:00 PM CT)
You never know how the NFL season is going to play out, so you never know the implications that come with the last game of the season. Even more so that the last game of the season for Green Bay is against division rival Minnesota. The Vikings are definitely riding on an up trend, and I will not be one to sleep on them when it comes to the NFC North title race. Regardless, it will most likely be the Lions nipping at the Packer heels at the end of the season, so this game could possibly be huge in terms of establishing a playoff spot if not a playoff seed.
Sources:
http://www.packers.com/gameday/schedule.html
NFL.com
Bleacher Report