Like a good neighbor, NFL sets up Patrick Mahomes-Aaron Rodgers matchup with addition of 17th game in 2021

“The 17th game, they can put it anywhere,” Packers team president/CEO Mark Murphy said during a Zoom call with reporters Tuesday evening. “They can schedule that to draw the best (TV) ratings.”

With a road game against the Chiefs officially added to their slate, the Packers’ already challenging 2021 schedule got that much tougher. Of their 16 games, 10 will be against teams that made the playoffs this past season, including two matchups with their NFC North rivals, the Chicago Bears.

In addition to their home-and-home series with the Bears, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, the Packers are also set to host the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Washington Football Team at home. Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Washington, Chicago and L.A. all made the playoffs last year, with the Packers beating the Rams at Lambeau Field in the divisional round to advance to the NFC title game.

On the road, the Packers face the 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and the Chiefs. Kansas City, New Orleans and Baltimore made the playoffs last year, while the injury-riddled 49ers fell to 6-10 after losing to Mahomes and the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV a year earlier.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday during the league’s a two-day virtual meeting of owners, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called the expansion of the regular-season schedule a “monumental moment in NFL history,” as this marks the first time the schedule has been expanded since the league went from a 14-game schedule to 16 games in 1978. The league is not adding a second bye week as part of the expansion.