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| The Packers and Bears square off in the "best" game this week. But how good is it, really? |
There's something about this season that is leading to a jarring lack of marquee matchups. The best game last week featured 4-3 Detroit and 4-3 Dallas. The only other matchup between two winning teams last week was a 40-point Cincinnati blowout over the Jets. Week 7 saw a miserable slate outside of the Sunday Night game between Indianapolis and Denver.
This is purely by chance. The NFL schedule is 100% pre-set, effectively years in advance. Each division plays within their division twice and against a rotation of one division from each conference (for example, the NFC North plays the AFC North and NFC East this year). These rotations are established years in advance - plus two additional games against the teams from their conference that finished in the same standing in their respective division (for example, last year's NFC North runner-up, Minnesota, in addition to playing the entire NFC East, plays Carolina, 2nd in the NFC South last year, and Seattle, 2nd in the NFC West).
In other words, it's not like the poor schedule is set up by the league trying to create interesting matchups. The rotation is established and known years in advance - we already know that in 2019, the AFC East will play the NFC East and AFC South. So it's purely bad luck that we've had a number of weeks in a row with a disappointing slate.
