With a target on their back now that they’re the defending champions, the Green Bay Packers will be looking to get back to the postseason and make another memorable playoff run. With plenty of great matchups on the Green Bay Packers schedule this year, it’s definitely not going to be easy—even if they do have Aaron Rodgers calling the signals. Here’s a look at the top games to look for in the 2011 regular season for the Pack.

Week 3, Packers at Bears

It may be easy to forget, but the Bears actually won the NFC North last year. This season, the Packers are the popular favorite in the NFC, though they’ll still have to be able to beat the Bears to reach their potential. Chicago doesn’t win pretty most of the time, but they do win quite often, making this a great early season test that might help shape how the season will play out in the NFC North.

Week 5, Packers at Falcons

With an established young quarterback in Matt Ryan and plenty of surrounding talent, the Falcons are another popular pick to come out of the NFC this year. The Packers also destroyed the Falcons on their home turf last season in the playoffs, and a vengeance-bent Falcons squad would love to give the Packers a taste of their own medicine. This is one of the best NFC matchups of the regular season and a potential preview of another postseason battle, making NFL tickets to see this one a no-brainer.

Week 6, Rams at Packers

Aaron Rodgers and the Rams’ Sam Bradford can both really spin the football, but we’ll see if the Rams have what it takes to beat a team like the Packers on the road. The Packers, meanwhile, need to prove that they’re a team that cannot be challenged by other teams that don’t quite have their talent level. This is a nice little NFC matchup and a real test for the Packers.

Week 8, Packers at Chargers

The Chargers always seem to end up as one of the favorites to get to the Super Bowl, and that’s because they have plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. Between Rodgers and Philip Rivers, this one will feature arguably the two best quarterbacks in the entire league, which should make for a real shootout that will have plenty of eyeballs glued to it.

Week 10, Bucs at Packers

As we head deeper into the second half of the 2011 regular season, the Packers would love to beat a Bucs team that many believe is on the way up. Young quarterback Josh Freeman is already better than many thought he would ever be and the Bucs play with a lot of confidence under head coach Raheem Morris. Not only should this one be an entertaining game but it’s one the Packers would love to win before heading into a tough road stretch.

Week 11, Packers at Lions

If the Lions can keep quarterback Mathew Stafford healthy, there’s no telling how good they can actually be. 2010 Defensive Rookie of the Year Ndamukong Suh is an absolute freak, which will really test the Packers’ ability to protect Rodgers and get the semblance of a running game going.

Week 16, Bears at Packers

It’s very likely that one of these two teams—if not both—will be looking to hold down the NFC North at the end of the season, making this a great matchup between two teams very familiar with one another.

Week 17, Lions at Packers

It wouldn’t be a complete shock if the Lions were fighting for a playoff spot in the final game of the regular season against the Packers. If not, Stafford and the Lions would love to play the spoiler.