Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy has spoken in the past about the NFL season being a long journey. He has also noted that his approach (and that of other coaches) is to break up the 16-game season into four, four-game quarters: Games 1-4 are the first quarter, Games 5-8 are the second quarter, and so on.

With their win last night against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers began the second quarter of their 2014 season. Obviously, the Pack finished the first quarter with a 2-2 record. The second quarter of the season has been strength of the Packers over the past couple of years. From 2010-13, Green Bay was 12-4 in Games 5-8 (the second quarter of the season), a .750 winning percentage. In looking at the four seasons prior to this year, the second quarter of the season has been the best four-game stretch for the Pack.

Here’s a look at each quarter of the season and the NFL teams that have the best record in that four-game stretch and where the Packers rank in each of the four, four-game quarters of the NFL season. The win-loss totals reflect the 2010-2013 seasons.

Quarter 1 (Games 1 through 4)
Best NFL records: Houston and New England, each 12-4 (.750 winning percentage)
Green Bay: 11-5 (.688) tied for the third-best record

Quarter 2 (Games 5 through 8)
Best NFL records: New York Giants and San Francisco, each 13-3 (.813)
Green Bay: 12-4 (.750) tied for the third-best record

Quarter 3 (Games 9 through 12)
Best NFL records: New England 15-1 (.938); New Orleans 13-3 (.813)
Green Bay: 10-5-1 (.656) 8th-best record

Quarter 4 (Games 13 through 16)
Best NFL records: New England 14-2 (.875); San Diego 13-3 (.813)
Green Bay: 11-5 (.688) fifth-best record

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