Crank up the drama: Mike McCarthy will face Aaron Rodgers in Cowboys vs. Packers Week 10 matchup

If you're looking for some NFL drama in the 2022 season, circle Nov. 13 on your calendar. That's when Mike McCarthy, former Green Bay Packers head coach and current Dallas Cowboys head coach, will face his former quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the first time.

Cowboys at Packers in Week 10 is the latest scheduling appetizer released by the NFL, just one day before they're set to announce the full 2022 schedule. In the ramp up to that announcement, the NFL has released its full international schedule for 2022, the teams playing in the "Monday Night Football" overlapping doubleheader in Week 2, and one game of the Christmas tripleheader, which will be broadcast on CBS and Nickelodeon.

Mike McCarthy vs. Aaron Rodgers

This Week 10 game in Green Bay marks the first time McCarthy and Rodgers will face each other as opponents since McCarthy was fired by the Packers in 2018 after 13 years at the helm. There will be a huge narrative around this game, especially given some of the reports that came out about Rodgers and McCarthy in recent years.

Their relationship got off to a poor start in 2005, when the San Francisco 49ers and then-offensive coordinator McCarthy chose Alex Smith with the first overall pick instead of Rodgers, a Northern California native who grew up a Niners fan. Rodgers was eventually selected by Green Bay with the 24th pick, and he reportedly remained angry at McCarthy for passing on him, even as McCarthy was hired as head coach for the Packers in 2006.

That was just the beginning. Their entire 13-year relationship was reportedly toxic, according to a 2019 exposé from Bleacher Report. There were constant conflicts, with Rodgers complaining about McCarthy's play-calling and football IQ, and McCarthy not grasping that his style wasn't jiving with Rodgers, who slowly began to amass more power within the organization. Even though it has been almost four years since McCarthy was fired, the Week 10 game will be rich with stories from their history.

The game may be steeped in the past, but it will take place in the present. By Week 10, just past the halfway point of the season, we'll know how well the Cowboys and Packers are performing, which will contribute to the chatter around the game. Will there be an underdog narrative for one of the teams? Will it be a clash of the titans (not the football team)? Who will come out on top, Rodgers or McCarthy?

The NFL will release the full 2022 schedule Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on the NFL Network.