The Green Bay Packers’ 95th NFL regular-season schedule — highlighted by a Thanksgiving night game at Lambeau Field against the Chicago Bears, the first home Thanksgiving game since 1923 — was released this evening by the National Football League.
Green Bay’s schedule includes four other prime-time contests and seven games against 2014 playoff teams. Three of those games (Dallas, Detroit, Seattle) will be at Lambeau Field, while four (Arizona, Carolina, Denver, Detroit) will come on the road.
The Packers will kick off their season on the road for the third consecutive year. Green Bay will travel to Chicago, opening the season at the Bears for the first time since 1981 and on the road against a division opponent for the first time since playing at Detroit in 2005.
“Going to Chicago is always a big game,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “Doing it Week 1 with a new (Bears) coaching staff brings some extra challenges, but we’re looking forward to starting off with the oldest rivalry in the National Football League.”
Green Bay will spend the following two weeks at home, playing a Sunday night game against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 and facing the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football in Week 3. It is the first time since 2008 that the Packers will play their first two home games in primetime.
After a trip to take on San Francisco in Week 4, the fifth time the Packers and 49ers will meet in the regular or postseason since 2012, Green Bay returns home for two games before its Week 7 bye. The St. Louis Rams visit Lambeau for the first time since 2011 in Week 5, and in Week 6 the Packers host the San Diego Chargers for the first time since 2007 and only the fifth time overall.
Following Green Bay’s first Week 7 bye since 2007, the Packers travel to play the Broncos in Denver for the first time on a Sunday night. It will be Green Bay’s seventh visit to the Mile High City during the regular season and first since a 19-13 overtime victory in 2007. The Packers stay on the road for a Week 9 game at Carolina, facing the Panthers in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2007-08.
The second half of the regular season will see Green Bay face division opponents in four consecutive weeks. The Packers will face the Lions at home in Week 10, travel to play Minnesota in Week 11, come home to play the Bears on Thanksgiving in Week 12 and play at Detroit in another Thursday night game in Week 13.
It will be the first time Green Bay has played division opponents in four consecutive weeks since 2000 and the first time the Packers have played on consecutive Thursdays since 2007.
“November-December football is so important, and it’s so critical to your success,” McCarthy said. “Division games are clearly the most important games of the year and the toughest games to play in. Four straight will definitely be a challenging part of our schedule.”
The Thanksgiving game should be special for players as well as fans.
“I think it’s great, and it will be great for our fans, the first time we’ve had a Thanksgiving night game here at Lambeau Field,” McCarthy said. “I think it will definitely be a special night.”
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the Packers will retire Brett Favre’s No. 4 at the Thanksgiving game.
The Packers’ final four regular-season games will be bookended by two home contests, starting with Dallas returning to Green Bay in Week 14. Including the postseason, the Packers have won four consecutive games against the Cowboys. In Weeks 15-16, Green Bay travels west to play the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals. The Packers will host the Vikings at Lambeau to close out the regular season, marking the sixth time the two have met in the regular-season finale and first at Lambeau since 1996.
The dates and times for Green Bay’s preseason games have also been finalized: 6:30 p.m. Aug. 13 at New England Patriots; 7 p.m. Aug. 23 at Pittsburgh Steelers; 7 p.m. Aug. 29 vs. Philadelphia Eagles; 6 p.m. Sept. 3 vs. New Orleans Saints.
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