The Green Bay Packers' 95th NFL regular-season schedule – highlighted by the Thanksgiving night game at Lambeau Field against the Chicago Bears, the first home Thanksgiving game since 1923, and four other prime-time contests (subject to flexible scheduling) – was released this evening by the National Football League.
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.
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 (Weeks 14-17) and the first time the Packers have played on consecutive Thursdays since 2007 (Weeks 12-13).
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.
Green Bay's schedule includes 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 dates and times for Green Bay's preseason games have also been finalized.
For ticket information, please visit www.packers.com/tickets and eventusa.com. For a secure method to buy and sell tickets, the Packers encourage fans to use NFL Ticket Exchange, http://pckrs.com/2015tickets. Please remember season ticket holders are unable to post tickets on NFL Ticket Exchange until mid-July.
SCHEDULE NOTES …
at Chicago, Sept. 13, 12 p.m. CT (FOX) – The last time Green Bay faced Chicago in the season opener was in 2009, a 21-15 Packers victory at home…Will be the third time in the last five seasons (2011, 2014) that the teams have met at Soldier Field in September…Including a 2010 playoff victory at Chicago, Green Bay has won 18 of the last 22 meetings between the rivals at Soldier Field…The Packers have won at Chicago in the regular season each of the last four years.
vs. Seattle, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m. CT (NBC) – Green Bay is 8-3 against the Seahawks at home during the regular and postseason, including five straight wins…Will be Seattle's first visit to Lambeau Field since 2009, a 48-10 Packers victory…Only the fourth meeting between the two in the month of September (1996, 2012, 2014).
vs. Kansas City, Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN) – Marks the 23rd consecutive season (1993-2015) that Green Bay is appearing on Monday Night Football…Green Bay is 14-8-1 at home on MNF, including 4-1 under Head Coach Mike McCarthy…Second meeting between the two on MNF (1993 in KC)…Last time the Packers faced an AFC team on MNF was Baltimore in 2009…Chiefs' fourth trip to Lambeau Field during the regular season and first since 2003…Second regular-season meeting between the two teams in the month of September (1990).
at San Francisco, Oct. 4, 3:25 p.m. CT (FOX) – First October game between the two since 2000…First game for Green Bay at Levi's Stadium…One of four teams the Packers will face in 2015 that have a new head coach (Chicago, Denver, Oakland)…Dating back to 1996, Green Bay is 9-2 against San Francisco during the regular season… Packers last won at San Francisco in 2006.
vs. St. Louis, Oct. 11, 12 p.m. CT (CBS) – Packers have won four consecutive regular-season games against St. Louis…Dating back to 1990, Green Bay is 7-2 against the Rams at Lambeau Field…Will be the third time the teams have met at Lambeau since McCarthy has been the head coach, with all three games being played in October.
vs. San Diego, Oct. 18, 3:25 p.m. CT (CBS) – The Packers are 9-1 all-time against the Chargers…Green Bay is 3-1 against San Diego at home, outscoring the Chargers 135-68 in those contests…The Packers have scored at least 28 points against San Diego in each home game…Only the second time San Diego has visited Green Bay in the last 19 seasons.
at Denver, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. CT (NBC) – Green Bay has won three consecutive regular-season games against Denver, including both contests under McCarthy (2007, 2011)…Matchup of two teams that finished in the top 10 in scoring each of the last three seasons, including finishing No. 1 (Packers) and No. 2 (Broncos) in 2014…Meeting of two of three NFL teams (New England) that have won their division each of the last four years…Under McCarthy, Green Bay is 8-1 (.889) in the game after the bye…First of a three-game stretch against 2014 playoff teams.
at Carolina, Nov. 8, 12 p.m. CT (FOX) – The Packers have won six of the last eight meetings between the teams, including a 38-17 victory last season at Lambeau Field…Green Bay is 8-4 against the Panthers during the regular season, including 5-2 at Carolina…The Packers have scored 30-plus points in all four games against the Panthers under McCarthy.
vs. Detroit, Nov. 15, 12 p.m. CT (FOX) – Including a 1994 playoff victory, the Packers have won 24 consecutive games against the Lions in the state of Wisconsin…Green Bay has a 15-3 overall mark (.833) and a 9-0 home record against Detroit under McCarthy…Will be the Lions' first visit to Lambeau in the month of November since 2002.
at Minnesota, Nov. 22, 12 p.m. CT (FOX) – Green Bay has won four of the last five at Minnesota…Of the past 25 regular-season meetings between the teams, 18 of those games have been decided by seven points or less, including a 24-21 Packers victory in Minnesota last season…If the Packers win, it will mark three consecutive victories on the road against the Vikings, which would be the longest road winning streak for the Packers in the series since winning five straight from 1980-85.
vs. Chicago, Nov. 26, 7:30 p.m. CT (NBC) – Will be the first time Green Bay has played at home on Thanksgiving Day since 1923…Green Bay has won three of the past four games it has played on Thanksgiving…The division rivals square off in a prime-time contest for the 10th consecutive season…The Packers have won six of the last seven meetings against the Bears at Lambeau Field…Third straight year that Green Bay has played Chicago at home in November.
at Detroit, Dec. 3, 7:25 p.m. CT (CBS/NFLN) – Green Bay has won six of nine games at Ford Field under McCarthy…Dating back to 1990, will be only the third time the Packers have played at the Lions in the month of December (1994, 1996, 2010)…Second time Green Bay has played a Thursday night game at Detroit (1998).
vs. Dallas, Dec. 13, 3:25 p.m. CT (FOX) – Including the playoffs, will be the third straight season the Packers and Cowboys have met…Green Bay is 10-4 against Dallas at home during the regular and postseason, including wins in five of the last six matchups…Cowboys' first regular-season visit to Lambeau Field since 2010…Packers host Dallas at Lambeau for the first time in the regular season in December or January…Including the postseason, Green Bay has outscored Dallas 88-35 in the last three games played at Lambeau.
at Oakland, Dec. 20, 3:05 p.m. CT (FOX) – The Packers have won six consecutive games against the Raiders, including two on the road…In those six games, Green Bay has outscored the Raiders 210-70...Will be the fifth time in the last six matchups that the Packers and Raiders will play in December…First trip to Oakland since 2003 and only the third all-time (1976).
at Arizona, Dec. 27, 3:25 p.m. CT (FOX) – The Packers have won seven of the last eight regular-season matchups against the Cardinals, including each of the past three…Since the Cards moved to Arizona in 1988, the Packers are 4-1 as the away team during the regular season…Green Bay's first road game against Arizona since playing the 2009 regular-season finale and Wild Card game at University of Phoenix Stadium.
vs. Minnesota, Jan. 3, 12 p.m. CT (FOX) – Including playoffs, Green Bay has a 8-1-1 mark (.833) against the Vikings at Lambeau Field under McCarthy…It will be only the second time the Vikings have played at Green Bay to close out the regular season (1996)…Only the fifth regular-season game ever played at Lambeau Field in the month of January, Green Bay has won the previous four.
