Packers-Bears Week 1 Dope Sheet

*Two years after he co-founded the Packers with Curly Lambeau, George Calhoun began writing a piece called The Dope Sheet, which served as the official press release and game program from 1921-24.

Honoring Calhoun, the first publicity director, the Packers are running this weekly feature as their release, which is being made available to fans exclusively on Packers.com.

A complete edition of the Dope Sheet will be available each week during the season in PDF format, located in the Packers.com Game Centers.

This is an abbreviated version of the Packers-Bears Week 1 Dope Sheet. To read the full version, download the PDF by clicking here.

Here are some highlights from the Packers-Bears Week 1 Dope Sheet:*

**CHICAGO (0-0) at GREEN BAY (0-0)

Sunday, Sept. 13 - Lambeau Field - 7:20 p.m. CDT

RIVALRY GAME KICKS OFF 2009 IN PRIME TIME**

• Green Bay kicks off its 91st season of professional football – its 89th as a National Football League franchise – at Lambeau Field Sunday night against its most storied rival.

• No truer rivalry exists in the NFL, and no two teams have met on the gridiron more than Green Bay and Chicago. Sunday marks the 178th game in the all-time series.

• Names like Halas and Lombardi, Nitschke and Butkus, Starr and Payton only begin to define the history of the series. Currently, the Bears own a 90-80-6 advantage in regular-season play, in addition to the lone playoff win in 1941.

• Green Bay opens the season at home for the fourth consecutive season. The Packers are 49-36-3 (.570) all-time in season openers and 2-1 under Head Coach Mike McCarthy.

• It marks the 21st time the Packers and Bears square off in the NFL season opener. Amazingly, 18 of the previous 20 have occurred in Green Bay, with the lone Windy City openers coming in 1979 and '81. The Bears hold a slight 10-9-1 advantage in openers against the Packers.

• For the second consecutive season, the Packers will open in prime time against a division opponent. Green Bay defeated Minnesota 24-19 on Monday Night Football to open the 2008 season. The Packers are 4-0 all-time in prime-time openers, all of which have come on MNF.

WITH THE CALL

• NBC Sports will broadcast the Sunday Night Football contest to a national audience. Play-by-play man Al Michaels joins color commentator Cris Collinsworth in the broadcast booth with Andrea Kremer serving as the sideline reporter.

• New for the 2009 season, Bob Costas will be on-site for NBC for pregame and halftime segments.

• Fans also can check out the action online, where the broadcast will be streamed on NBCSports.com and NFL.com.

• Milwaukee's WTMJ (620 AM), airing Green Bay games since 1929, heads up the 53-station Packers Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and two-time Packers Pro Bowler Larry McCarren (color) calling the action. The duo enters its 11th season of broadcasts together across the Packers Radio Network, which covers 43 markets in five states.

• Westwood One radio will air the game across the country. Dave Sims (play-by-play) and former Packers WR James Lofton (analyst) will call the action, with Hub Arkush on the sidelines. Scott Graham hosts pregame and halftime shows.

• ESPN International will broadcast the game in three languages to over 180 countries.

• For out-of-town listeners, the broadcast is available to NFL Field Pass subscribers on www.packers.com as well as on Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 127 WTMJ feed) as part of the network's NFL Sunday Drive.

**THE DOPE ON THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT:

Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears

All-time regular season:** 80-90-6

All-time, postseason: 0-1

All-time, at Lambeau Field:28-22-0

Streaks:The Bears have won six of the last eight meetings.

Last meeting, regular season: Dec. 22, 2008, at Soldier Field; Bears won, 20-17 OT

Last meeting, Lambeau Field, regular season:Nov. 16, 2008; Packers won, 37-3

**COACHES CAPSULES

Mike McCarthy:** 28-22-0, .560, (incl. 1-1 postseason); 4th NFL season

Lovie Smith: 47-37-0, .560 (incl. 2-2 postseason); 6th NFL season

Head to Head:Smith 4-2

vs. Opponent: McCarthy 2-4 vs. Bears; Smith 7-3 vs. Packers

MIKE McCARTHY…Is in fourth year as the Packers' 14th head coach.

• Was named Packers head coach on Jan. 12, 2006, his first head coaching job after 13 years as an NFL assistant.

• Honored as the 2007 Motorola NFL Coach of the Year and NFL Alumni Coach of the Year.

• Became the first Packers coach since Vince Lombardi to lead the team to a championship game in his second season.

• One of only three head coaches to lead an offense ranked in the top 10 in the league each of the past three years.

LOVIE SMITH…Is in sixth year as the Bears' 13th head coach.

• With 45 regular-season wins entering 2009, ranks third in franchise history behind Hall of Famers Mike Ditka and George Halas.

• Guided the team to its first Super Bowl appearance in 21 years in 2006.

• Named The Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year in 2005 after he led a worst-to-first revival in the NFC North. The Bears' six-win improvement from the previous season was tied for the biggest in the NFL that year.

• Came to Chicago from St. Louis, where he served as defensive coordinator from 2001-03, helping the Rams return to the Super Bowl in 2001. Prior to that, coached LBs for Tampa Bay from 1996-2000.

THE PACKERS-BEARS SERIES

• The NFL's most prolific rivalry, no two teams have met on the gridiron more than the Packers and Bears. Sunday they face off for the 178th time.

• The Packers' 37-3 win last November marked the largest margin of victory in the series since Green Bay's 40-3 win on Dec. 11, 1994. Chicago's win last December was just the second overtime game in series history and first since Sept. 7, 1980, when Packers K Chester Marcol returned his own blocked field goal for the winning score.

• The Bears have swept the season series twice in the last four years (2005, 2007), their only series sweeps since 1991. The Packers last swept the season series in 2003, concluding a seven-game winning streak and an 18-2 stretch dating back to 1994. On only four occasions in NFL history has a team enjoyed a better 20-game stretch against a single opponent.

• The last time Green Bay led the overall series? On the heels of its three straight NFL championships, 1932, when the Packers led 11-10-5. Two months after Babe Ruth allegedly called his shot at Wrigley Field in the 1932 World Series, the Bears stole from Green Bay a fourth straight title (which at the time was determined by league standings). Chicago barely finished atop the league standings, which unlike today did not count ties. Had the league counted ties in standings, the Packers would have won. The next year, 1933, the NFL began determining its champion with postseason games.

{sportsad300}NOTABLE CONNECTIONS

Green Bay running backs coach Edgar Bennett finished his playing career in Chicago (1998-99)...Packers assistant offensive line coach Jerry Fontenot was a third-round draft choice of the Bears in 1989 and was a mainstay at center in his eight seasons (1989-96) in Chicago...Lovie Smith was a University of Wisconsin assistant in 1987, while Bears defensive coordinator Bob Babich spent two seasons on the Badgers' staff (1988-89)...Packers NT Ryan Pickett played for Bears head coach Lovie Smith in St. Louis from 2001-03 when Smith served as the Rams' defensive coordinator. Pickett and LB Brandon Chillar were also teammates of Bears T Orlando Pace and LB Pisa Tinoisamoa in St. Louis....Bears assistant defensive backs coach Gill Byrd served as the Packers executive director/player programs and community affairs from 1999-2001...Bears LB Hunter Hillenmeyer was taken by Green Bay in the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft...Bears LB Nick Roach is a Milwaukee native who played in college at Northwestern...Bears WR Rashied Davis, DT Jarron Gilbert and Packers WR James Jones were teammates at San Jose State...Bears G Josh Beekman and Packers CB Will Blackmon and NT B.J. Raji were teammates at Boston College...Packers QB Matt Flynn and Bears S Craig Steltz led LSU to the BCS National Championship in 2007.

INDIVIDUALLY VS. BEARS

QB Aaron Rodgers was a combined 47-of-69 for 487 yards with four TDs and two interceptions in two games last season...WR Donald Driver's career-long catch was an 85-yard TD reception at Chicago (Champaign) on Oct. 7, 2002, on Monday Night Football...S Nick Collins intercepted a career-high two passes against the Bears on Dec. 31, 2006, including a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown...The first two-interception game of CB Charles Woodson's career came at Chicago on Oct. 5, 2003, while playing for Oakland. Woodson has had three games with two INTs since coming to Green Bay...Ryan Grant's 66-yard TD run in Chicago in 2007 was a career-long, and his 145 yards in last year's game at Lambeau was a season-high.

LAST MEETING, REGULAR SEASON

• Dec. 22, 2008, at Soldier Field; Bears won, 20-17 OT.

• Touchdown catches by Greg Jennings and Grant in the second quarter gave the Packers a 14-3 halftime lead. But the Bears came back in the second half and tied it at 17 on Matt Forte's 3-yard TD run with 3:11 left in the fourth quarter.

• The Packers had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Mason Crosby's 38-yard field-goal try was blocked by Alex Brown with 18 seconds left.

• The Bears won the OT coin flip and scored on the first possession. Passes of 15 yards to Greg Olsen and 14 yards to Forte, plus a 15-yard horse-collar tackle penalty on Packers S Aaron Rouse, put Chicago in position for Robbie Gould's game-winning 38-yard field goal.

LAST MEETING, IN GREEN BAY

• Nov. 16, 2008; Packers won, 37-3.

• Ryan Grant's season-high 145 yards rushing and a Packers defense that held the Bears to 234 total yards and just 22:32 of possession time led a dominant victory.

• Jason Hunter's fumble return for a touchdown was the Packers' seventh defensive score of the season, a new franchise record.

• Aaron Rodgers completed 23 of 30 passes for 227 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

AND SO IT BEGINS

• After a month filled with two-a-day practices, four preseason games and two roster cutdowns, the regular season arrives.

• But the story of the 2009 Green Bay Packers began back in March, when nearly the entire team participated in the offseason program.

• Though the offseason was headlined by a new defensive staff, led by defensive coordinator Dom Capers, and the transition to the 3-4, much of the Packers' core roster remains intact.

• 10 starters return on offense, including a 4,000-yard passer (Aaron Rodgers), 1,200-yard rusher (Ryan Grant) and two 1,000-yard receivers (Donald Driver and Greg Jennings). With a full offseason under its belt, the first-team offense could hardly be stopped in the preseason. In fact, it punted just once.

• Schematically things will look different on the other side of the ball, but all 11 defensive starters return in 2009. Bolstered by two first-round draft choices, the unit made plays through its pressure packages in the preseason and excelled at causing turnovers. However, there is a feeling around the locker room that the unit has only begun to show a small portion of the schemes from Capers' notoriously thick playbook.

A LOOK AT THE 53

• Faced with some of the toughest cuts of his tenure, General Manager Ted Thompson and the football operations staff finalized the opening-day roster this past weekend.

• "Every year is a new year," Thompson said regarding his roster. "I do think, especially our first group, has played very well in the preseason. That is preseason, but there is a confident air in our locker room and I think our guys think that we can hold our own against most people."

• It's a balanced roster for Green Bay, which holds 24 offensive players, 25 defensive players, three specialists and one two-way player (TE/LB Spencer Havner).

• 44 players on the team were with the Packers in 2008. Seven of eight 2009 draft picks also made the team.

PACKERS, BEARS NEVER LACKS FOR STORYLINES

• In such a tradition-filled rivalry, there is no shortage of topics covered in the week leading up to the game.

• For Green Bay, it will be its first chance to put a disappointing 2008 season behind and begin anew.

• Though opposing teams have seen the Packers' new 3-4 scheme in the preseason, this will be its first true test in live action.

• On offense, a unit that has ranked in the top 10 each of the last three seasons will look to make the jump into the NFL's top echelon, becoming one of the game's most dangerous units.

• For Chicago, it marks the debut of Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler, traded to the Bears this offseason from Denver.

• And for both clubs, neither of whom made the playoffs a year ago, it marks the first step toward claiming the NFC North crown.

• Sunday night will go down among the more noteworthy season-opening games between the Packers and Bears. Of the previous 20, here's a look at some of the more memorable in Green Bay:

Date: Result (Notes)

Sept. 29, 1957: W, 21-17 (First game in Lambeau Field history)

Sept. 27, 1959: W, 9-6 (Vince Lombardi's head-coaching debut)

Sept. 15, 1963: L, 10-3 (One of Lombardi's two career home losses to the Bears (also 1960 opener))

Sept. 13, 1964: W, 23-12 (Paul Hornung returns to the gridiron after 1963 gambling suspension)

Sept. 7, 1980: W, 12-6 (Chester Marcol takes deflection of blocked FG 25 yards for overtime TD)

Sept. 1, 1997: W, 38-24 (Packers begin title defense on MNF)

Sept. 10, 2006: L, 26-0 (Bears spoil McCarthy's debut)

STARTING FAST

• Head Coach Mike McCarthy, like all NFL coaches, stresses the importance of getting out to a quick start in the early portions of the 2009 schedule in order to springboard the team to greater successes.

• This offseason, one of the main goals was an added emphasis on starting fast – literally – in the first quarter through an increased tempo at the line of scrimmage and ultimately more point production.

• The Packers produced a total of 13 points (one TD, two FGs) on their first offensive possessions a year ago, second fewest among all NFL teams (Detroit, 10). Despite ranking No. 5 in total scoring (419 points) in 2008, the Packers produced their lowest output (61 points) in the first quarter. That total ranked tied for 20th.

• So far this offseason, it looks as though that emphasis has paid off, as the No. 1 offense was clicking early and often.

• QB Aaron Rodgers led an offense that scored touchdowns on nine of 13 possessions as he registered an NFL-best 147.9 quarterback rating during the preseason.

• Not to be outdone, the defense finished its preseason action with 13 takeaways (eight interceptions, five fumbles) and 12 sacks. The No. 1 unit allowed only 13 points.

• With the third preseason game being as close to a dress rehearsal as there is in the NFL, Green Bay's starters stormed out of the gates in a road contest against defending NFC champion Arizona, building a 38-10 halftime advantage before giving way to the second units.

• All told, Green Bay's starters outscored opponents 76-13 in just over six quarters of play. But, to a man, each has acknowledged that it will mean nothing if it is not carried over into the regular season.

• "When we do our job we're hard to stop," RB Ryan Grant said. "It's definitely preseason so you keep things in perspective, but we should feel confident about where we are and where we can start as an offense."

• "It is only preseason, but I think we've put together some dominating quarters," CB Charles Woodson said. "Even as dominant as we've been, we still made a lot of mistakes. We feel like we can get better, and I think we will."

STARTING 0-LINE SET

• Of the 22 primary starters from 2008, 20 are expected to line up against the Bears Sunday night.

• The two new starters will come along the right side of the offensive line with G Josh Sitton and T Allen Barbre. Barbre, a third-year pro, has seen action in 15 games in his first two seasons.

• Sitton started twice as a rookie last season, and his emergence at the spot caused the Packers to move Jason Spitz to center.

• Spitz, with 41 starts in his first three seasons, including six at center, takes over for veteran Scott Wells, who has started 54 games in five seasons in Green Bay.

• With Wells' experience and Spitz's versatility to play any of the three interior positions, it's almost assured that Wells would be the first lineman in should any injury occur among the first unit, especially given G Daryn Colledge's experience at tackle.

• Colledge and T Chad Clifton form an experienced left side of the line. Colledge has played in each of his 48 games as a pro (44 starts), while Clifton is the veteran of the group.

• One of the league's top pass blockers, Clifton is entering his 10th season. Despite having offseason surgery on both shoulders and both knees, Clifton (131 games, 126 starts) shows no signs of slowing down.

AHEAD THIS WEEK

• After a padded practice Monday, the team will settle in to its "in-season" schedule.

• Players will have the normal Tuesday off, followed by practice on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The team will meet in the morning Saturday for meetings and a walk-through.

• Need a sign its Packers-Bears week? Legendary Bears player and coach Mike Ditka speaks in Green Bay on Tuesday night, with all proceeds going to Junior Achievement in Brown County.

• Packers alumni Jerry Kramer and James Lofton will be on hand and introduced prior to kickoff. Kramer (1958-68) is one of the legendary guards in the annals of pro football, and Lofton (1978-86) remains the leading receiver in franchise history.

MEET THE NEWCOMERS

• With 44 players returning for another season in Green Bay, there are only a few new faces in the Packers' locker room.

• The rookie draft class, seven of whom made the roster, are led by first-round picks NT B.J. Raji and LB Clay Matthews. While neither is expected to start in the base defense on opening night, Raji will certainly be used in sub-packages and perhaps on obvious running downs. Matthews will be a regular on special teams and could see action from scrimmage to rush the passer or drop back into coverage.

• Other rookies on defense include sixth-round picks DE Jarius Wynn and CB Brandon Underwood as well as seventh-round selection LB Brad Jones. Wynn showed a knack for rushing the passer in the preseason, while Underwood and Jones may get their first shot on special teams.

• Rookies on offense include fourth-round pick G/T T.J. Lang, fifth-round choice FB Quinn Johnson and non-drafted free agent G/C Evan Dietrich-Smith. Lang and Dietrich-Smith both showed the ability to play multiple positions along the line, while Johnson packs a punch clearing holes for running backs.

• The only other newcomer had to introduce himself to coaches and teammates on Monday. Acquired in a trade with Baltimore on Saturday, S Derrick Martin arrives with a familiarity with the 3-4 defense and a reputation as a solid special teams player. S Aaron Rouse, the only other backup safety, was bothered by a hamstring injury through the final weeks of the preseason, so it's possible Martin could be forced into action not only on special teams but from scrimmage on Sunday night.

• "We studied him quite a bit out of Wyoming three or four years ago," GM Ted Thompson said. "We liked him then, and a lot of our moves that we make on the pro side are based first and foremost of what we thought of him in college, and we thought he was a good player. We thought even then he would have the ability to play inside, and the fact that he does have that versatility and he's a good special teams player."

THE LAMBEAU ADVANTAGE

• The crown jewel of the National Football League, Lambeau Field has long been known as one of the tougher venues to play in, particularly during the harsh Wisconsin winter.

• With the 2008 season-ending win over Detroit, the Packers have won 13 of their last 18 regular-season games at Lambeau Field.

• McCarthy has stated consistently that one of the team's goals is to reclaim the mystique of playing at Lambeau Field. Mission accomplished. The team is 11-5 at home over the last two seasons, a marked improvement over the prior three seasons (10-14 combined).

• Since Ron Wolf and Mike Holmgren began the revitalization of the franchise in 1992, Green Bay owns the best home record in the NFL. A look at the top home W-L records since the '92 season:

Team: W-L record (Pct.)

Green Bay: 101-35-0 (.743)

Denver: 99-37-0 (.728)

Pittsburgh: 98-37-1 (.724)

Kansas City: 93-43-0 (.684)

Minnesota: 92-44-0 (.676)

FIRST YEAR UNDER CENTER

• Quarterback Aaron Rodgers isn't one to talk about stats or milestones, but he exceeded nearly all expectations in his first season under center.

• He finished the season with 4,038 passing yards, becoming only the second quarterback in NFL history to surpass 4,000 yards in the same season in which he made his first career start. Kurt Warner (4,353) was the first to accomplish the feat in 1999.

• Rodgers is the fourth player in club history to surpass the 4,000-yard mark, joining Lynn Dickey (1), Brett Favre (5) and Don Majkowski (1).

• Four times Rodgers went over 300 yards passing in 2008. He also tossed three touchdown passes in four games.

• Rodgers' 28 touchdown passes were tops among first-year starters and marked the first time since Daunte Culpepper (33) in 2000 that a first-year starter threw for 25-plus touchdowns.

• The California product took care of the ball as well, throwing 13 interceptions in 536 attempts, 2.42% of his throws. It was the lowest percentage by a Packers quarterback in over a decade (Favre, 1996, 2.39%).

• And perhaps most importantly in Green Bay, Rodgers started all 16 games in 2008, fighting through a serious shoulder injury suffered in Week 4 at Tampa that kept him out of practice for one month.

• Proving he is among the NFL's top quarterbacks will take years of consistent play, but there is no doubt the 25-year-old Rodgers is off to a great start. A look at where his 2008 totals ranked in the NFL:

Statistic: 2008 total (NFL Rank)

Passing Yards: 4,038 (4)

Completions: 341 (7)

Completion %: 65.6 (10)

Touchdowns: 28 (4)

QB Rating: 93.8 (6)

20-plus yd. completions: 48 (5T)

40-plus yd. completions: 16 (1T)

Third-down QB rating: 105.8 (3)

First downs passing: 182 (9T)

JENNINGS AMONG GAME'S MOST DANGEROUS

• After a breakout season in 2008 and a long-term contract extension in the offseason, WR Greg Jennings seems poised to take his place amongst the game's great receivers.

• He is already one of the top "big-play" receivers in the league, something he has proven in each of his first three seasons.

• Jennings established career highs last season in catches (80) and receiving yards (1,292), finishing sixth among all players in yardage.

• Jennings' 21 catches of 20 yards-or-more tied for second in the NFL behind Carolina's Steve Smith (23). Detroit's Calvin Johnson also had 21 catches of 20-plus yards. Of 178 career catches, 44 (24.7%) have gone for 20-plus yards.

• On even longer receptions, Jennings begins to break away from the field. He led all players in 2008 with eight catches of 40-plus yards.

• Of his 24 career touchdown catches, 10 have been at least 40 yards in length. He has a staggering average of 31.3 yards per TD catch.

• Over the past two seasons, no one has been as productive a deep threat as Jennings. A look at the numbers across the NFL from 2007-08:

Player: (40-plus-yard catches, 40-plus-yard TDs)

Greg Jennings, GB: (15, 8)

Randy Moss, NE: (12, 8)

Terrell Owens, BUF: (12, 8)

Donald Driver, GB: (10, 2)

Steve Smith, CAR: (10, 5)

TAKEAWAY POINTS KEY FOR PACKERS

• Green Bay continued to show its knack for the takeaway in the preseason as it recorded 13 in four games. Most important is turning those turnovers into points.

• Last season, the Green Bay defense led the NFL in defensive touchdowns (7) and interception returns for touchdowns (6).

• Green Bay (plus-seven) finished with the sixth-best turnover ratio in the NFL, its best finish under Mike McCarthy.

• Green Bay had 28 takeaways (22 interceptions, six fumble recoveries) on the season against 21 turnovers (13 interceptions, eight fumbles). The 21 turnovers tied the second-lowest total in franchise history.

• Thanks to an opportunistic defense, with its seven touchdowns, and an offense that was able to capitalize after an opponent's mistake, Green Bay led all NFL teams with 124 points off takeaways. Baltimore (123) finished just behind the Packers at No. 2.

• On the other sideline, the Packers surrendered 75 points off the 21 turnovers last year – 24 of which came at Tampa in Week 4. That point total off turnovers tied for 16th in the NFL.

• If the Packers don't commit a turnover, they're almost guaranteed to win. A rarity occurred for the Packers in Week 10 at Minnesota: they lost a game in which they did not commit a turnover. They have now won 32 of 34 games playing turnover-free football, since a loss at Dallas, Nov. 18, 1996. Green Bay's only losses in such games during that stretch both came at Minnesota, first in 2005 and again last season.

• Including playoffs, the Packers have won 35 of their last 37 games without a giveaway.

ANOTHER TEAM RECORD IN 2008 - RETURN YARDAGE

• The Packers finished 2008 with an astounding 685 return yards on their 22 interceptions, tops in the NFL. That was over 200 yards better than the next closest team, Baltimore, which finished the year with 477 return yards on 26 interceptions.

• The 685 return yards is a new franchise record.

• That beat the previous franchise record established in 1943, when the team had 616 yards on 42 interceptions. In the modern era, the two previous highs were 561 return yards on 27 interceptions in 1965, and the following season when Green Bay had 547 return yards on 28 interceptions. The Packers won the NFL Championship both seasons.

• McCarthy has said his team's ability to make a play after an interception is something the team has repped after every turnover in practice since he arrived in 2006. Every offensive player, whether part of the 11 on the play or the group on the sidelines, attempts to catch the defender before he can advance up the field.

NATIONALLY TELEVISED GAMES HEADLINE 2009 SCHEDULE

• The Packers will play each of their NFC North opponents in front of a national audience, including Sunday's opener against Chicago at Lambeau Field and a Thanksgiving game in Detroit against the Lions in Week 12.

• Green Bay also will travel to Minnesota to take on the rival Vikings in Week 4 for the first of two appearances on Monday Night Football. The signing of QB Brett Favre by Minnesota ensures that the game will be among the most watched this season.

• The Packers' other appearance on Monday night comes Dec. 7 in a Week 13 showdown with the Baltimore Ravens at Lambeau Field. It marks the first MNF game played at Lambeau Field in the month of December.

• 2009 marks the 17th consecutive season the Packers have appeared on Monday Night Football, the NFC's longest active streak.

• Green Bay's fifth game in front of a national TV audience comes against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10. The Nov. 15 game will kick off at 3:15 p.m. on FOX. The fifth home game on the schedule, the Cowboys contest is slated as a Gold Package (Milwaukee season-ticket holders) game. Cincinnati comes to Lambeau Field in Week 2 for the other Gold Package game.

• Though it is a noon kickoff, the Vikings-Packers matchup at Lambeau Field on Nov. 1 will certainly be watched by many around the country as Favre makes his return to Lambeau Field.

• Green Bay's final four games of the season, including matchups at Super Bowl XLIII opponents Arizona and Pittsburgh, as well as the final division game in Chicago, are all subject to the NFL's flexible scheduling.

• Green Bay is not a candidate to be flexed in Week 11 against San Francisco because the team plays just four days later against Detroit on Thanksgiving. The Packers also are not a candidate to be flexed in Week 13 because of the Monday night matchup against the Ravens.