Green Bay Packers Season Schedule

The Green Bay Packers will have a national audience three times this year. The NFL released the season schedules Thursday afternoon, which gives the Packers three primetime matchups.
The season debut of Coach Mike McCarthy is a home game against the Chicago Bears on September 10. One hopeful coincidence for Packers fans is that Vince Lombardi was the last Packers coach to make their season coaching debut against the Bears on Green Bay soil.
The schedule will also have fans thinking about the Super Bowl when the Packers host the New England Patriots, the team Green Bay defeated ten years ago in Super Bowl XXXI for the national championship.
But unlike past years, this schedule is not set in stone. This marks the first NFL season with flexible scheduling toward the end of the season. The NFL can change the time of the games if teams are doing particularly well and may attract a larger TV audience -- or if teams are doing poorly and may lose audience.
Flex-schedule times are indicated with an asterisk (*)
Date
Time (Central)
Opponent (home games are in ALL CAPS)
Preseason
August 10-14
TBA
at San Diego Chargers
August 17-21
TBA
ATLANTA FALCONS (Gold Pkg.)
August 28
7 p.m.
at Cincinnati Bengals
Aug. 31-Sept. 1
TBA
TENNESSEE TITANS
Regular Season
September 10
3:15 p.m.
CHICAGO BEARS
September 17
Noon
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (Gold Pkg.)
September 24
Noon
at Detroit Lions
October 2
7:30 p.m.
at Philadelphia Eagles
October 8
Noon
ST. LOUIS RAMS
October 15
Bye Week
October 22
Noon
at Miami Dolphins
October 29
Noon
ARIZONA CARDINALS
November 5
Noon
at Buffalo Bills
November 12
Noon*
at Minnesota Vikings
November 19
Noon*
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (Gold Pkg.)
November 27
7:30 p.m.
at Seattle Seahawks
December 3
Noon*
NEW YORK JETS
December 10
3:05 p.m.*
at San Francisco 49ers
December 17
Noon*
DETROIT LIONS
December 21
7 p.m.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS
December 31
Noon*
at Chicago Bears
Postseason

Packers Favre

Brett Favre (fahrv) spent a half-hour with reporters today at the Packers minicamp, making his first public comments since announcing two weeks ago that he would return to play this season.And, despite comments earlier in the offseason that there was "no doubt" the upcoming season would be his last, the veteran quarterback now isn't so sure.
He says, "I'm going to play this year, give it my best and not talk about it. And I'm sure that it will come up from somewhere else at some point, but it's been a distraction not only for me but for I think the guys I played with in the past, and I'm not going to talk about it this year."
Favre reiterated several times that he never considered asking to be traded to another team in the offseason.
The aging signal caller says he came back intending to win, but if the Packers can't go to the Super Bowl, he hopes to at least have fun.
The Packers finished 4-and-12 last season.

Rivalry No Joke?

There is an old joke that has been recycled through the ages of the National Football League. And it's almost an honor for a team to be the butt of this joke, because it applies only to former champions; the once proud, powerful and elite.

And now, for the third time in the history of the Green Bay Packers, this tired old zinger is being thrust upon the green and gold and that disappointing 2-7 record.

The joke asks, how many Green Bay Packers fans does it take to change a light bulb?

The answer is three. One person to perform the simple task of actually changing the light bulb. And two to sit around and talk about how good the old light bulb was.

The Packers and their fans miss the glow and warmth of that old bulb, which had burned brightly through the first 13 seasons of the Brett Favre era. The Packers never had a losing record and were always a contender, a team to be reckoned with during that run.

It's a case of history repeating itself. The Packers were first inserted as the subject of that joke when the Curly Lambeau era faded from memory after six NFL championships. From 1950 through 1958 there was nothing to shout about as Gene Ronzani, Lisle Blackbourn and Scooter McLean's teams gave Titletown a hat trick of coaching misery.

Vince Lombardi restored pride and redefined our notion of excellence from 1959-1967, winning five NFL championships, including the first two Super Bowls.

But the Packers were reinserted into that joke for the next 24 years as teams coached by Phil Bengtson, Dan Devine, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg and Lindy Infante failed to win anything that resembled an NFL championship.

It might well be that the New England Patriots, winners of three of the last four Super Bowls, will find themselves plopped into this joke if they fail to return to the big stage anytime soon.

There's no shame in that. Actually, it's quite the opposite. The Patriots, if they fall from grace, would be thrown into some pretty heady company, along with the Packers, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, just to mention a few.

With apologies to you romantics out there, it is a far, far better thing to have won - then lost - then never to have won at all.

Which brings us to Monday night and the Minnesota Vikings, speaking of teams that have never won anything.

This folks, is a game that means something. This will be the 90th meeting of these teams, counting Green Bay's 31-17 playoff loss to Minnesota last season. The Packers have won 44 games in the series. The Vikings have won 44. One game ended in a tie.

This season, both teams appear to be headed nowhere. The Vikings, at 4-5, have embarrassed themselves on and off the field. The Packers, crippled by injuries, have played just well enough to win two games and finish second in seven others.

There has been bad blood between these teams and their fans in this border battle almost since the day the Vikings entered the NFL as an expansion team in 1961. Minnesota's best years began shortly after the Lombardi era was ending and the Packers were slipping into their 24-year coma.

Bud Grant took over as coach of the Vikings in 1967 after six seasons under Norm Van Brocklin. Van Brocklin, like every other coach, didn't have much luck against Lombardi's Packers. Lombardi won the first six games and was 10-2 against Van Brocklin's Vikings, making it more a runaway than a rivalry for the Packers.

Green Bay and Minnesota split the series in 1967, the only year that Grant coached against Lombardi. But with Lombardi gone in 1968, Grant and the Vikings began to take charge of the series. In 18 seasons (1967-1983, 1985), Grant's Vikings were 22-12-1 against Green Bay. From 1975-'79 Grant's teams were 8-0-1 against the Packers. He coached the Vikings to four Super Bowls, but lost them all.

And when Grant came to Minnesota he brought old, on-the-fence Packers fans with him, particularly from northern Wisconsin.

Grant was raised in Superior, Wis. where he was born in 1927. And the old glacier face was extremely popular. His athletic accomplishments at Superior Central High School were the stuff of legend in northern Wisconsin. Grant was a sensational football and basketball player and an accomplished baseball pitcher for, of course, the Central Vikings. He went on to star at the University of Minnesota where he excelled in all three sports. He was drafted in the first round by Philadelphia and played wide receiver for the Eagles. And he won an NBA championship as a forward for the Minneapolis Lakers in 1950.

Grant played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League and later coached them to four Grey Cup championships in 10 seasons. He is a member of the CFL and Pro Football halls of fame.

Grant, at 78, still works for the Vikings as a part-time consultant. They need to listen to him more.

To this day Vikings fans are plentiful in the extreme regions of northern Wisconsin and the reason can be traced back to Harry Peter "Bud" Grant. Grant turned Minnesota's twice-yearly beatings by Green Bay into one of the NFL's most significant and treasured rivalries.

Of course, the folks at "Monday Night Football" probably see it differently. They would probably like to audible to Indianapolis at Cincinnati or Philadelphia at the New York Giants instead of this yelping ratings dog.

But on Sunday both teams showed remarkable heart, scoring impressive upset victories on the road and adding to the hype of the Monday night showdown.

Only in our little morsel of the world is the Vikings-Packers rivalry appreciated, no matter what the records show.

And as much as Packers and Vikings fans despise each other, what fun would there be without that enemy across the border?

You see, this rivalry is no joke.

Another Purple Convert!

In 2004, Ryan Longwell kicked a pair of last-second field goals to give the Green Bay Packers huge victories over the Minnesota Vikings.

In 2006, he'll have a chance to do the same to his former club from the opposite side of the rivalry.

After nine seasons in Green Bay, Longwell signed a five-year, $10• million deal (including a $3 million signing bonus) with the Vikings Saturday, less than 24 hours after the NFL's free agency period began.

Longwell said talks with the Packers "ended about a week ago. It was time to move on. We felt that from their end."

In Minnesota, Longwell rejoins ex-Packers safety Darren Sharper, who was cut by the team last offseason and signed with the Vikings the next day and was named to the Pro Bowl.

"(Sharper) did a lot of great things for the Packers in the past, and when he came back he got booed out of the stadium," Longwell told reporters at the Vikings' facility in Winter Park, Minn. "I don't expect to be welcomed back, but I'm very proud of what I accomplished in Green Bay. I know this Vikings-Packers rivalry is about as heated as it gets. I'm happy to be wearing purple and be on this side of the battle for the next bunch of years."

Longwell, 31, was one of the NFL's most accurate kickers despite the less-than-friendly wind and field conditions of Lambeau Field, making 81.6 percent (226 of 277) of his regular-season kicks with the Packers.

After joining the team in 1997 when third-round pick Brett Conway bombed in training camp, Longwell was 118-for-143 (82.5 percent) at Lambeau, while opposing kickers were 92-for-125 (73.6).

Asked if kicking in a dome was appealing to him, Longwell said, "It absolutely factored in. I have braved the winds and the field and the cold in Lambeau for a long time. So there has always been an appeal to me to see what I can do in a neutral environment. It certainly was a factor, being able to play in a controlled environment."

The Packers, meanwhile, must find a replacement who can handle the inclement Wisconsin weather.

"Ryan has been an outstanding Packer and we're sorry to lose him," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. "We wish him well. Losing players is part of free agency. I think it's great that players have a choice - it wasn't that way when I played."

One possibility is New England's Adam Vinatieri, though he could be too expensive for Thompson's tastes. The Packers do have a connection with him, as vice president of player finance Andrew Brandt was once Vinatieri's agent.

Two other kickers, the San Francisco 49ers' Joe Nedney and the Buccaneers' Matt Bryant, re-signed with their teams Saturday, leaving Vinatieri, Indianapolis' Mike Vanderjagt, Atlanta's Todd Peterson and Paul Edinger, the Vikings' kicker last season, as the biggest names on the market.

After making made 24 of 28 field-goal attempts (85.7) in 2004, including four game-winning kicks, Longwell struggled with punters B.J. Sander and Ryan Flinn as his holders last season and connected on just 20 of 27 tries (74.1), his worst accuracy mark since making 20 of 31 attempts (64.5 percent) in 2001.

"I think last year with everything that happened, it was time for a fresh start," Longwell said. "The second we got here this morning, it felt like the right place to be."

Changing Sides!

Coach Childress: We're kicking off the free agency today. A lot of people have worked very hard. We're got a lot of talented people involved in this thing. The first guy I'd like to introduce you to is Ryan Longwell. Obviously he has great knowledge of the Minnesota Vikings. He's had a few game winners here in the Metrodome. His being the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Green Bay Packers kind of speaks for itself. To have experience in this division, the NFC North, for us is huge. To know what the wind is like in Lambeau Field and Soldier Field is a big thing in terms of being a kicker. Let me introduce you to Ryan Longwell.

Longwell: Thanks. Sarah and I are extremely honored to come here and be Minnesota Vikings. It's been a lot of fun in Green Bay for the past nine years, but we are as excited as we've ever been to start this new facet of our lives and this new chapter of our lives. We're excited with the direction that Coach Childress and the Vikings are headed and we're just as pleased as can be to be a part of it. We thank everybody involved. It's been a very exciting day for both of us and we're excited to get started.

Q: What made you comfortable with this decision?
A: Obviously I was very comfortable with kicking in this division as I have. But, people make the difference in organizations. The thing about Green Bay was that there was good people there. When I started to get acquainted with the people here today in this organization they're incredible. From the head coach to the special teams coach to the owner to everybody involved, they're just great people that this organization has in there. We were honored that they wanted us to come and be a part of it and be a part of the transition. We expect good things pretty quick here.

Q: You've had a good percentage even with kicking at Lambeau, did playing in a dome factor into your decision?
A: It absolutely factored in. I've braved the winds and the field and the cold in Lambeau for a long time. There's always been an appeal to me to see what I could do in a neutral environment. I've had good games here in the past and I expect to continue on that. Certainly it was a factor to be able to play in a controlled environment. It's not an intimidation to go to Lambeau or Soldier Field and kick there. I'm very comfortable kicking there. I do think we're at an advantage in playing in this division, which is huge. You've gotta win the division to get in the playoffs.

Q: Will you adjust to being on the other side of the Packers-Vikings rivalry?
A: Darren Sharper and I were rookies together in Green Bay and he did a lot of great things with us with the Packers in the past and when he came back he got booed out of the stadium. I don't expect to be welcomed back, but I'm very proud of what I accomplished in Green Bay. I know the Vikings-Packers rivalry is about as heated as it gets. I'm happy to be wearing purple and to be on this side of the battle for the next bunch of years.

Q: Is it going to be fun for you going to an NFC North city and already be known to the home fans?
A: I think it is. I've always had very high standards for myself and what I expect out of myself on the field. Because the Vikings fans know me and know what I've done over the years there won't be a break-in period to get to know what we expect. We expect to make our kicks and have a very, very high percentage. It's good that they know me and they should be comfortable with me. Certainly getting one of the "bad guys" so to speak is never a bad thing.

Q: Did the Packers make a push to keep you?
A: We have talked over the past months since the season, but those conversations really ended about a week ago. It was time to move on. We kind of felt that from their end. We knew where they were at. Sarah and I kind of felt that with all the transition going on over there it would be a good time, so we began thinking it would be elsewhere.

Q: Was it easier or more difficult to come to a team that's in a transition like the Vikings are?
A: No, I think that one of the big highlights is the fact that everybody is kind of getting a fresh start. I can work with the players and the coaches alike to build this thing up from ground zero, so I'm very excited about that.

Q: Is the transition and a new start as important as the dollars?
A: In this game the dollars are always a factor. Last year, with everything that happened, you know, it was time for a fresh start. With the transition there, there's a new staff and everything. The second we got here this morning it just kinda felt like the right place to be. The more people we met and the more people we came in contact with, the more and more comfortable it felt. It just felt like this was the place to be. To be a piece of that puzzle was something that we wanted to be. Then we just had to make it work.

Q: The Bucs were interested too, why the Vikings?
A: There were some teams that made some pretty big announcements that they were going to get a kicker in free agency. But once we got up here this morning it was pretty obvious that we wanted to be Minnesota Vikings. We're very, very happy to be here, very happy to be part of this and excited to get started.