NFL makes a final call on when the Packers and the Bears will play in Week 18
The Green Bay Packers are in the playoffs, but can't win the NFC North nor reach the fifth seed in the NFC. The Chicago Bears are mathematically eliminated from contention. So, outside of seeding for the Packers in the NFC playoffs, sixth or seventh, there's not much left to fight for in the Week 18 […]
The Green Bay Packers are in the playoffs, but can't win the NFC North nor reach the fifth seed in the NFC. The Chicago Bears are mathematically eliminated from contention. So, outside of seeding for the Packers in the NFC playoffs, sixth or seventh, there's not much left to fight for in the Week 18 game.
Therefore, the NFL had no great options, and the Packers-Bears rivalry matchup will be played on Sunday, January 5, at noon (CT).
The league had the option to move the game around, since the first Packers-Bears game of the season had been on Fox in Week 11. For divisional games, the league can't take both games out of the original broadcasting company (Fox for NFC, CBS for AFC).
That's what prevented the NFL from making the Packers-Minnesota Vikings game in Week 17 a primetime game, because the first one had been moved to CBS.
The Minnesota Vikings-Detroit Lions game will be on Sunday night, so there wasn't a need to play them at the same time. But it's not a big game after all, so it made more sense for the NFL to play it in the early Sunday window.
Who will play
The Packers haven't announced yet if they will play their starters, but there's a scenario where head coach Matt LaFleur gives some players a rest. Since the Packers won't have a bye in the postseason, it would make sense to take advantage of his last week of the regular season for that.
It seems like the starters will play, though, based on what head coach Matt LaFleur said after the loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
"We gotta learn from this and try to move on and get some momentum here," LaFleur mentioned. "We get the Bears coming in, and try to finish this thing out the right way."
For the Bears, the game is valuable for the coaching staff. Interim head coach Thomas Brown and the rest of the group are fighting for Jobs — in Chicago or somewhere else. For the roster, it's an opportunity to end the Packers 11-win streak in the rivalry, and to end Caleb Williams' rookie season on a higher note.
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