Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur and the rest of his team open the year at Minnesota in Week 1.
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The Green Bay Packers’ 2026 schedule is set.
And with three of the first four games on the road, six night contests and four of five at home to end the year, the schedule is a wild one.
Green Bay’s eighth-year boss Matt LaFleur, the longest tenured coach in football that hasn’t been to a Super Bowl, gave his thoughts on the schedule to Packers.com.
WEEK 1
Green Bay opens the year at NFC North rival Minnesota. The Vikings began last season 4-8, then finished the year on a five-game winning streak and added quarterback Kyler Murray this offseason.
“Excited about it,” LaFleur said of facing Minnesota. “Starting against an NFC North Division rival, it’s always a tough place to play. It’s going to have a playoff-type atmosphere, for sure.”
THANKSGIVING EVE
Green Bay will travel to face the Los Angeles Rams for the first-ever Thanksgiving Eve game on Wednesday, Nov. 25. The Packers have a bye week before that game, then won’t play again until Dec. 6 when they travel to New Orleans.
“It’s a different situation,” LaFleur said of the Wednesday game. “Not coming off a traditional bye where you have a full week, it’s going to be kind of a mini-bye, and then we have another mini-bye right after that game. It’s just one of those things that with as popular as the NFL has gotten, you’ve just got to get comfortable being uncomfortable.”
AWAY EARLY, HOME LATE
Green Bay will play three of its first four games on the road, then close the year with four of five at home.
LaFleur was asked if that was a good trade off?
“Yeah, you’ve just got to take it one week at a time,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, I think it’s always important to start the season on a good note, but having four out of five at the end of the year, especially with the conditions that we get up here in Green Bay, could be a big advantage for us.”
MERRY CHRISTMAS?
Green Bay will travel to Chicago on Christmas Day.
The Bears won two of three from Green Bay last season, including a 31-27 win in the Wild Card game when Chicago rallied from a 21-3 halftime deficit and a 27-16 hole late in the game.
The NFL’s oldest rivalry was also amplified when Chicago coach Ben Johnson took shots at LaFleur throughout the year, and yelled, “F*** the Packers” after eliminating Green Bay in the playoffs.
“We’ve got to give them a good Christmas present,” LaFleur said of the Bears. “That’ll be an electric atmosphere, as it always is. Certainly, there’s a lot of games prior to that date but I’m sure it’ll be a meaningful game.”
STRANGE SCHEDULE
Because the Packers have seven national TV games (six in prime time, plus one on Christmas), there are five times during the season where they’ll go at least 10 days between games.
Green Bay currently has just six games that will start at noon on a Sunday.
“It’s probably the most unique schedule in regards to how many days you have off in between games that we’ve ever experienced,” LaFleur said.
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