Packers-Bears game flexed to Saturday night for Week 16

While the Green Bay Packers’ game against the Chicago Bears this week will remain as a 3:25 p.m. CT kickoff, you might need to change your plans for Week 16’s rematch. Originally scheduled as a “TBD” game for Saturday, December 20th, the game will now officially kick off at 7:20 p.m. CT at Soldier Field, the Packers announced today.

So if you were hoping to get out of Chicago early in Week 16, go ahead and book that hotel.

Packers-Bears will be one of two games played on December 20th, with the lead-up to the game being the Philadelphia Eagles traveling to the Washington Commanders at 4 p.m. CT. Both games will be broadcast on FOX as a national doubleheader.

Considering that the Packers and Bears are in striking range of the one seed while the Commanders are functionally out of the playoff race, this shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. At the end of the day, the NFL wants its top brands playing at night, where the games get more eyeballs.

The Packers have two more “TBD” dates on their schedule: Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens and Week 18 against the Minnesota Vikings. At minimum, that Ravens game is a contender to be another night kickoff, as Baltimore is hovering around the AFC North lead. The Vikings game will probably be a morning kick, as Minnesota is functionally out of the playoff race, either on January 3rd or 4th.