Highly Anticipated NFL Showdown Gets Bumped Up As League Reshuffles Week 5 Schedule
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Fans circle the games on their team’s schedule the moment it drops every spring. Those plans don’t always survive contact with a rough three weeks of football.
Green Bay opened its season with plenty of hype after last year’s playoff push. Things haven’t gone the way anyone in Wisconsin expected.
The Packers stumbled to a 1-2 start, and their Thursday night home loss to Atlanta didn’t help their case. Tight end Tucker Kraft even called out the Lambeau Field crowd for booing during that 35-14 defeat.
The NFL took notice. The league has moved the Packers-Bears matchup out of Week 5’s featured Sunday afternoon window, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Green Bay and Chicago will now kick off at 1 p.m. ET on October 11 instead of the 4:25 p.m. ET slot they originally held.
The 49ers And Seahawks Take Over The Marquee Window
San Francisco and Seattle inherit that late-afternoon spot instead. Both teams have looked like legitimate contenders through three weeks. The league clearly wants that matchup in front of a bigger audience heading into October.
Chicago’s own injury situation played into the decision, too. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is dealing with a hamstring strain. Head coach Ben Johnson has said the injury could keep him out until November. Case Keenum made a strong case with his performance against the Eagles on Monday night, but it wasn’t enough to keep both teams in the spot.
Green Bay’s defense is dealing with an absence, too. Micah Parsons remains out while recovering from a torn ACL. He’s a big reason Green Bay’s Week 3 setback against Atlanta stung as much as it did. The pass rush simply hasn’t looked the same without him on the field.
The broadcast itself isn’t changing. FOX will still air the game. The NFL can only move one divisional matchup per season to a different network partner, so that piece stays fixed. Only the kickoff time is shifting. The league says no other Week 5 games were affected by the swap.
Two Other Late Games Remain Untouched By The Shift
Denver’s game against the Chargers and Detroit’s matchup with Arizona still occupy their original late-afternoon windows. Those two contests weren’t part of Tuesday’s announcement at all.
The Packers already watched their marquee home opener turn into a national punchline once the final score came in that night. Now their next appearance on the national stage comes with a demotion out of the spotlight.
Chicago and Green Bay will still meet as scheduled on October 11. They’ll simply do it with a smaller audience than either franchise probably wanted heading into the year.
Both teams will need results, not just a favorable schedule, to earn their way back into primetime consideration later this season.
