Green Bay Packers 2023 schedule includes Week 1 vs. Bears, 5 prime-time contests, Thanksgiving game
GREEN BAY ‑ Aaron Rodgers is in New York, but the NFL still has a crush on the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers will play five prime-time games this season, six if you count Thanksgiving day: twice on Sunday night, twice on Monday night and once on Thursday night. They also have eight scheduled noon games, including five at Lambeau Field. That is three more noon games than in 2022. The Packers have four nationally televised games over the final seven weeks of the season, including three in a row.
“I’m pleased overall. I think it’s a really good sign we got five prime-time games,” Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said. “There is no question, just talking to people from the league, they know we have a national following.”
Also, even if the NFL does approve flexing games to Thursday nights during its spring meeting May 22-24 in Minneapolis, the odds of the Packers getting swept up in such a move this season seems small. The Packers already have two prime-time games during those weeks and their other two opponents are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers, not opponents likely to draw big audiences. It's possible, of course, they could get flexed the other direction if they don't play well, but they are playing opponents with good followings, too.
The schedule includes only one holiday game, at Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, with an 11:30 a.m. start. The Packers also will play Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, but only because those days are Sundays this year.
The Packers will open the season, and Jordan Love will play his first game as the team's No. 1 quarterback, on Sept. 10 against Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. That is one of only two 3:25 p.m. games the Packers are scheduled to play.
“There’s an awful lot of interest on how Jordan’s going to play. It’s very rare that somebody sits for three years,” Murphy said.
Their next game also will be on the road, in Atlanta, before the home opener on Sept. 24 against the New Orleans Saints.
Green Bay Packers' 2023 schedule (home games in bold):
Sept. 10, 3:25 p.m., at Chicago. Fox
Sept. 17, noon, at Atlanta, Fox
Sept. 24, noon, New Orleans, Fox
Sept. 28, 7:15 p.m., Detroit, Amazon
Oct. 9, 7:15 p.m., at Las Vegas, ESPN
Bye
Oct. 22, 3:25 p.m., at Denver, CBS
Oct. 29, noon, Minnesota, Fox
Nov. 5, noon, Los Angeles Rams, Fox
Nov. 12, noon, at Pittsburgh, CBS
Nov. 19, noon, Los Angeles Chargers, Fox
Nov. 23, 11:30 a.m., at Detroit, Fox
Dec. 3, 7:20 p.m., Kansas City, NBC
Dec. 11, 7:15 p.m., New York Giants, ABC
Dec. 17, noon, Tampa Bay, Fox
Dec. 24, noon, at Carolina, Fox
Dec. 31, 7:20 p.m., at Minnesota, NBC
Jan. 6-7, date, time and network to be determined, Chicago
More: What does the NFL flex proposal mean for Packers ticket holders? Nothing good, according to fans
If the Packers have a decent year, they might garner new fans. They have back-to-back and back-to-back-to-back nationally televised games and, if for some reason they play the Bears on Sunday night in the season's final game, you can add another back-to-back.
Murphy said the Week 6 bye was earlier than they would have liked, but the Thanksgiving game earns them a little recovery time later in the season.
Notably, from the Sep. 28 Thursday night game against Lions at Lambeau Field to the Oct. 22 game in Denver, the Packers play one game, against the Raiders, in 23 days.
What are the Packers gold package games in 2023?
Gold package ticket holders this year get a double-dose of annoyance. Their games are Sept. 28, a Thursday night, against the Detroit Lions, and Nov. 19 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Gold package ticket holders are largely from the Milwaukee area and southern Wisconsin, and generally don't favor Thursday night games, although a Packers-Lions matchup this year could be attractive.
The NFL thought so, putting that game on Thursday night, which means it will be streamed by Amazon Prime.
“The league really wanted to give Amazon a game at Lambeau Field,” Murphy said.
The Lions, under third-year coach Dan Campbell, are a team on the rise, and the Packers play them in two nationally televised games this season, both on Thursdays.
The second Gold package game is one day into deer-hunting season. Packers fans generally were fortunate home games and deer season did not conflict in recent years, but this year they are on a crash course. The Packers have two games during deer season, the second on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit, but that will be less of an issue.
Packers play on Thanksgiving in Detroit and travel to Las Vegas to face Davante Adams and the Raiders in 2023
The last time the Packers played the Lions on Thanksgiving was 2013, when they lost 40-10. The Packers won Thanksgiving Day games in 2011, 2009, 2007 and 2001, but lost in 2003.
Other notable games include Oct. 9 in Las Vegas against the Raiders and former Packers receiver Davante Adams on Monday night, and Dec. 3 against the Super Bowl defending-champion Kansas City Chiefs at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.
The Packers will play the New York Giants the following week on Monday night and the Minnesota Vikings on New Year's Eve on Sunday night.
According to Bookies.com, only the Cincinnati Bengals will travel fewer miles this season. The Packers are calculated to put in 11,956 total miles getting to games. The Seattle Seahawks will be the most road-weary warriors, putting in 30,600 miles.
Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RichRymanPG, on Instagram at @rrymanPG or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardRymanPG/.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Packers 2023 schedule
