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Packers Schedule Tracker: Confirmed Games, Rumors, Everything Else We Know

The 2026 NFL schedule will be released on Thursday. Here’s what we know about the Green Bay Packers’ slate of games, with more than half the games (allegedly) set.
Bill Huber|
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers reportedly will start the season at the Minnesota Vikings.
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers reportedly will start the season at the Minnesota Vikings. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

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Green Bay Packers

Today’s the day. The Green Bay Packers’ list of opponents has been known for more than four months. Now, they’ll finally know when those games will be played.

The Packers reportedly will open the season with back-to-back road games. In Week 1, the Packers will visit U.S. Bank Stadium for a rivalry showdown against the Minnesota Vikings, with kickoff set for 3:25 p.m. From there, it will be an East Coast trek to face the New York Jets.

The Packers and Vikings split the two games last year. Green Bay overwhelmed J.J. McCarthy in a midseason win at Lambeau. In the Week 18 rematch, coach Matt LaFleur rested his starters and the Vikings beat the Packers’ JV team.

Minnesota signed quarterback Kyler Murray this offseason, perhaps the most consequential move made by any of the division teams in what was a quiet free agency. Murray, an electric athlete but inconsistent passer, is 38-48-1 for his career as a starter. That’s not very good. But, when he was on the bench, the Cardinals were a woeful 5-25.

In Week 2, the Packers reportedly will play at the Jets. The Jets were one of the worst teams in the league last year with a 3-14 record but should be much better after making several free-agent signings and having three first-round picks.

Happy Holidays

The Packers will be in the spotlight on two major holidays.

On Wednesday, the league announced that the Packers will play at the Los Angeles Rams on Thanksgiving Eve. The primetime game will air on Netflix, though fans in the Packers’ home markets in Green Bay and Milwaukee will be able to watch an over-the-air broadcast.

The Packers are 1-0 on Wednesdays; in 1938, Don Hutson caught a touchdown pass in a 24-22 win over the Chicago Cardinals.

Meanwhile, according to a report from Chicago, the Packers will play at the Chicago Bears on Christmas. It will be a noon kickoff and also air on Netflix.

The Packers are 3-1 on Christmas, including wins over Cleveland in 2021 and Miami in 2022.

What About Buccaneers? Bills?

With that same Chicago report stating the Bears will play at Green Bay in Week 5, the Packers could have Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft on the field for both of the rivalry matchups against the reigning NFC North champions. Both players were sidelined by torn ACLs for Chicago’s come-from-behind wins over Green Bay in Week 16 and the playoffs. That would be a huge win.

What is not a win is the Packers playing at the Tampa Buccaneers in Week 4, when it could be sweltering hot. It’s a noon kick Central time, or 1 p.m Eastern, so right in the heat of the day.

According to CBS, the Packers will host the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night in Week 3. That game will be broadcast by Amazon and start at 7:15 p.m. Green Bay reportedly also will play on Thursday night in Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers. That also would be a 7:15 p.m. kickoff of Amazon.

No Love for Jeff Hafley

One of the most hotly anticipated games of the season will be when Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills come to Lambeau Field. That game will be played in Week 14.

At the league meeting in March, new Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said he wanted to face the Packers early in the season so he could avoid facing Micah Parsons.

Apparently, Hafley doesn’t have enough have juice to sway the schedule-makers. Not only did Hafley not get his wish, the Dolphins will have to visit Lambeau Field in the middle of December. A week after facing the Bills, the Packers will stay home and host the Dolphins.

The Dolphins are embarking on an epic rebuild. That will be captain by general manager Jon Eric-Sullivan, Hafley and quarterback Malik Willis.

“Really talented individual,” Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said recently. “Can spin the ball over the field, can throw the ball everywhere. Can run, obviously, can use his legs, he's tough. But, honestly, what I've enjoyed the most so far is getting to know him. The person is really fun to be around, really energetic. He infuses everybody with a lot of energy."

According to a report from Minneapolis, the Vikings will close the season against the Bears. That would mean the Packers will close the season against the Lions.

Here’s what we know – or maybe we think we know – ahead of the official schedule release on Thursday.

2026 Packers Schedule

This is an unofficial look at the weekly schedule for the Packers.

Week 1: at Minnesota Vikings (Sunday, Sept. 13, 3:25 p.m.).

Week 2: at New York Jets (Sunday, Sept. 20, noon).

Week 3: Atlanta Falcons (Thursday, Sept. 24, 7:15 p.m.)

Week 4: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday, Oct. 4, noon).

Week 5: Chicago Bears (Sunday, Oct. 11, 3:25 p.m.).

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8: Carolina Panthers (Thursday, Oct. 29, 7:15 p.m.) 

Week 9:

Week 10:

Week 11: Potential bye.

Week 12: at Los Angeles Rams (Wednesday, Nov. 25, 7 p.m.)

Week 13:

Week 14: Buffalo Bills (Sunday, Dec. 13, TBA)

Week 15: Miami Dolphins (Sunday, Dec. 20, TBA)

Week 16: at Chicago Bears (Friday, Dec. 25, noon)

Week 17:

Week 18: vs. Detroit Lions (site, date TBA)

Packers Schedule Odds and Ends

Home cooking will wait: Overall, nine of Green Bay’s 17 games will be played at home. Of its first four, only one will be at home. That means a bit of a backloaded home schedule.

Late bye: The Packers’ Thanksgiving Eve game at the Rams means a rare Wednesday game. The best way for the NFL to schedule around that oddity would be to give both teams a bye before the game. A Week 11 bye would be a big upgrade over last year’s Week 5 bye, which meant the Packers had a game for 14 consecutive weeks.

Green Bay had a Week 10 bye in 2024, then rolled to five wins in its next six games. Green Bay had a Week 6 bye in 2023, then dropped three of its next four. After a Week 14 bye in 2022, Green Bay won its next three games. Following a Week 13 bye in 2021, it won its next four games. In 2020, it had a Week 5 bye, then got shellacked 38-10 by Tampa Bay. In 2019, Green Bay had a Week 11 bye, lost in Week 12, then closed the regular season with five consecutive wins.

No international game: The Packers will not play an international game – a win for them considering Aaron Rodgers was injured in the loss to the Giants in 2022 and Jordan Love was injured in the loss to the Eagles in 2024.

Almost Paris: A Packers-Saints game this year in Paris was a possibility.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.