Packers at Bears in Week 16; Will They Be Home for Christmas?

Fox Sports on Monday announced the Green Bay Packers will play their Week 16 game at the Chicago Bears.

In the background, Jordan Love celebrates Karl Brooks' game-saving blocked field goal at Chicago last year. | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Fox Sports on Monday announced the Green Bay Packers will play at the Chicago Bears as part of an NFL doubleheader on Saturday, Dec. 20.

It will be Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders in a rematch of the NFC Championship Game and Packers at Bears in the latest meeting in their rivalry. The games will start at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

We’re bringing the heat in Week 16 with a can't-miss doubleheader! 🔥🏈

Catch an NFC East clash as the @Eagles take on the @Commanders, followed by an NFC North battle between the @packers and @ChicagoBears!

Saturday, December 20th on FOX 📺 pic.twitter.com/R56I4gsHLI

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) May 12, 2025

That could mean the Packers will be playing at Lambeau Field on Christmas. Here’s why.

Last year, Christmas was held on Wednesday, with the Chiefs playing at the Steelers and the Ravens playing at the Texans.

A week earlier, those teams played on Saturday instead of Sunday: Texans at Chiefs and Steelers at Ravens.

That means the teams that played on the road on Saturday, the Texans and Steelers, played at home on Christmas.

Christmas will be held on Thursday this year; having a Sunday game followed by a Thursday game is not unusual. But it would stand to reason that the league would give teams more of a full week before the Christmas showcase.

The Packers have felt at home at Chicago, having won six in a row at Soldier Field and 14 of their last 15.

The Packers went 11-6 last season while the Bears went 5-12.

“I feel like honestly the season was so long ago, so we’ve moved so far on,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said on Monday. “This offseason, looking at what we did well, looking at really how we evolved in where we started and where we ended, there’s a lot that goes into that.

“First, I would say, I’m proud of the way the guys played in Year 1. The thing that I’m most proud of, I do believe we got better, and I think we played our best football late in the season, and that was the most important thing to me. Year 1, you’re figuring out the system, you’re figuring out the players and can we get better each week? But probably the biggest thing is, I thought we were playing really hard at the end of the year.

“We were really physically, we were really running to the ball, guys were playing confident, guys were communicating, and I just felt like we came alive. That’s probably the thing – throw out the numbers, the statistics and where we were – I think we played harder than our opponents at the end of the year and we were more physical.”

The Packers have played four games on Christmas:

2005: Bears 24, Packers 17 (home)

2011: Packers 35, Bears 21 (home)

2021: Packers 24, Browns 22 (home)

2022: Packers 26, Dolphins 20 (away)

The Packers split last year’s games against the Bears, with Karl Brooks’ blocked field goal saving the Packers from a loss at Soldier Field. The Bears got revenge in Week 18 when Cairo Santos kicked the game-winning field goal. The 24-22 outcome ended Green Bay’s 11-game winning streak in the series.

The full NFL schedule will be released on Wednesday. Will the Packers open the season at home? They have not played a Week 1 game at Lambeau Field since beating the Bears 24-23 in 2018. That means coach Matt LaFleur has opened every season on the road.