The NFL has pushed the Packers-Bears matchup in Week 5 out of the spotlight and into the early window.
Originally set for FOX’s late-afternoon “Game of the Week” slot at 3:25 PM Central, the game at Lambeau Field will now kick off at 12:00 Noon Central Time. The league made the move after the first meeting between the NFL’s oldest rivals lost some of its shine through the first three weeks of the season.
When the 2026 schedule came out, this was one of the marquee games on the board. Green Bay was hosting Chicago in a matchup that carried plenty of attention after the teams split the 2025 regular season series and then played a thriller in the Wild Card round. FOX responded by claiming it for a national audience in the premium late-afternoon window.
But the early-season picture changed quickly. The Packers have started 1-2, with their lone victory coming in overtime against the New York Jets.
On the Chicago side, Caleb Williams will be out for a few more weeks as he continues working back from a hamstring strain. With that, the league shifted the game and gave FOX the 49ers-Seahawks matchup for the later broadcast slot instead.
The change also shrinks the audience for the Packers’ new “Rivalries” uniforms. Green Bay is scheduled to wear them for the first time in this game, while the Bears will unveil theirs in the Christmas Day rematch at Soldier Field.
There’s also a quirky scheduling note attached to the move. With this flex, both Packers-Bears meetings will now kick off at Noon Central, though the holiday game will still be shown nationally. That only happened once before in the last 20-plus years, in 2024, and before that the last time both games landed in the noon slot was 2004, which also featured a season-ending matchup.
In Other News...
Packers Captains Just Weighed In As Matt LaFleur Heat Builds
With the Packers sitting at 1-2 and trying to steady themselves before a Week Four meeting with the Buccaneers, the conversation around Green Bay has shifted quickly from expectations to urgency. Protection issues up front and another late-game stumble have put Matt LaFleur under an uncomfortable spotlight, but some of the locker rooms most visible voices tried to push back on the idea that the season is veering off course.
Xavier McKinney and Tucker Kraft both expressed confidence in LaFleur, saying the team trusts its coach and believes it can still improve. They also acknowledged the frustration that followed the Week Three loss, which has only sharpened the pressure outside the building, but inside the locker room the emphasis remains on getting the details cleaned up and finding a way to turn the season around before the noise grows louder. [Read more 🡒]
Tucker Kraft Tries To Walk Back A Frustrating Packers Moment
Tucker Kraft spent the days after the Packers loss to the Falcons trying to straighten out a postgame moment that landed poorly with part of the fan base. The tight end said his frustration was really aimed at the way the game unfolded, not at Green Bay supporters, and he admitted his wording could have been better after emotions spilled over in the aftermath.
Krafts clarification matters because the Packers are already under scrutiny for the product they put on the field, and the last thing the team needed was added noise around a defensive comment directed at its own crowd. He pointed to Christian Watsons response as a better example of how to handle the situation, a small but telling sign that Green Bays players know the line between venting frustration and turning it inward. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Love Now Has To Answer For A Packers Offensive Mess
Jordan Loves first three weeks have been a mix of promising numbers and obvious frustration, the kind of start that makes it hard to separate the quarterback from the offense around him. He has thrown for 844 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions, but the production has come with uneven efficiency and eight sacks, while Green Bay has had to work through injuries up front and a rushing attack that has not done enough to steady things.
Brent Sobleskis Week 3 grade of a D for Love against Atlanta only adds to the pressure on a unit that has looked out of sync at times. For the Packers, the bigger question now is not just whether Love can keep stacking up touchdowns, but whether he can keep answering for an offense that has too often made his job harder than it should be. [Read more 🡒]