The NFL is starting off its 100th season with something special. In recent seasons, the Super Bowl winner has hosted the first game of the following season, but in 2019, the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers will take the spotlight. The league’s most historic rivalry will mark the beginning of the season, as was long rumored this offseason. Of course, the Bears and Packers played in prime time in Week 1 last season, ending with one of the top comebacks of Aaron Rodgers’ career. Chicago got the last laugh in Week 15 on their way to the NFC North division title. The Packers hold a slight advantage in the all-time series, with the Bears now 94-96-6 against Green Bay. Rodgers and company have won 15 out of the last 18 matchups between the two teams, but Matt Nagy will enter 2019 at .500 against his team’s archrival.<doc-sep>The NFL season opener has traditionally featured the winner of the previous year's Super Bowl, but that will all change during the 2019 regular season. The NFL announced on Monday afternoon that the Chicago Bears will host the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field to begin the 2019 season on Thursday Night Football. This will mark the second year in a row the Bears and Packers have squared off in Week 1 against each other. There have been rumblings for the last couple months suggesting the two long-time NFL rivals could kick off the upcoming season. The 2019 season will mark the 100-year anniversary for both the NFL and for the Bears organization. The Packers celebrated their 100-year anniversary in 2018 and hosted the Bears at Lambeau Field in Week 1 on Sunday Night Football. The full NFL schedule typically does not get released until sometime in April. The first NFL Kickoff game was introduced in 2002. The first game was between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants. Since 2004, the game has featured the reigning Super Bowl champion. The Baltimore Ravens are the only defending Super Bowl champion that did not host the first game of the year due to a conflict with parking. A game between the Bears and the Packers would be an interesting way to begin the 100-year celebration. Chicago and Green Bay have the oldest rivalry in the NFL, dating back to 1921. Chicago won that first contest by a score of 20-0. The Bears and Packers have played each other 198 times with Green Bay leading the all-time series with a 97-95-6 record. The two squads faced each other in Week 1 of the 2018 season with Green Bay walking away with the victory. That contest featured Khalil Mack's first game in a Bears uniform. Despite his strong performance, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned in the second half from an injury to knock off the Bears. Chicago got revenge in Week 15 by knocking off the Packers to claim the NFC North title. The playoff berth was the first for Chicago since the 2010 season. The Bears ended the season with a 12-4 record under NFL Coach of the Year Matt Nagy. The Packers fired head coach Mike McCarthy during the season and ended the year with a 6-9-1 record. The team hired Matt LaFleur as their head coach this offseason. The Packers also added a lot of new players to their roster at the start of free agency, including former Bears starting strong safety Adrian Amos. Green Bay also added offensive lineman Billy Turner and linebackers Preston Smith and Za'Darius Smith to the roster. Recent history has favored the Packers with Green Bay holding a 15-4 record against Chicago dating back to 2010. Chicago's win in Week 15 of the 2018 season was the team's first over the Packers since Thanksgiving night in 2015.<doc-sep>Khalil Mack and the Bears will begin their NFC North defense on Thursday, September 5. The NFL's 100th season will kick off with the Packers and Bears squaring off at Soldier Field in Chicago, the league confirmed on Friday. NBC will broadcast the season opener on Thursday, Sept. 5. The defending champion Patriots will kick off their season three days later. New England will appear at home on Sunday Night Football to open off the 19th season of the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick era. The Patriots' opponent will be announced at a later date. 2019 will mark the first year that a defending champion has not played in the NFL opener since 2003. Defending Super Bowl champs are 8–2 in their last 10 season openers. Chicago won the NFC North for the first time since 2010 in 2018. The Packers finished third in the NFC North for the second-straight year, firing former head coach Mike McCarthy on Dec 2. Ex-Titans offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur will be Green Bay's coach in 2019.<doc-sep>Over the last few years, the NFL has had the defending Super Bowl champion open up the season with a home game (unless the Orioles screw things up), but for the league's 100th anniversary season, things will get changed up a bit. Instead of the Patriots hosting a game on Thursday night, it will be the Bears and Packers kicking off the season on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. We've been hearing these rumors for months now, but it is finally official -- Chicago will host Green Bay in Week 1 to begin the historic season. The matchup between the two blue-chip franchises will be the 199th meeting in their long-standing NFC North rivalry. The Westgate has the Bears favored (8-5) to win the division, with the Packers (2-1) and Vikings (2-1) right behind them. FanDuel Sportsbook in New Jersey set the opening line for this matchup at Bears -4. It's nice timing too, with the Packers rebooting a bit over the last two years and now looking to take advantage of the final years of Aaron Rodgers' career by adding Matt LaFleur as their new head coach. Several high-profile defensive additions as well as a pair of first-round picks have the Green Bay faithful excited for a bounce-back season. Chicago couldn't be more thrilled for the Bears: in Matt Nagy's first season, Chicago traded for Khalil Mack and stormed to a stunning division title. Mitchell Trubisky enters his third season with plenty of weapons and the prospect of taking another leap and really delivering on his draft status. The Bears were dominant in 2018 but might not have flashed their full upside. Putting that matchup in prime time in Week 1 to open the season only adds to the juice that already comes with every Bears-Packers game. For the Patriots, they will open up their title defense on Sunday night, also on NBC as the first game in the network's "Sunday Night Football" package. New England will raise yet another championship banner ahead of the game, which will begin at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 8. The Patriots' opponent will be announced with the rest of the schedule when it is released closer to the draft. The Giants, Browns and Chiefs all loom as possible opponents for the Patriots.<doc-sep>
GREEN BAY - To open its 100th season, the NFL will showcase its oldest rivalry. The Green Bay Packers will travel to Soldier Field on Sept. 5 for a Thursday night kickoff against the Chicago Bears, the league announced Monday. The defending Super Bowl champion typically hosts the NFL’s first game of the season, but the league broke from tradition to honor its history. The New England Patriots instead will host a Week 1 game on "Sunday Night Football," the NFL announced. It’ll be the 199th game between the two rivals. The Packers will host the rivalry’s 200th game at Lambeau Field later in the season. For the Packers, the game will kick off their 100th birthday. The team was founded Aug. 11, 1919. It completed its 100th season last year. It will also give new Packers coach Matt LaFleur an immediate perspective of his team’s intense NFC North rivalry. Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy was in those shoes one year ago, traveling to Lambeau Field for his first game. The Packers won the 2018 opener behind Aaron Rodgers’ remarkable second-half comeback from a 20-0 deficit. OPINION:NFL made wrong call with Packers-Bears as season opener FIX REPLAY RULES:NFL should be ashamed if it doesn't address missed call vs. Saints GRONK'S REPLACEMENT? 7 draft options for Patriots The Packers last opened their season on the road in 2016. They last played in the NFL’s season opener in 2014 at the Seattle Seahawks, who were the league’s defending champions. That was also the last time the Packers lost a season opener. They’ll carry a four-game winning streak in their season openers into Soldier Field. It will be the third time in five seasons the Packers open against the Bears. They last opened their season in Chicago with a 31-23 win in 2015. If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our new Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders.