Blogs

Mike McCarthy on the 2013 schedule release

(on opening the season at San Francisco)
“Opening day is always exciting. Playing the San Francisco 49ers is obviously a challenge that we look forward to.”

(on not having back-to-back road games)
“I like it. It gives you a chance to get into a routine of playing at home and then on the road, to get into a flow. Winning on the road is so important.”

(on playing on Thanksgiving Day)
“It’s an incredible tradition, playing on Thanksgiving Day. It’s a blessing for everyone involved. We’re fortunate enough to still be home in time to share in the importance of the day.”

(on the long week leading into Week 14 after playing on Thanksgiving)
“That will serve as a second bye week for us, which you appreciate with the early bye we have in Week 4.”

(on the final month of the schedule following Thanksgiving)
“I think we have a really tough finish on paper with the teams we’re playing down the stretch.”

(on the schedule)
“We’ve known since the end of the season who we’re playing, and now we’ve found out where we’re playing them. Frankly, I’ve never looked past the first four weeks, and that will be the same as far as how we prepare our team.”

Packers’ 2013 opponents are set

With the San Francisco 49ers’ division-clinching victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, the Green Bay Packers’ opponents for the 2013 regular season have been set. The official 2013 NFL schedule, with playing dates and times, will be announced in the spring.

The Packers’ opponents for 2013 are as follows:

• HOME: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins
        
• AWAY: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers
                       

Murphy against expanding schedule to 18 games

In his remarks to the media following Tuesday’s shareholders meeting, Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy said he has changed his stance on the possibility of the league expanding the regular-season schedule to 18 games.

Murphy said during negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement with the players in 2011, he was in favor of converting two preseason games into regular-season games, making the 20-game season a 2-18 split, rather than the current 4-16. But he’s no longer in favor of such a change.

“I couldn’t support a move to 2-and-18 now,” Murphy said. “With all the focus on player health and safety, it would be really hard to do that.”

Murphy suggested he would support eliminating two preseason games and keeping the regular season at 16, but he acknowledged the challenge there is the lost revenue for the league. He added that it’s debatable whether reducing the preseason by two games would have any impact on player health and safety, because he said a team’s starters might play the same amount of preseason snaps in those two games that they do now in four. Also, that type of reduced preseason might not provide enough time for teams to develop and evaluate their young talent, particularly if starters would then cram their four games of preseason snaps into those two contests.

“But those are the things we have to look at,” Murphy said, “what we can do to make the game as safe as possible for our players.”

Packers’ 2012 schedule coming at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday

The Green Bay Packers’ 2012 schedule will be released, and posted on packers.com, at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday. The NFL is releasing the league-wide schedule at that time, and packers.com will have the complete schedule for you as soon as it is available.

The 2012 opponents already are known. In addition to the usual home and away NFC North games against Minnesota, Chicago and Detroit, the Packers will play the following teams:

Home: Arizona, San Francisco, New Orleans, Jacksonville and Tennessee

Away: St. Louis, Seattle, N.Y. Giants, Houston and Indianapolis

All of the dates and kickoff times (pending late-season flex scheduling) will be known on Tuesday.

Jan. 1 Packers-Lions game stays at noon

The Packers’ regular-season finale on Jan. 1 against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field will remain as a noon (CT) kickoff. The NFL has decided to flex the Giants-Cowboys matchup, which is a winner-take-all affair for the NFC East title, to prime time.

The Lions already have clinched a Wild Card playoff berth, their first postseason bid since 1999. The Packers could have the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed wrapped up before next week, if they win tonight against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.