On his Twitter account, former Packers public relations director Jeff Blumb said he was hearing through the NFL grapevine that that Packers would be playing the Chicago Bears in the Thursday night opener.
While this is not locked in stone, I wouldn't bet against Blumb's insider knowledge. He has many contacts throughout the NFL and has often been right about such league matters.
So, let's assume that the Packers do open against the Bears.
My question is why?
Certainly that's a great game for Packers and Bears fans and it will draw a large national audience, but if you're NBC wouldn't you want something a little more exciting?
Fans for both sides love seeing their teams slug it out against one another, but for all those others who will be revved up about the start of the season, this could be a big downer. In the three games the two team's played last year, neither team managed more than 21 points in victory or loss and together the average score was 16-12 in favor of the Packers.
I can't see a national television audience staying up late for that one.
The best match-up would be the Packers at Atlanta Falcons in a rematch of the Packers' 48-21 divisional playoff game victory in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons would be foaming at the mouth and the Packers would be set up to be spoilers again.
Now, I understand that the Super Bowl champ gets to open the season at home, so there's no chance the Packers would play the Falcons.
Well, then make it the New Orleans Saints. It would be a marvelous quarterback duel between Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. That would be a natural for an opening-night game.
Shoot, even the Lions might draw more interest because they appear to be an up-and-coming team with a star receiver and a quarterback who won't yet be hurt (probably).
I have nothing against the Packers-Bears. I enjoyed covering all three of those games last year. But as a season opener? Save their match-ups for December and January.
"Tom Silverstein " wrote: