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The Green Bay Packers will host the New Orleans Saints when the NFL convenes its 2011 season on Sept. 8 ... hopefully.
The league revealed its regular-season schedule on Tuesday, despite the ominous ongoing lockout that threatens to shutter the games.
Even as negotiators from the league and NFL Players Association met in Minneapolis trying to solve their labor impasse, the league passed out the schedules that they hope will be completed in full.
WEEK BY WEEK : See the full lineup
"While labor uncertainty is a reality for us right now, it is impossible to plan for every eventuality in terms of the playing schedule," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said.
"We have prepared and are planning to play a full 16-game regular-season schedule. If and when it becomes clear that we cannot play the schedule as it was announced today, we will make the appropriate adjustments with an eye toward minimizing changes."
LINGERING QUESTIONS: NFL creates uncertainty for fans
The NFLPA did not yet respond to a question about its view of the league releasing the schedule after locking out the players.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the NFL Network he wanted fans to be happy about the schedules.
"We know that it is an important point where fans start looking forward to the season," Goodell said.
"And I think there's every reason for them to do that. We have every intention of playing the full season."
The Packers' opening night game continues the tradition of the Super Bowl champion opening the season three days before the rest of the league. Matched against the Saints, the game will feature the past two Super Bowl champions with their marquee quarterbacks -- Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers.
"I am excited, No. 1, just to be the team to open the season," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "That is always a fun game to watch, and to play the Saints here at home, I think it's a game everybody is going to be excited about."
The full Week 1 schedule will kick off on Sunday, Sept. 11, with games in New York and Washington helping to mark the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The Washington Redskins will host the New York Giants in an afternoon game, while the New York Jets will host the Dallas Cowboys in the nationally-televised night game. The Week 1 schedule will conclude on Monday, when the New England Patriots travel to play the Miami Dolphins and the Oakland Raiders visit the Denver Broncos in the nightcap.
Other highlights from the schedule:
- The Dolphins will visit the Cowboys at 12:30 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving, while the Detroit Lions host the Packers at 4:15 p.m. on the holiday.
- The NFL's Turkey Day triple-header will conclude with a Harbaugh family reunion in Baltimore when John Harbaugh's Ravens host his brother Jim Harbaugh's San Francisco 49ers.
- The league will move most of its Week 16 schedule to Saturday, Dec. 24, this year to accommodate Christmas. On Christmas night, the Packers will host the Chicago Bears in a rematch of last year's NFC title game.
- The NFL had already announced that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would host the Chicago Bears in London on Oct. 23 (Week 7). The league will also send the Washington Redskins north of the border to Toronto to play the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 30 (Week 8).
- Michael Vick will return to Atlanta for the first time as the starting QB of the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. The Falcons will host the Eagles in the Sunday night game on Sept. 18.
- The Patriots will face their archrival Jets -- who upset them in Foxborough in the playoffs last January -- in two nationally-televised games. The Jets will visit New England in Week 5 (Oct. 9) at 4:15 p.m., and then will host the Patriots in Week 10 (Nov. 13) in the Sunday night game.
- The Jets will "host" the Giants on Christmas Eve at 1 p.m. ET. There was chatter that game -- a once-every-four-years event -- would be a showcase of opening weekend.
- Two recent Super Bowl rematches will highlight the Week 7 slate when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Arizona Cardinals (Super Bowl XLIII) on Oct. 23. Later that night, the Indianapolis Colts will visit the New Orleans Saints (Super Bowl XLIV) in the night game.
- Another Super Bowl (XLII) rematch will go down on Nov. 6 when the Patriots host the Giants at 4:15 p.m. ET. It will be the teams' first meeting since the Giants spoiled New England's perfect season more than three years ago.
- The Detroit Lions earned a berth in a prime-time game for the first time in a decade. After a 6-10 season last year, the Lions will host the Bears on Oct. 10 in the night game.
- The Dallas Cowboys, by contrast, got five games in prime time despite also finishing 6-10 last year -- a testament to their strong drawing power on TV. The Steelers, Colts, Eagles and Jets are also among the teams with the maximum five games scheduled in prime time windows
- Following a policy begun last season, all Week 17 matchups are intra-divisional games.
Contributing: Gary Graves
See photos of: NFL, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/Jhluqa29TDE/1
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