The NFL tradition has been to have the Super Bowl champion host the opening game of the NFL season but according to Sports Business Journal, the NFL could be going away from that for one year and instead may have the Chicago Bears host the Green Bay Packers.
The Patriots will still get a primetime game playing on Sunday Night Football.
The NFL is celebrating 100 years and would like to showcase the NFL's oldest rivalry between the Bears and Packers. When the two teams face off it will be the 199th time in their history that the two teams have faced off with the first game happening in 1921.
The last time the Super Bowl Champion didn't host the opening game was in 2013 when the Baltimore Ravens had to play on the road because the Baltimore Orioles caused a scheduling conflict.
The NFL hasn't officially set the schedule and it probably won't be released until April but during Super Bowl week the NFL met with CBS, NBC, FOX, and ESPN to try to figure out which games each network wanted.
According to the Sports Business Journal, one of the most talked about things is how the NFC games seem to get a lot better ratings than AFC games, which may be another reason why the NFL is deciding to have the Bears and Packers kick off the season.
After having a successful regular season the Bears struggled against the Philadelphia Eagles and ended up getting knocked out and not making a run, something many expected to happen.
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