ESPN – The Green Bay Packers will open their Super Bowl title defense against the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field on September 8 to kick off the 2011 NFL season.
With the NFL and its locked-out players mired in negotiations over a new labor agreement, the league Tuesday announced its 2011-12 schedule — asssuming the season starts on time.
“I am excited, No. 1, just to be the team to open the season,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said in a team statement Tuesday. “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. I know our fans will be excited about it and our players will definitely enjoy the competition of an excellent Saints football team.”
Ben Roethlisberger and the defending AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers will visit the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1.
The New York Jets will host the Dallas Cowboys at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 11, the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The New York Giants will visit the Washington Redskins that Sunday at 4:15 p.m.
The Redskins will also be the other team involved in the Buffalo Bills’ annual home game in Toronto at the Rogers Centre.
Monday Night Football will kick off its season with the New England Patriots visiting AFC East rival Miami. At 10:15 p.m., the Oakland Raiders travel to Denver to face the Broncos in the second-half of the Week 1 doubleheader.
The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys will be home for Thanksgiving again in 2011. The Lions host the Packers at 12:30 p.m. and the Dolphins will pay a visit to Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington at 4:15 p.m. In a family affair, the Ravens will host the San Francisco 49ers as the Thanksgiving nightcap at 8:20 p.m. It will mark the first time Baltimore coach John Harbaugh and his brother, newly-hired San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh will face off as NFL head coaches.
Also, as announced Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Chicago Bears at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 23, the fifth consecutive year the NFL has played a regular-season game in London.
