The NFL has dispatched with recent tradition for the league's 100th year after announcing that the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears will kick-off the new season in September.
The Super Bowl champions usually host the opening game of the following season, but the New England Patriots will instead stage the first Sunday Night Football prime time game on September 8.
Instead, the oldest rivalry in the NFL will be held on Thursday September 5 at Soldier Field in Chicago as the Bears and Packers renew hostilities for the 199th time in their famed histories.
The NFL is staging several celebrations of its 100th season during the coming campaign, and having two of their most famous clubs battling it out in the curtain raiser was seen as the perfect way to start such a landmark year.
The Patriots will also get their prime time spotlight though, as they will start the defence of the Vince Lombardi Trophy in the first big Sunday night game of the season - with their opponent to be released at a later date.
Their are a variety of big games scheduled for the Patriots this season, but fixtures against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns would make most appeal to start the season.
The Chiefs and Patriots have kicked off a season before, and they of course played each other in a superb AFC Championship game back in January and once more pitting Patrick Mahomes against Tom Brady would be a fitting contest.
Equally, a game with traditional rivals Pittsburgh or the revamped, well-fancied Cleveland Browns would need no hyping up, with Odell Beckham and Baker Mayfield set for a few prime time games this season.
The full schedule will be announced by the NFL in April.
📽️ The 2018 #NFL season recap is a thing of beauty, again, from @NFLFilms #NFL100 pic.twitter.com/2m4o3xsq6R
— Paul Higham (@SportsPaulH) March 27, 2019
