The Green Bay Packers will open the 2004 regular season at Carolina, Monday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. CDT, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced Monday afternoon.
The opener at Carolina, the defending NFC champion...
- Marks the first time Green Bay will open on the road in eight years, and only its second road opener over the last 19 seasons. The last two times the Packers opened away from Wisconsin were Sept. 1, 1996, a 34-3 win at Tampa Bay, and Sept. 8, 1985, a 26-20 loss at New England.
- Is the third time the Packers will open on Monday Night Football. The Packers began defense of their Super Bowl XXXI title on Sept. 1, 1997, a 38-24 win over Chicago at Lambeau Field. And, on Sept. 17, 1973, Green Bay knocked off Joe Namath's New York Jets at Milwaukee County Stadium, 23-7.
Perennially among the league's highest-rated teams, locally and nationally, the Packers are on Monday Night Football for a 12th consecutive season (1992-2004), the NFC's longest streak. In the NFL, only the Miami Dolphins (14, 1990-2003) and Denver Broncos (12, 1992-2003) have equal or longer streaks, pending release of the balance of the 2004 schedule, which the league is expected to announce by mid-May.
The Green Bay-Carolina contest is the last of four marquee games announced by Tagliabue Monday. In a rematch of the 2003 AFC Championship, Indianapolis will kick off the season at New England (ABC) on Thursday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m. CDT. Then, on Sunday, Sept. 12, Dallas plays at Minnesota in FOX's national doubleheader game, a 3:15 CDT kickoff, and Denver hosts Kansas City on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
