April 15, 2008
NFL puts Bears, fans in national prime-time spotlight
By Larry Mayer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears already knew that they’d be opening the 2008 season Sept. 7 at Indianapolis in a nationally televised Sunday night game. But the NFL schedule, which was released Tuesday, has Chicago playing a total of five prime-time contests, including three at Soldier Field.
The Bears will host the Eagles Sept. 28 on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the Saints Dec. 11 in a Thursday night game on NFL Network and the Packers Dec. 22 on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Chicago will also visit Minnesota Nov. 30 in a Sunday night contest on NBC, though the time of that game may be changed as part of the NFL’s flexible scheduling plan.
Playing three nationally televised prime-time home games—on three different days of the week and three different networks to boot—will give the Bears and their fans maximum exposure in 2008. Dating back to 1996, only one of the Bears’ last 10 Monday night games has been played in Chicago—and that was the reopening of Soldier Field Sept. 29, 2003 against the Packers.
“We are excited to have five prime time appearances,” said coach Lovie Smith. “Most important, three of those games will be at home in front of our fans. Our national games have been on the road the past few seasons. This will be a showcase year for our Fourth Phase and the great home-field advantage we have in Chicago.”
Some may be surprised that the Bears will be featured so frequently in the national spotlight after their disappointing 7-9 season in 2007, but linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer isn’t among them.
“We’re a big market team, and maybe I’m biased, but I think we’re a fun team to watch,” he said. “We’ve got stars. Everybody likes to watch [Brian] Urlacher and [Devin] Hester.”
The Bears will open the season with four of six games on the road, including back-to-back contests in Indianapolis and Carolina Sept. 14 to kick off the 2008 campaign.
Chicago will then play stretches of three straight games at home, three straight on the road and three straight at home again before closing the season at Houston Dec. 28.
The Bears will open their home schedule with a Week 3 match-up against the Buccaneers Sept. 21 at Soldier Field. Chicago will then host the Eagles the following Sunday night before playing back-to-back road games at Detroit Oct. 5 and Atlanta Oct. 12.
The Bears will then begin their first three-game span at home by hosting the Vikings Oct. 19. After a bye week, Chicago will face the Lions Nov. 2 and the Titans Nov. 9 at Soldier Field.
A three-game road swing will follow with games at Green Bay Nov. 16, St. Louis Nov. 23 and Minnesota on Sunday Night Football. The Bears will then host the Jaguars Dec. 7, the Saints four days later in a Thursday night contest and the Packers Dec. 22 in a Monday night battle.
While the Bears open with four of six games on the road, they’ll play six of nine contests at home from Oct. 19 through Dec. 22 including December match-ups against two teams from warm-weather cities in Jacksonville and New Orleans.
“Obviously you like to get off to a good start,” Hillenmeyer said. “But by the same token, when you’re fighting for playoff spots in November and December, we’ll have a few more games on our turf.”
Here are a few more interesting tidbits concerning the schedule:
-- While the Bears will open with two straight road games for just the third time since 1969 (they went 0-2 in both 2000 and 2003), they started every season from 1940-67 with at least two consecutive road games because they shared Wrigley Field with the Cubs. That includes the stretch from 1940-46 when the Bears won four NFL championships in seven years.
-- Eight of the Bears’ nine world championship seasons began with a road game. The only exception was 1985 when Chicago opened against the Buccaneers at Soldier Field.
-- While the Bears are scheduled to play five prime-time games, all 11 of their other contests are slated to kick off at noon Chicago time.
-- The Bears haven’t played three straight home games since 2001 when they beat the 49ers and Browns in overtime on Mike Brown interception return touchdowns before losing to the Packers.
-- The Bears last played three straight road games in 2006 when they defeated the Giants and Jets before losing at New England.
LINK
http://www.chicagobears.com/news/New...?story_id=4577
NFL puts Bears, national prime-time spotlight/Schedule
NFL puts Bears, national prime-time spotlight/Schedule
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