Chicago Bears to open season at home against Falcons

(Big Swede Guy/Flickr)

The Chicago Bears will open this season with a noon home game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Bears released their schedule Thursday. They will play the rival Green Bay Packers in an away game on Sept. 28 and then host them Nov. 12.

Other games at Soldier Field include the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 24, Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 9, Carolina Panthers on Oct. 22, Detroit Lions on Nov. 19, San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 3 and Cleveland Browns on Christmas Eve.

The Bears' road schedule includes the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 17, Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 15, New Orleans Saints on Oct. 29 and the Philadelphia Eagles the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. They'll be out of town consecutive weekends playing the Cincinnati Bengals Dec. 10 and Detroit Dec. 16. They'll close the season on the road at Minnesota. Bye week is Nov. 5.