Vikings to open season at San Diego
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Minnesota Vikings will play their chief division rivals in prime-time road games this season.
They meet Green Bay on a Monday night this season for the eighth time in the history of the border rivalry, a Nov. 14 game on ESPN against the defending Super Bowl champions at Lambeau Field.
The NFL released the 2011 schedule on Tuesday, though the league and the players must first forge a new collective bargaining agreement before it can be played.
The Vikings will also play at Chicago on a Sunday night on NBC, Oct. 16.
Other than those night-time matchups with the Packers and the Bears, all but three of Minnesota's games are scheduled for the Sunday noon time slots. Those include the season opener at San Diego on Sept. 11, a home game against Green Bay on Oct. 23 and a home game against Denver on Dec. 24. Those games are set to start between 3:05 p.m. and 3:15 p.m., though start times for the final seven weeks are subject to the NFL's flexible scheduling procedure.
The Vikings have their home opener against Tampa Bay on Sept. 18. They host Detroit on Sept. 25, visit Kansas City on Oct. 2 and host Arizona on Oct. 9. They Vikings play at Carolina on Oct. 30 before their bye on the weekend of Nov. 6.
Minnesota hosts Oakland on Nov. 20, travels to Atlanta on Nov. 27, plays at the Lions on Dec. 11 and hosts New Orleans on Dec. 18.
The Vikings play at Washington on Saturday, Dec. 24, with most games that week moved up a day due to Christmas. They'll wrap up the regular season on New Year's Day 2012 with a home game against the defending NFC North champion Bears.
