Thursday Night Football Week 12: TV Schedule, Live Stream for Bears vs. Packers

It's an understatement to say a Thanksgiving Day encounter between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football is historic.

Not only is this the perfect game for the holiday's undivided attention, it's the league's oldest rivalry in existence. Making it more important is the fact that Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have a chance to tie the series' all-time record up with a win.

Oh, and a guy by the name of Brett Favre will have his No. 4 jersey retired at Lambeau Field beforehand.

No game gets more momentous than this unless there's a Lombardi Trophy on the line. Here's everything to know about the historic night.

Viewing Info

When: Thursday, Nov. 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Television: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Live Extra; NFL Game Pass

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):

• Over/Under: 45

• Spread: Green Bay (-8.5)

Team Injury Reports

Player	Position	Status
Eddie Royal	WR	Out
Alshon Jeffery	WR	Questionable
Matt Forte	RB	Questionable
Martellus Bennett	TE	Out
Marquess Wilson	WR	Probable

Player	Position	Status
Davante Adams	WR	Probable
Eddie Lacy	RB	Probable
Ty Montgomery	WR	Out

Injury reports courtesy of ESPN.com.

Bringing Out the Big Guns 

It's been a trying season for the 4-6 Bears, one that started with a home loss to these Packers in 31-23 fashion.

There, running back Matt Forte mustered 141 yards and a score on the ground while wideout Alshon Jeffery led the team with five grabs for 78 yards. The efforts simply weren't enough in the face of Rodgers, who looked relaxed at worst en route to an 18-of-23 effort for 189 yards and a trio of scores.

Chicago now hopes the return of Forte and Jeffery can propel the team to a road upset.

Forte's missed three games, but the offense hasn't skipped a beat, winning two of those contests. The organization has backup rookie Jeremy Langford to be thankful for, as he amassed 170 yards and three touchdowns over those three games.

Forte spoke with the media about what it meant to get back on the field with his team and help, according to ESPN.com:

"

I'm excited just to get back out there. Not really a lot of fun watching the games and doing all that and not be able to help your team win, so I'm not really used to doing that. But it's going to be fun to get back out there on the field and help us out. Just looking forward to being out there.

"

Jeffery, on the other hand, has only appeared in five games this year. Even so, he leads the team in receiving with 36 catches for 515 yards and two scores with a whopping 14.3 yard-per-catch average.

The Chicago offense is getting healthy at the perfect time, but it will still have to compensate for a defense coughing up 25.1 points and 123.7 rushing yards per game on average.

Finding the Balance 

That Chicago run defense could help spur the Packers into an offensive balance the team desperately needs heading into the postseason stretch.

Rodgers has mostly done it on his own this year, with coach Mike McCarthy even resorting to benching starting running back Eddie Lacy in favor of veteran James Starks in an effort to find a spark.

Last week in a 30-13 win against the Minnesota Vikings, though, Lacy finally broke out with his first 100-yard game of the season, compiling 100 yards on 22 attempts. The key for the Packers now is getting Lacy into rhythm as the season begins to wind down.

For Lacy, he told ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky it was all about getting back to basics.

"I just made up my mind, and I went with it," Lacy said. "I didn't try to make too much of a play or try to make a cut where a cut wasn't. Pretty much just seeing it and just hit it. And I had lower pad level, so when I ran into cuts, I was still able to fall forward."

It doesn't take much more than the basics to get going against the Bears. If Lacy can capitalize on the unit, it makes the task for Rodgers—who has 23 touchdowns to three interceptions even without Jordy Nelson and others—all the easier. 

There's a big difference between the on-paper outlook and the game itself, though, so the Packers have to come out ready for a war against a rival.

Prediction 

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Deja vu is an incredibly powerful sensation.

Fans should expect plenty of it Thursday night, as everyone has been down this road before. There's little Green Bay can do to stop Jeffery and Forte, who are sure to have big games.

But it won't be enough against these rounding-into-form Packers. Rodgers marched into Soldier Field in Week 1 and swatted away the Bears with relative ease, so a home game with 10 games of action under his (title) belt means he'll do even better—especially since Chicago's defense has only worsened since, suffering injuries and trading pieces such as Jared Allen.

Look for the Packers to come out swinging for the fences, establishing a lead and grinding out the clock with Lacy.

Prediction: Packers 44, Bears 24

Statistics courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.