NFL Week 5 Early Slate: Bears Visit Packers as Unbeaten Vikings Head to New Orleans
The NFL packs eight games into the early window on Sunday, 11 October 2026, with the 4-0 Minnesota Vikings on the road in New Orleans and the 3-1 Chicago Bears visiting the 2-2 Green Bay Packers. Kickoff for the group is 1 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. CT and 6 p.m. BST, with home teams listed second The Guardian.
The full early slate is Bears at Packers, Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) at Miami Dolphins (0-4), Las Vegas Raiders (3-1) at New England Patriots (2-2), Vikings at Saints (1-3), Cleveland Browns (3-1) at New York Jets (1-3), Indianapolis Colts (2-2) at Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2), Houston Texans (0-4) at Tennessee Titans (0-4) and New York Giants (3-1) at Washington Commanders (1-3).
Chicago at Green Bay gets top billing in the morning rush. Chicago is listed as the spread favorite, meaning oddsmakers expect the Bears to win by a set margin, and about three-quarters of tracked picks backed the Bears over the Packers ESPN.
That matchup carries recent history. Chicago lost quarterback Caleb Williams when he was carted off during a loss to Minnesota, a 9-3 Vikings win on 20 September that moved Minnesota to 2-0. The league's official Bears log records the same 9-3 final for that Week 2 game.
Minnesota has kept rolling since. The Vikings arrive in New Orleans at 4-0 to face a 1-3 Saints team, with that game set for FOX at 1 p.m. ET. Las Vegas at New England, a meeting of 3-1 against 2-2, is set for the same start time on CBS NFL.
Elsewhere, something has to give in Tennessee. The Texans and Titans are both 0-4, so one winless start ends there. The Bengals try to get above .500 in Miami, while the Browns and Giants both try to move to 4-1 on the road against the Jets and Commanders.
Sunday started across the Atlantic. Philadelphia faced Jacksonville at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, with the league listing a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff. ESPN's Week 5 board had the Eagles at 2-2 and the Jaguars at 3-1 entering the weekend.
Then comes the late window. The Guardian's live coverage points to an NFC West meeting between the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers as the main event after the early games.
For fans, this means a remote-control afternoon. Watch the fronts decide Bears-Packers, see if Minnesota's defense travels again, and keep an eye on the scoreboard for first wins and first-place separation. Four windows, food on the stove, fall football at full volume.
