Now that the Patriots have won the Super Bowl, the NFL avoided a potentially major dilemma. The Mariners have a home game on the same day as the NFL season opener, and their stadium shares a parking lot with the Seahawks' stadium. The baseball game is during the day, so they probably would've been able to figure something out, but now they don't have to worry about the Super Bowl champ beginning its defense on the road like they did two years ago when the Ravens had to open in Denver because of an Orioles game.
So who are the Patriots going to play in NFL Kickoff 2015? Well, if you look at their home opponents, the options are pretty limited. The AFC East plays the NFC East and AFC South next season, which gives the NFL plenty of TV-friendly options. Except New England plays Dallas, the Giants, Indianapolis and Houston all on the road. And their game against Denver is on the road, too. That really leaves only two options for the season-opening game. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. To me, that isn't much of a choice. It'll be the Steelers. The NFL might as well just announce it now. (For the record, Pittsburgh's chances of playing on opening night looked good either way, since they're perhaps the most attractive home opponent for Seattle, although the Seahawks' division games are certainly more appealing than the Patriots'.)
Don't worry, that New England-Dallas game WILL end up on national TV. It's the Cowboys' year to be on CBS on Thanksgiving, and they're playing the AFC East. More specifically, their AFC East home games are against the Patriots and the Jets. There's no chance the Jets are going to play on Thanksgiving. And since (unlike last year) you actually have an attractive interconference matchup involving one of the traditional Thanksgiving teams, that's pretty much a no-brainer.
I also thought it was incredibly unfair that the AFC was completely shut out of Thanksgiving in 2014, which is another reason why I don't think they'll do it again. I expect Cowboys-Patriots and an AFC-AFC night game, maybe from the AFC West. As for who the Lions are going to play, it usually ends up being the Packers when they have the FOX Thanksgiving game, and I wouldn't expect that to be any different.
We do know one of Detroit's games. The Lions are playing in one of the London games again, and all three will start at 9:30 a.m. For the first time, there's going to be a division game across the pond, as the Jets take on the Dolphins in Week 4. Jacksonville's "home" game is against Buffalo in Week 7, while Detroit will face Kansas City in Week 8.
As for the other national games, I think we're probably going to get a steady helping of the same teams we usually see on Sunday Night Football. That means a whole lot of the Packers. And the Steelers. And the Patriots. And the Seahawks. And the Cowboys. And the Giants. And, assuming Peyton comes back, the Broncos. Denver goes to Indy next season, so I think it's safe to say we'll see that one on a Sunday night. I have a feeling Seattle at Green Bay is going to be the opening Sunday night game. It also wouldn't surprise me to see Giants-Patriots on a Sunday night. It's their first official meeting since the Super Bowl (they play each other in the final preseason game every year), and, if the pattern holds, they'll play twice next season. Once in the regular season and again in the Super Bowl.
Thursday Night Football will do the CBS/NFL Network simulcast thing again, which means the most attractive Thursday night games will probably take place earlier in the season. That means the NFC East game (whichever one they pick), Pittsburgh's Thursday night game, Green Bay's Thursday night game (even though that may end up later if the Packers play on Thanksgiving). Denver goes to Chicago. If it was the other way, I'd say it's a lock that Broncos-Bears is picked up, but with the game in Chicago, I'm not so sure. One game I'm fairly certain will be selected for Thursday night is Bills at Jets. Rex Ryan's return to the Meadowlands.
My biggest question regarding the Thursday night schedule is which game will be on Christmas. Christmas Eve is a Thursday, but the NFL doesn't play night games on Christmas Eve, which means the Thursday night game that week will likely get moved to Christmas night. Should that happen, you know it'll be a marquee matchup. And I wouldn't be surprised to see CBS grab that one instead of the Saturday night game that week.
There's also that Saturday doubleheader in Week 16, which I think might actually become a Thursday-Saturday in Week 15 and a Christmas night-Saturday in Week 16. As well as New England's Thursday night game. When they expanded the NFL Network schedule to 16 games, it was so that every team would play on NFL Network once. Except, assuming they play on Thanksgiving, New England would have three Thursday games, two of them on short weeks. How the NFL handles that will be interesting.
One last little nugget about the Super Bowl champs and how the schedule is going to be affected. The Bruins are hosting the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium. New Year's Day is the Friday between Weeks 16 and 17. So, that means they obviously can't play a home game in Week 16 and probably can't in Week 17. The only other shared venue schedule concern is in Week 3, when the Raiders have to be away because the A's are home. Oakland can play an AFC home game in Week 1, though. Because CBS lost its US Open rights to ESPN and won't be showing the men's final at 4:30 on that Sunday, they're able to have a Week 1 doubleheader for the first time in God knows how long.
Just some things to keep in mind before that day in April when the NFL reveals the schedule and everyone starts making their plans for the months of September thru December. The season just ended, and we're already looking forward to next year. So is the dominance of the NFL in America's collective consciousness.
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