The full schedules don’t come until next week but the NFL has announced the opening weekend national games.
To kick off the season, Miami will visit Pittsburgh. It seems that this new tradition usually has a team being sent to slaughter against the defending Super Bowl champs. The Steelers get their rings and the fans get to enjoy a win at home. (Yes, I’m already picking this game 6 months out.)
T.O. gets his national exposure in a Dallas uniform right off the bat as Dallas at Jax is the nationally televised game on Fox on opening weekend. The Sunday night game will feature the battle of the Mannings. I guess the league figures they won’t ever meet in the Super Bowl so might as well get it out of the way early and use the story line while they can.
For the first time, there will be a doubleheader on Monday Night Football. Right now the matchups (Vikings at Redskins, and Chargers at Raiders) don’t much excite me. The NFL couldn’t find a better draw than Brad Johnson vs Mark Brunell in one game and Aaron Brooks vs Philip Rivers in the other?
Finally, the NFL network will kick off its coverage (please god, let it be without Bryant Gumble) with the third Thanksgiving Day game, Denver at Kansas City. The other two games are Miami and Detroit and Tampa Bay at Dallas. Another national spotlight for T.O.
Links:
[NFL.com]: Five games featured on opening weekend, three games on Thanksgiving
