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Predicting The 2015 NFL Thursday Night Opener

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The Super Bowl has concluded, and with it, the 2014 NFL season. Fans spent all Monday digesting the game, Tom Brady’s legacy, Pete Carroll’s idiocy and everything in between. We now find ourselves one day into the 2015 offseason, which means we are salivating for more football and ready to fast forward to Labor Day weekend.

The NFL has been doing its Thursday Night Opener for over a decade now, and this year, the game won’t start until September 10, so fans sit seven months and a week away from football that matters. Let’s predict what exactly that first game will be.

First of all, I’ll start with the New England Patriots. The Patriots are the defending champions, and the NFL always makes sure that the Super bowl champion plays in that game. Being that the defending champion plays this game at home every year, except in 2013 when the Baltimore Ravens had a conflict with the Baltimore Orioles and were forced to play on the road in Denver, it’s safe to assume that the Patriots will begin their year at Gillette Stadium.

The NFL has already determined each team’s home and away opponents next year, so we’ve already narrowed it down to eight potential teams that New England could play. Of their three divisional opponents, the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, you can eliminate Miami and the Jets without hesitation as there is no appeal to either of those games.

You can’t eliminate Buffalo with Rex Ryan at the helm. He has a rivalry with the Patriots and they could use this game to launch a new rivalry between Buffalo and New England, but with the Bills’ quarterback situation being the way it is, it’s too much of a risk. If the Bills make a splash and land a major quarterback in the offseason, which is doubtful, then Buffalo will get pushed to the front of the line.

New England also plays every team from the AFC South this year. Unfortunately for NBC, the Indianapolis Colts are a road game, so there will be no AFC Championship rematch. The Patriots will play the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars at home this year, so the discussion ends there.

The Patriots will play the NFC East this year for their out-of-conference division game, and their home opponents include the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles. You can quickly eliminate the Redskins, but the Eagles are intriguing. Chip Kelly moves the needle and they can certainly hype up the offenses and the head coaches; however, the NFL hasn’t put an out of conference game as its opener since 2007.

So there is a chance that it could put the Eagles as the opener, but the odds are the league will choose an AFC team.

I’ve eliminated seven teams from contention, so what does that leave? There’s the AFC West and AFC North opponents for New England. The Patriots will play the Denver Broncos on the road next year, so while it’s always a fun matchup, Brady vs. Peyton Manning will have to wait for another day.

From the AFC North, the Patriots have a home game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have everything NBC needs — tradition, star power, and a great fanbase. The media can pump up Ben Roethlisberger. They can talk about the blooming stars that are Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. They can bring up their playoff battles from the past.

There is a minimal chance that the Eagles or Bills will land this game, but the odds are very slim that the NFL will even entertain that idea. So I hope you are ready: September 10, 2015, kicking off at 8:30 p.m. eastern time, Roethlisberger and the Steelers will travel to Foxborough to face Brady and the defending champion Patriots. I can’t wait.

Bill Zimmerman is an NFL writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

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