richpats

Pats fans will watch it.

Pats haters (the rest of America) will watch it.

It will generate higher ratings than any West Coast-only matchup. And what is the NFL all about? RATINGS!!!!

dhamz

And there is no question a Pats/Seahawks game at 10 PM Eastern on ESPN doesn't get half the national ratings of a Pats/Seahwaks 8 PM game on NBC or a 4 PM game on Fox. Almost no one in eastern or middle America is staying up until 1 AM to watch an opening week football game.

BelichickFan

That's not how I want the season to start, having to play a Sunday Night game on the West Coast. Not that the trip would ever be easy but a 1pm game (pacific) would be less detrimental to week two than a 5pm game.

richpats

Don't underestimate the NFL- they are talking about playing a Super Bowl overseas for crying out loud.

dhamz

We'll see but the NFL has put unattractive west coast games in that spot both years. They do not even categorize the regular MNF as a marquee game anymore. I'd be very surprised to see one of the best interconference games of the year not only on ESPN MNF but as a secondary game, not even the game televised during prime time.

richpats

One thing I've learned over the years in trying to predict the opener is that the NFL never goes with the obvious (such as a NE-SD Sunday night opener). The league tries to get intriguing matchups that we haven't seen (Dallas-Cleveland would be ripe for the Sunday 4:15pm game). And I know they always seek an opportunity to increase ratings in any way possible. The late Monday-nighter historically has been a dud, but the NFL may want to capitalize on the timeslot this time around, we'll see.

richpats

It was leaked that Minnesota-Green Bay will be the early Monday night game....so odds are at least 1 AFC team will be in the mix for the late game.

Disco Volante

Well gee, Clayton was wrong again.

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