Reiss: no SBLI rematch for 2017 opener & other post-Phoenix background stories

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

It's really unbelievable that the consensus media just is not critical of Rivera's pathetic excuse, which has been an ongoing thing for many months now. Almost every season, a team that was eliminated late in the postseason by the SB Champs plays the opener at the SB champs. This is usually the case since usually good teams made deep postseason runs the season before, and that's a prime target for the opener.

I cannot believe Rivera's excuse making wasn't one of the year's most panned stories. Could you imagine if Bill Belichick ever made excuse like that, especially to the media?

Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be absolutely hilarious if we opened up against the Panthers after Rivera complained about the runner ups having to open up on the road?

I think some people here are thinking a bit too much about all of this.


If I were part of the schedule making process I'd know that opening night will get a ****ton of football starved views anyway. So why waste a SB rematch on that if you can almost schedule any game there and still see big ratings?

My guess is with the Pats / Falcons being a prime match up this next year, they want to save that for ratings bonanza, later in the season. Opening, night no matter who the Pats play, will be a highly televised game.

Not Falcons? Okay. Can't be Oakland cause opening night has to be in Gillette.

Steelers or Broncos could work.

If I were the NFL I'd go Steelers for the AFCCG match up part of it. Also i have a suspicion the Steelers fall off this year so best to do it while they can still hype it.

Saints if we trade Butler could be interesting. They get Butler we have Cooks and 2 legit QBs.. Lots of offense and story lines. The NFL would like that.

The only issue is it has to be home and the Saints/Steelers are away games.

The 8 home games are NYJ/Buf/Mia/Hou/KC/SD/Car/Atl.

No one wants the AFCE. Atlanta is out so either KC/SD/Hou/Car.

SD is a no cause they want a team that sniffed the playoffs recently. Carolina is a long shot as they want to keep it in the conference generally.

So Houston or KC. If Houston gets Romo they are more attractive. Otherwise they go KC.

primetime said:

It's the NFL. The Falcons-Patriots match-up probably has more to do with ratings and networks and how they distribute marquee games than with the teams' preferences.

My guess is they'll open against the Chargers since it will be their first game in LA. From a Patriots perspective, that's probably the best possible match-up since they don't have to do the cross-country flight later in the season and get an extra three days to recover from it, and it's a game they should win without much difficulty.

Click to expand...

Super Bowl Champs open at home, Baltimore was an exception because MLB and the Orioles wouldn't change a scheduled baseball game at Ray Lewis Killed A Guy Stadium.

BobDigital said:

So Houston or KC. If Houston gets Romo they are more attractive. Otherwise they go KC.

Click to expand...

In addition to these two, I think Miami is in the running as a playoff team last year that sometimes gives us a tough game, and has a pretty widespread following.

patchick said:

FWIW, I'm glad about this change. I never liked the idea of the opening game being a Superbowl rematch. It's not a matter of it hurting anybody's tender feelings -- the whole idea just strikes me as a misguided, forced storyline. The kickoff should be about this season, not last, and the unveiling of the championship banner should be all about the winners celebrating the victory with their fans, not about the losers' quest for revenge.

Click to expand...

I agree with you that a Super Bowl rematch is typically not the best idea, but sometimes you just don't have a better way to go. When you look at the Patriots schedule, Atlanta is by far their most compelling home game. I don't see how anyone could be more excited about these other slates like Kansas City, Miami, etc.

The other factor to look at, though, is that whether it is the Super Bowl or not, the game is often a rematch of a key postseason game, which makes sense since they like to have two premier teams for the opener, and those teams have often crossed paths in the postseason.

Ivan said:

Super Bowl Champs open at home, Baltimore was an exception because MLB and the Orioles wouldn't change a scheduled baseball game at Ray Lewis Killed A Guy Stadium.

Click to expand...

Oh, okay. Then I suspect it will be the Texans, especially if Tony Romo is involved.

primetime said:

Oh, okay. Then I suspect it will be the Texans, especially if Tony Romo is involved.

Click to expand...

I would agree if that was a done deal before the schedule is done, but the schedule is a really really complex equation and it supposedly is coming out in two weeks, so I doubt they will be able to figure that in, and I don't think they want to risk sending the Texans to Foxborough for the opener with no name QB, that's why my best guess is the Chefs.

If they really want ratings they could name Goodell as the Texans starting QB for the season opener.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

I agree with you that a Super Bowl rematch is typically not the best idea, but sometimes you just don't have a better way to go. When you look at the Patriots schedule, Atlanta is by far their most compelling home game. I don't see how anyone could be more excited about these other slates like Kansas City, Miami, etc.

The other factor to look at, though, is that whether it is the Super Bowl or not, the game is often a rematch of a key postseason game, which makes sense since they like to have two premier teams for the opener, and those teams have often crossed paths in the postseason.

Click to expand...

I agree that the Falcons are the most compelling home game on the schedule I just don't see the league doing that to the Falcons. I would however love to see Arthur Blank and his wife holding hands on the sideline as the Patriots raise the championship banner. They could even show the highlights from the comeback, the game winning play, and the Patriots celebration, and maybe even throw in a shot of the Blank's in total disbelief to top it off.

Ivan said:

I agree that the Falcons are the most compelling home game on the schedule I just don't see the league doing that to the Falcons.

Click to expand...

This is what I don't understand. Many of the recent matchups have included plenty of "just barely missed last year" teams playing the SB winner.

Supposing the Steelers were theoretically on our home schedule, it would be okay to have them come here, even though we eliminated them in last year's AFCCG, but not the Falcons? Or had we defeated the Chiefs in the playoffs last year like in 2015, it would be okay to bring them in for the opener? Maybe they still have scars from last year. The Texans? Well, we did blow them out in the playoffs last year, but they are... what... in the AFC, so it's somehow different?

Ron Rivera is a whiny loser, and I can't believe the league has actually taken this seriously. You play 16 games during the season, and at some point, you'll need to play every one of the teams on your schedule. Apparently, though, you need to be really conscious of hurting the other team's feelings. Because Super Bowl losers have a really special schedule that they play which accounts for their fragile emotional state, unlike the other 31 teams.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

This is what I don't understand. Many of the recent matchups have included plenty of "just barely missed last year" teams playing the SB winner.

Supposing the Steelers were theoretically on our home schedule, it would be okay to have them come here, even though we eliminated them in last year's AFCCG, but not the Falcons? Or had we defeated the Chiefs in the playoffs last year like in 2015, it would be okay to bring them in for the opener? Maybe they still have scars from last year. The Texans? Well, we did blow them out in the playoffs last year, but they are... what... in the AFC, so it's somehow different?

Ron Rivera is a whiny loser, and I can't believe the league has actually taken this seriously. You play 16 games during the season, and at some point, you'll need to play every one of the teams on your schedule. Apparently, though, you need to be really conscious of hurting the other team's feelings. Because Super Bowl losers have a really special schedule that they play which accounts for their fragile emotional state, unlike the other 31 teams.

Click to expand...

I think there's thatbut I also think they know that the opener will draw big with a good opponent and saving the Falcons for a Sunday or Monday night game they can hype later in the season will give them another big draw. I would bet the Falcons will go to ESPN on a Monday Night game to pay them back for the garbage they gave them last year.

Ivan said:

I think there's thatbut I also think they know that the opener will draw big with a good opponent and saving the Falcons for a Sunday or Monday night game they can hype later in the season will give them another big draw. I would bet the Falcons will go to ESPN on a Monday Night game to pay them back for the garbage they gave them last year.

Click to expand...

Ivan said:

I think there's thatbut I also think they know that the opener will draw big with a good opponent and saving the Falcons for a Sunday or Monday night game they can hype later in the season will give them another big draw. I would bet the Falcons will go to ESPN on a Monday Night game to pay them back for the garbage they gave them last year.

Click to expand...

I can accept that line of reasoning...but it seems that's not why they are taking NE-Atlanta off the table. It's because they don't want to ever hurt a SB loser's feelings again like they did to poor Ron last season. His team had no chance after getting such a death sentence in having to play a 9-7 team on the road to open the season. What a travesty.

Doesn't matter to me as long as there's a massive CLOWN-OUT!

Go Pats!