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

[RayClay]

I've no way to prove it, but I bet that, if the situation were reversed and the Pats had just lost the Super Bowl, playing the opener against the champs would be JUST what Belichick would want to challenge his team with.

Absolutely. UMass coach Calipari inherited the worst division 1 school in the country and, within a few years, managed to schedule the best opponents around early season and beat them. At least three current #1 in the country in NC, Kentucky and Arkansas.

 

[1960Pats]

The ****ification of the NFL continues.

Losing Super Bowl teams are now to emotionally fragile to open the season against their master? Get the Falcon's emotional support, petting dogs to get them through the night terrors.
A better solution might be a clock management, summer seminar for their head coach.

The petting dog idea is great but they don't have enough of them to go around. Vick fed them to his pit bulls while he was there.

 

[Lavictoire]

There's ligitamately no other compelling matchup available.

No one is clamoring for the Pats to open against any AFC East team. The Chiefs, Chargers and Texans are all meh opponents and the Panthers would be a decent, yet totally random banner night opponent.

So....yeah, Falcons come on down to Foxboro in your fragile mind state.

You would think the Falcons (and Panthers) would be hell bent on revenge and doing something about that humiliating loss.

 

[Lavictoire]

The NFL wants Tony Romo to the Texans to happen so bad

If that happens and the Pats beat them soundly right off the bat, that balloon will deflate real fast.

 

[XLIX]

Great background work by Reiss again:
With Patriots-Falcons opener unlikely, handicapping other best options

One minor correction to Reiss article is that if the current schedule rotation remains in place, the Patriots cannot play in Las Vegas in 2020. The Raiders will be here that year, no matter how each team finishes in their respective divisions. 2021 is the soonest we could travel to Vegas if they Patriots and Raiders finish in the same position.

(Obviously anything is possible for the playoffs so I suppose a trip to Vegas could theoretically happen in January of 2021, which is still the 2020 season)

 

[XLIX]

Given Rivera's whining, it's now easier to see how Cam continues to be one of the biggest ****sies in the league.

Contrast that to BB,TB & co., who would lick their chops at playing a team in the opener that had just beat them in the SB.
Damn, are y'all competitors or pushovers?

I don't even understand what Rivera's problem is. The schedule rotation - made up over 15 years ago - had Carolina at Denver last year. Why is facing them in September any worse than facing them later in the season? If anything, I'd rather have the tough game right away when everyone is healthy, well rested, and plenty of time to prepare.

Would it have better to go to Denver on a midseason Thursday with 4 days rest?

 

[PatsDeb]

There's legitimately no other compelling matchup available.

No one is clamoring for the Pats to open against any AFC East team. The Chiefs, Chargers and Texans are all meh opponents and the Panthers would be a decent, yet totally random banner night opponent.

So....yeah, Falcons come on down to Foxboro in your fragile mind state.

This was my thought in reading the list. Anything else is a snooze-fest for fans of a team other than those playing. I would absolutely open with the Falcons vs. the Patriots if I was the NFL. Your numbers were way down last year. Start with a bang and go from there. Of course, the NFL isn't that smart, and since the Pats aren't the ones being "punished" we'll probably get Miami on opening night.

 

[PatsDeb]

I don't even understand what Rivera's problem is. The schedule rotation - made up over 15 years ago - had Carolina at Denver last year. Why is facing them in September any worse than facing them later in the season? If anything, I'd rather have the tough game right away when everyone is healthy, well rested, and plenty of time to prepare.

Would it have better to go to Denver on a midseason Thursday with 4 days rest?

Wahhh. We have to watch them raise the banner. Wahhh.

 

[patchick]

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.

 

[Minitron]

See, i told you its not going to be the Falcons on opening night
Predicting the 2017 season opening game

 

[Ivan]

I'm not so sure the Romo situation will be resolved before the schedule is ready. As of now I would guess it will be the Chiefs or Dolphins. I'll go Chiefs so it is more of a national game than an AFCE one.

 

[patfanken]

Our "coward in chief" wants as few eyeballs at the site of his utter humiliation as possible, and THAT is why a Falcons/Pats opener will not happen. Every other opener will be a yawn in comparison. Just the way Fraudell wants it.

Of course it will be a big deal in NE, but something like a Pats/KC opener, while a good game, will not be the same national draw that a Pats/Falcons rematch would be.

BTW- does anyone know if someone contact Barstool Sports to see if they want to sponsor the clown shirts to "welcome" the ommissioner to Gillette? Let's not let this opportunity slide. Why should we forget. The Liar isn't forgetting to take our 4th round pick is he?

 

[unoriginal]

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.

Not to mention there is no revenge to be had. You can't counter "we won the Super Bowl" with "we opened the following season 1-0."

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I looked up the box score. Flutie was 6/18 for 165 yards and 4 TD's.... and Pats won 30-7
Chicago Bears at New England Patriots - October 30th, 1988 | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Asses were kicked.
Names were taken.
Flutie UNDEFEATED at Sullivan Stadium.
Berry had apoplexy every time Flutie took the field and engineered a comeback W.

Big Flutie fan even though I've spent my life making fun of over-hyped BC and the morons who went there in my family.

 

[rochrist]

Asses were kicked.
Names were taken.
Flutie UNDEFEATED at Sullivan Stadium.
Berry had apoplexy every time Flutie took the field and engineered a comeback W.

Big Flutie fan even though I've spent my life making fun of over-hyped BC and the morons who went there in my family.

Berry was awful. Talk about someone failing upwards.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Ron Rivera said at the meetings that playing opening day contributed to their poor season. What a freaking loser! You didn't do anything Ron! You didn't win anything! You're freaking pathetic! This is why you'll never win a world championship.

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?

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Asses were kicked.
Names were taken.
Flutie UNDEFEATED at Sullivan Stadium.
Berry had apoplexy every time Flutie took the field and engineered a comeback W.

Big Flutie fan even though I've spent my life making fun of over-hyped BC and the morons who went there in my family.

Those morons almost got me arrested. Lived in an apartment on Comm Ave in 1984,, the year of the miracle Flutie to Phelan... We were grad students but most of our building were BC students,, some of whom put "GO BC" in big letters in the window.. They might as well have put "rob us" because that is exactly what happened Christmas break when nobody was living there... There were 12 apartments and 11 got robbed. Cops knocked on our door very suspicious and demanding to know why we didn't get robbed, ready to accuse us. Then we asked if any other apartments had a Brooklyn lock on their door to prevent it from being kicked in or wedges on the windows to prevent breakins... Then they understood why we weren't robbed.. we were the only ones to prevent it...

 

[Bill Lee]

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.

I don't think it can be a road game, and if it could be, the downside will be having to feature that MSL stadium that the Chargers will be in for a year (or two?), and then having the narrative become how the NFL is sticking it to the fans in SD just like they did to STL and are about to do the fans in OAK. Oh, yeah, and SD sucks so the game would be miserable.

 

[TBR]

The Panthers' complaint from last year is pathetic. I'd hope it doesn't affect the league's decision to make it Pats/Falcons on opening night.

 

[Belichick_The_Great]

You guys are missing the BIG picture. This whole thing is a smoke screen so they can move Atlanta's 1st game to the 1st or 2nd day of the season, so Goodell can go to Atlanta again (apparently his happy place) instead of coming to Foxboro.