Now that the dust has settled and the New England Patriots have earned their fourth Lombardi Trophy, a lot of the focus around the NFL world will start to lean in the direction of the offseason and the upcoming 2015 season itself.
As has been the case over the past few years (Baltimore Ravens being the exception), Super Bowl-winning teams open up the following season at home on Thursday night. This promises to be the case with the Patriots come September.
Here are the four-best potential games to get the 2015 started.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
This has to be considered the likeliest scenario. Pittsburgh is the only potential team that New England could host in the season opener that actually made the playoffs this past year. It also boasts a quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger who has earned two Super Bowl titles himself. That would make for quite an interesting storyline leading up to what will be a much-hyped outing. Six Lombardi’s between these two teams over the past 14 seasons. Heck, these two have appeared in eight of the past 14 Super Bowls. That’s not too shabby of an opening game.
2. Buffalo Bills
Some think the entire Bill Belichick-Rex Ryan drama has played itself out. But by virtue of Ryan agreeing to be the new Bills head coach, this is a story that will drag on for some time. If the NFL wants to see a divisional matchup in the first game of the season, this has to be the direction it will head in. After all, the Bills are coming off a nine-win season and boast one of the best defenses in the NFL. In reality, this would be a pretty close game to start the 2015 campaign.
3. Philadelphia Eagles
Super Bowl rematch (kinda). Philadelphia may not have earned a playoff spot this past season, but it did finish with 10 wins and has to be considered one of the best non-playoff teams in the entire league. At this early stage in the process, we have absolutely no idea who is going to be under center for Philadelphia. Though, that really doesn’t matter all too much. Chip Kelly will have his offense ready to take on what is quickly becoming one of the better defenses in the NFL. In terms of entertainment value, this might actually be the best possibility for the league.
4. Miami Dolphins
Much like Buffalo, these Dolphins were in contention for a playoff spot throughout the entire 2014 season. Heck, they even defeated the defending Super Bowl champions (still weird to write that) in the season opener this past year. Ryan Tannehill’s performance under center in Miami has seen a major uptick in recent seasons, most notably this past year. It will be interesting to see if the league has faith in him to take on the Patriots on the road in the season opener. After all, no one wants to see a blowout. However unlikely this potential season-opening matchup might be, it still stands a chance simply because there aren’t a ton of great possibilities out there.
Two Unlikely Scenarios
The best potential season-opening games would be on the road against the Indianapolis Colts or Denver Broncos. However, it’s highly unlikely that the NFL would force the Patriots to open their season away from Gillette Stadium.
In the unlikely scenario that the league decides a better matchup is more important than New England being able to play host in the first real football game since winning the Super Bowl, Denver would be the best choice. You don’t need us to tell you just how much drama would surround Brady and his four titles traveling to Denver to take on Peyton Manning and his sole Lombardi Trophy.
The interesting dynamic here is that Denver actually did play host to a defending champion in the following season’s first game. That came back in 2013 after the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. The only reason Baltimore was forced to head to Denver—and get blown out in the process—was due to a scheduling conflict between the NFL and the Baltimore Orioles of MLB.
As it relates to the Colts, that’s also a rather obvious choice should the league go away from the defending champs hosting the season opener. New England absolutely destroyed Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game last month. Needless to say, the defending AFC South champions would love some quick retribution for that disappointing performance.
Photo: ABC News
