The last game of the 2015 NFL season was the Denver Broncos against the Carolina Panthers. The NFL figured, why not start off the 2016 season the same way?
The Broncos and Panthers will meet in a rematch of Super Bowl 50 on Thursday, Sept. 8, kicking off Week 1 of the NFL season. The NFL released the full regular-season schedule on Thursday, and the first game might be the most anticipated of the 256 regular-season games. It's the first time the NFL has had a Super Bowl rematch in the Thursday night regular-season opener.
Week 1 has a few other entertaining matchups. In the opening week, the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals square off on "Sunday Night Football" in a battle of the conference championship runners-up. For the Week 1 "Monday Night Football" doubleheader, the first game will be the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Washington Redskins, and that will be followed up by the Los Angeles Rams at the San Francisco 49ers.
The Rams will play their first game in Los Angeles since 1994 — and if you want to get technical, their first home game in Los Angeles since 1979 because they played in Anaheim from 1980-94. The NFL's first regular-season game in Los Angeles since the end of the 1994 season will be Week 2, and the opposing coach will be familiar with the surroundings. Pete Carroll, who coached USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum before moving to the Seattle, will lead his Seahawks into the Rams' home opener.
The Rams will be playing at the old Coliseum for three seasons as their new stadium is built in Inglewood, but there will be a new stadium opening in 2016. The Minnesota Vikings move into U.S. Bank Stadium, and their first game there will be Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers, their longtime divisional rival. That will be a Sunday night game.
The NFL, which for years had either the Dallas Cowboys or Detroit Lions host an AFC team on Thanksgiving due to television network considerations, is sticking with its new plan of picking two good early Thanksgiving games regardless of conference affiliation. The Minnesota Vikings will start Turkey Day at Detroit, then the Washington Redskins play at Dallas, and the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to the Indianapolis Colts to cap off Thanksgiving.
Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, and keeping in line with its history of largely avoiding Christmas games, the NFL moved the bulk of its games for Week 16 to Saturday, Dec. 24. There will be 12 games on Christmas Eve and just two on Christmas: Baltimore Ravens at Steelers, and Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs.
The Broncos had plenty of choices for the traditional Thursday night opener because the defending champions have a fun home schedule. The Houston Texans and former Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler come to Denver for a Week 7 "Monday Night Football" game on Oct. 24. The New England Patriots come to Denver in Week 15 for a rematch of the AFC championship game.
But the Panthers-Broncos game highlights the entire schedule. Cam Newton, the reigning MVP, will be on one side (and he playfully told Von Miller on Instagram he'll be looking for revenge) and the Broncos will start ... well, we're not sure who their quarterback is, but they have nearly five months to figure it out.
The Panthers, a hot ticket after a 15-1 season and Newton's MVP campaign, will have five prime-time games: the opener at Denver, Week 5 at home on Monday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hosting the New Orleans Saints on "Thursday Night Football" in Week 11, at the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in Week 13, and at Washington on Monday night, Dec. 19 in Week 15.
The NFL had previously announced its three International Series games: Indianapolis will play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 2 (Week 4), the Rams will play the New York Giants on Oct. 23 (Week 7) and the Redskins will play the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 30 (Week 8). All three games will be in London.
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