The 2011 NFL season will be kicked off when the Green Bay Packers open their Super Bowl title defense against the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field on September 8.
Monday Night Football will open up on September 12th with a doubleheader, where the Patriots will go to Miami to take on the Dolphins, and the Raiders will head to Denver to take on the Broncos.
Week One of the season opens up with multiple divisional match-ups as well. The Colts will take on the Texans, the Giants play the Redskins, the Raiders play the Broncos, the 49ers play the Seahawks, the Titans play the Jaguars, the Steelers play the Ravens, the Bengals play the Browns, and the Patriots play the Dolphins.
Statistically, the Panthers have the most difficult season, and the Cardinals have the easiest season.
Some key games to look out for this year are:
-Mike Vick will head back to Atlanta on September 18th in a night game. It will be his first time starting in Atlanta since leaving the team.
-The Detroit Lions will play on Monday Night Football for the first time since 2001 when they take on the Bears at home on October 10th.
-John and Jim Harbaugh will face off in Week 12 when the Ravens host the 49ers on Thanksgiving. It will be the first time that brother head coaches will go against each other.
-As always, it will be Manning vs. Brady in Week 13 when the Colts play the Patriots.
-Sunday October 9th will be the first match-up of the year between the Jets and Patriots, which is always an interesting game.
-Thanksgiving day games will be Green Bay at Detroit, Miami at Dallas, and San Francisco at Baltimore.
-Christmas day will be Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers.
-Week 17 will definitely have playoff implications this year. Atlanta will play Tampa Bay, Detroit plays Green Bay, the Jets play the Dolphins, the Cowboys play the Giants, and Washington plays Philly.
The schedule has just been released, and already the anticipation for next season is high. In the past few years, playoff teams have been changing, and I expect the same thing to happen this year. Teams with losing records last year have a good chance to have winning records this year. The NFL season is long and full of great match-ups, which will inevitably lead to upsets, and perhaps a Cinderella story or two.
The season will end in Indianapolis this year with Super Bowl XLVI, and it will undoubtedly be a great game between two great teams.
- Sal LaFata
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