New England Patriots to open season against Pittsburgh Steelers

According to multiple reports, the New England Patriots are slated to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football in Week 1 of the 2019 season.

Two of the AFC’s biggest heavyweights will reportedly go head-to-head in Week 1 of the young 2019 NFL season. According to multiple reports cited in an ESPN story, the New England Patriots are set to host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, September 8, at 8:30 pm EST.

The game will be broadcast on Sunday Night Football and called by Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth in the broadcast booth.

Patriots/Steelers may have lost a bit of its luster since three prominent players in the rivalry have since moved on after the conclusion of the 2018 season. Perpetual Steeler-slayer Rob Gronkowski announced his retirement from the NFL last month, Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell signed with the New York Jets in free agency, and Steelers superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown bullied his way into getting traded to the Oakland Raiders.

Left behind are the two marquee quarterbacks, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger, who will do battle once again under the bright lights of primetime. Head coaches Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin are of course still around, as are supporting cast members like New England receiver Julian Edelman and Pittsburgh receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Apart from promising another round of exciting football between two AFC juggernauts that really don’t care for one another, this particular episode stands to be especially sweet because of the pregame ceremony and theatrics that are set to occur. New England will unveil its sixth Super Bowl banner before a raucous home crowd – and more importantly, before a visiting team that just saw its own record of six Super Bowl championships tied for the first time in NFL history.

How deliciously sweet is that? The Steelers will be forced to watch as the Patriots celebrate their sixth Lombardi Trophy win right in front of them.

Clearly, the NFL knew what it was doing when it slated this matchup for Week 1 in Foxborough. Now the only thing that remains to be seen is how much the pregame ceremony will affect the ensuing action on the field. As much as the Steelers will be motivated by seeing the Patriots celebrate tying their record, the Patriots will also be motivated for revenge after dropping a tight game to Pittsburgh last year at Heinz Field.

The rest of the Patriots’ schedule, along with the schedules for the other 31 teams, is set to be released tonight by the NFL. Stay tuned for more up-to-date analysis as that information becomes public.