Could the Vikings Be Part of the 2009 Regular Season Opener?

by Christopher Gates on Feb 4, 2009 9:06 AM CST in Minnesota Vikings

As we all know, the Pittsburgh Steelers won their record-setting sixth Super Bowl this past Sunday, as they knocked off the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in an absolute thriller. This also means that the Steelers will begin the season on a Thursday night in Pittsburgh a few days before the rest of the regular season gets underway.

Who will their opponent be for that game? Nobody knows yet. . .but there's a pretty good chance that it could be our own Beloved Purple trotting out onto Heinz Field the night the Steelers begin defense of their title.

Looking at the 2009 schedule, the Steelers are slated to have home games against the following teams:

Baltimore
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Green Bay
Minnesota
Oakland
San Diego
Tennessee

As far as compelling games for a season opener go, I think we can scratch Cincinnati, Cleveland, Green Bay, and Oakland off the list from the start. . .based on 2008, at least. All of those teams had losing records this past season, and none of them were particularly impressive in 2008. I don't know if we can put San Diego up there, either. . .they were a .500 team, got into the playoffs because the Denver Broncos spent the entire month of December peeing on themselves, and their biggest superstar (LaDanian Tomlinson) appears to be slowing down at a pretty rapid pace.

So that leaves three potential matchups for the season opener. The league could set up a rematch of the 2008 AFC Championship Game by going with a Baltimore-Pittsburgh tilt. They could set up a clash between the reigining world champions and the team with the best regular-season record in football in 2008 by going with Tennessee-Pittsburgh. Or they could put together a matchup between the Steelers and one of the best and most talented teams in the NFC in our own Minnesota Vikings.

Throw in the added intrigue of Mike Tomlin's first opportunity to coach a regular-season game against his former team in prime time (or at any time), and it sounds to me like Vikings-Steelers should be the way the league is leaning to kick off the 2009 season. But I'm biased.

What do you think? Will the league pit the Vikings against the Steelers in 2009's first matchup, or do you think we. . .like Cris Carter. . .will get blown off for somebody else? Discuss it here, and we'll be back with more later on!

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It'll probably be Vikes/Steelers

I can’t imagine the NFL would blackout televising the first game of a team that just won the Super Bowl.

So I guess if we do get them as our first game, it’ll be prime time. I’d bet money on it actually.

by AustinVike on Feb 4, 2009 9:12 AM CST reply actions

Rivalry

Sorry, as much as I’d love to see our Vikes on opening night, I doubt it’ll happen. The NFL (and NBC for that matter) has always had a hard-on for rivalry match-ups. So I see this easily being a Baltimore/Pittsburgh match-up.

by VIKES311BOY on Feb 4, 2009 12:17 PM CST reply actions

But it's a Super Bowl rematch!

Who cares if it’s a Super Bowl rematch from 34 years ago? :) But in all seriousness, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t an AFC Championship rematch from this season, or at the very least a Tennessee-Pittsburgh matchup, the two best AFC teams of the 2008 regular season.

by Eric J. Thompson on Feb 4, 2009 1:59 PM CST up reply actions

Awesome as it would be...

I’m betting the Steelers will play Tennesse or Baltimore. The only way it would be the Vikings is if they were going to try and put an AFC and an NFC team in the first game. That’s definitely possible (do they normally do that? Has it happened in the past?) but I think intra-conference games are better for ratings. I would think.

Again, that’s a total opinion and I have no statistics to back that up.

Visit:
http://www.vikingvigil.com

Skol Vikings!
Woot Woot!

by Manimal on Feb 4, 2009 2:15 PM CST reply actions

Last 5 years of regular season openers:

2004: Colts @ Pats
2005: Raiders @ Pats
2006: Dolphins @ Steelers
2007: Saints @ Colts
2008: Redskins @ Giants

So yeah, it definitely looks like they favor rivalries and in-conference matchups. The only AFC-NFC matchup was the year after the Saints made it to the NFC Championship, and I don’t need to remind everyone how far the Vikings got this postseason.

by Eric J. Thompson on Feb 4, 2009 2:30 PM CST reply actions

I don’t see it happening unless we get a different QB in the offseason. They’d want either a rivalry, or a strong offense vs defense match, and Jackson certainly takes alot of heat from the talking heads in the NFL.

by Frost on Feb 4, 2009 9:13 PM CST reply actions

NO..They will not..They should not

Adrian Peterson vs Steelers defense is a great prime time match up..it will be sold on any given Sunday.

NFL not necessarily schedules the most appealing game for opener..Well..heck..yes..its NFL after 8 months of starvation for fans..they will watch anybody who play the defending champions..So To make it interesting a middle of the pack team with some history (Packers) or a below average team with passionate fan base (Raiders..just like they did in 05 opener) makes more sense.

I bet Bears would have opened in Pittsburgh had they had away game in Pittsburgh

by sidd on Feb 7, 2009 1:02 AM CST reply actions