Tom Brady’s late decision to play in 2022 may also dictate some changes in plans for the NFL schedule makers.
Who knows, maybe the Steelers, too?
Via Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times, the gurus who figure out the schedules and national television broadcasts had to do a reboot once they realized Brady was returning to play.
As the JoeBucsFan.com website pointed out, the NFL’s broadcasting chief, Howard Katz, told Farmer, “When Tom Brady retired, we were concerned about the strength of the NFC package because there were so many terrific Tampa Bay games we were looking at,” Katz said. “Then a month later he un-retires and we sort of started all over again.”
Is it possible that Brady’s return to Heinz Field is one of those highlight games? Tampa is slated to play in Pittsburgh this year, as the NFC South is the conference crossover division for AFC North teams in 2022.
Counting playoff starts, Brady is 6-3 at Heinz Field. All those games were with the New England Patriots.
That JoeBucsFan.com story added, “Look for Tampa Bay to want to open on the road, as the University of South Florida plays a home game at (Raymond James Stadium) on each Saturday before NFL opening Sunday (Sept. 11).”
So, what do you think? A season-opening game sometime during Week 1 at Heinz Field against Brady’s Bucs? A game that would also be the first in Pittsburgh in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era? That might draw some eyeballs to television sets in primetime, right?
Indeed. However, as Katz’s quote indicates, if the NFC package is what was top of mind, Fox may push to hold that game for one of its Sunday windows somewhere else on the schedule.
Another thing to note about a potential opener against Brady and the Bucs is that we have to keep those other “Bucs” in mind. The Pirates do have two Sunday afternoon 1:35 p.m. start times in September. One of them is during Week 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals. Because of traffic and parking, having the Steelers at home any day except Monday would be difficult.
The other one is Week 3 when the Cubs are in town.
So, the opener and Week 3 are doubtful. But how about a “Very Brady Christmas” in Pittsburgh?
Possibly. But, in that same JoeBucsFan.com post, they are suggesting that the Bucs are pushing to host a Christmas Day game. That would exclude the Steelers as an opponent.
The NFL schedule release is set for Thursday. Yet some games have been released already, and some others are expected to be announced this week in advance of the big reveal.
For instance, Amazon’s first Thursday night football game will be in Week 2 (Sept. 15), as the Los Angeles Chargers will travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC West divisional matchup. And a pair of Monday night games are doubling up in Week 2, featuring the Buffalo Bills against the Tennessee Titans and the Minnesota Vikings versus the Philadelphia Eagles.
Usually, the defending Super Bowl champions get to open the season on Thursday night (Sept. 8). RamsWire.com is predicting that the season-opening game will be against the Denver Broncos featuring new quarterback Russell Wilson.
