NFL Season Kicks Off with Patriots Title Defense Against Steelers

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The Pittsburgh Steelers will have first crack at the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

The NFL season will kick off in Foxborough, Mass., with the AFC teams meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10 on NBC.

The league released its full schedule Tuesday on the NFL Network and NFL.com.

Viewers tuning into the Sunday Night Football opener on NBC on Sept. 13 will see the Dallas Cowboys hosting the New York Giants. The next night, ESPN will air its Monday Night Football doubleheader. First, the Philadelphia Eagles and newly signed quarterback Tim Tebow will visit the Atlanta Falcons; in the nightcap, the Minnesota Vikings will face off against the San Francisco 49ers.

A matchup between the Eagles and Detroit Lions on Fox will start off the NFL's Thanksgiving tripleheader. That game will be followed by the Carolina Panthers' trip to Dallas to challenge the Cowboys on CBS. The late game will feature the Green Bay Packers hosting their rivals, the Chicago Bears, on NBC in the Packers' first home Thanksgiving game since 1923.

CBS will once again air eight Thursday Night Football games simulcasted on NFL Network. Those games will be from Weeks 2-8 and Week 13; the other weeks' games will be televised on NFL Network and simulcast on over-the-air stations in the participating teams' primary markets. The first Thursday Night Football game, on Sept. 17, will be an AFC West content between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Seattle Seahawks will head south to face division rival 49ers on Oct. 22.

Other notable matchups on the schedule include the Packers' chance for revenge against the Seahawks - after Seattle's comeback in last year's instant-classic NFC title game - in a Week 2 Sunday Night Football clash on Sept. 20, and an AFC title game rematch between the Patriots and Colts in Indianapolis on Oct. 18 on NBC.

LINK:	http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/programming/nfl-season-kicks-pat...
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