Steelers see five prime-time games on slate

Open date is later than usual

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

The Steelers of 2009 will get a heavy dose of prime-time exposure again as the NFL has scheduled them for the maximum of five night games for the third consecutive season.

The reigning Super Bowl champions will play three of those on the road, all after their Nov. 1 off week. It's their latest off week since they had off Nov. 11, 1990, the first season in which each team had one weekend off during the season.

The NFL released its entire schedule early last night.

As announced last month, the Steelers will kick off the 2009 season at 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, in Heinz Field against Tennessee, the traditional opener for the Super Bowl champion.

The NFL also gave them a small break by scheduling their game at Miami Jan. 3 rather than early in the season as the league has done so often in the past. Three of the Steelers' previous four games in Miami were played in September.

The league acceded to the request of the Baltimore Ravens and did not schedule them for a night game in Heinz Field. The Ravens complained that three of their past four regular-season games in Pittsburgh were at night (not counting the AFC title game in January, also at night), while the Steelers had not played a night game in Baltimore since 2003.

That changes this year. Baltimore will have a 1 p.m. kickoff Dec. 27 at Heinz Field while the Steelers play at 8:20 p.m. Nov. 29 at Baltimore. It is possible, however, that the Dec. 27 game could be moved to prime time because it is within the NFL late-season flex schedule.

The Steelers' 2009 schedule is a balanced one. Twice they have consecutive road games and twice they have two in a row at home.

Although they have those five night games, they have fewer late-afternoon games scheduled than they did last season. The Steelers had only two 1 p.m. games scheduled outside the flex schedule last season. This year, they have four. Only two games are scheduled for 4:15 p.m., one in Chicago and one at home.

Elsewhere

The Dallas Cowboys will open their new $1.1 billion stadium in a nationally televised Sunday night game against the New York Giants Sept. 20. The always-popular Cowboys lead all teams with six scheduled nationally televised games, even without Terrell Owens.

The NFC champion Arizona Cardinals, who were edged by the Steelers in the Super Bowl, are scheduled for three national TV prime-time games: Sept. 27 at home against Indianapolis; Oct. 25 at the Giants; and Dec. 14 at San Francisco.

On Oct. 11, the New England Patriots take on Denver and former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, now the Broncos' coach. New England renews its rivalry with the Indianapolis Colts Nov. 15.

The first Monday night game features the Patriots -- in what they hope is Tom Brady's return -- against the Bills, in Owens' debut. Also that night, the Chargers are at Oakland as the league pays tribute to the American Football League, which would have been 50 years old in 2010. All four of those teams are original AFL franchises. New England also plays Tampa Bay in London on Oct. 25, with the Buccaneers as the host team.