While it hasn’t been made official, it certainly is beginning to look like the Pittsburgh Steelers will indeed play the New England Patriots in the 2015 Thursday night regular season opener.
According to a post made a short time ago on Twitter by Adam Schefter of ESPN, even he is hearing that the two teams will face-off Thursday, September 10 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Ma.
Sure sounds like Steelers at Patriots in Thursday night regular-season opener. Full NFL schedule release tonight at 8 on ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 21, 2015
Jeff Howe, who covers the Patriots for The Boston Globe, has gone as far as to say that a Steelers-Patriots season-opener is official.
It's official. The Patriots will host the Steelers in the regular-season opener, according to a source.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) April 21, 2015
A Patriots-Steelers opening night matchup has been speculated by many ever since the Super Bowl ended and we’ll find out in a few more hours if that will indeed be the case as the full 2015 schedule will be announced later this evening.
Both the Steelers and Patriots are expected to be without their starting running backs to open the season as Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount have already been suspended. Bell received a three game suspension while Blount only received one game as a result of the two being charged with possession of marijuana last year during the preseason. Bell received an extra two games because he was additionally charged with a DUI.
The last time the Steelers played the Patriots was in Week 9 of the 2013 season. The Steelers lost that game 55-31 as their defense allowed 610 net yards of offense. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 432 yards and four touchdowns in that game.
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski caught nine passes from Brady in that game for 143 yards and a touchdown.
