VIKINGS vs SAINTS Thursday Night NFL INTERESTING Factoid

[thinkingdog]

From SI:

"This will be the seventh season in a row the NFL has opened with its defending Super Bowl champion at home on a Thursday night, taking one last victory lap before its adoring crowd and a national TV audience. And while there's always a worthy adversary on the other sideline, the banner-hanging defending champs are 6-0 in this set-up, with a healthy 11.2 point average margin of victory.

In order, the 2004 Patriots, 2005 Patriots, 2006 Steelers, 2007 Colts, 2008 Giants, and 2009 Steelers have all had their season-opening parties come off exactly as planned, with the added bonus of then getting 10 days or so before they have to take their shiny new 1-0 record into Week 2."

Question is: is 5.0 points too much to give up? Or would the revenge factor keep the game close?



In any case, it should be a good game to watch! Welcome back, NFL!

[THE_ROOKIEEE]

yes yes .... didnt look at that angle in my capping this game.... still love the vikings and brett

[thinkingdog]

Originally Posted by THE_ROOKIEEE

yes yes .... didnt look at that angle in my capping this game.... still love the vikings and brett

Hey Rookieee, I was actually leaning on the Vikings to cover, if not outright win the game, but I think I'm just gonna lay off and just enjoy watching.

Good luck with your play!

[GFootsXtreme]

Were the matchups in those previous years against as good a competition i.e. conference championship opponents?

[thinkingdog]

Originally Posted by GFootsXtreme

Were the matchups in those previous years against as good a competition i.e. conference championship opponents?

2004 New England vs Indianapolis - Patriots, 27-24 (Colts went 12-4 in 2003 and lost to Patriots in AFC Championship game)

2005 New England vs Oakland - Patriots, 30-20 (Raiders went 5-11 in 2004 finishing fourth in AFC West)

2006 Pittsburgh vs Miami - Steelers, 28-17 (Dolphins went 9-7 in 2005; 2nd in AFC East)

2007 Indianapolis vs New Orleans - Colts, 41-10 (Saints went 10-6 in 2006 but lost in Conference Championship against the Bears)

2008 N.Y. Giants vs Washington - Giants, 16-7 (Redskins in 2007 were 9-7; 3rd in NFC East losing in Wild Card against Seahawks)

2009 Pittsburgh vs Tennessee - Steelers, 13-10 (OT) (Titans went 13-3 in 2008; 1st in AFC South, but losing Divisional playoff game against Ravens)

So opponents were generally over .500 teams (except for Raiders in 2005 opener) and NONE were Conference Championship opponents. I'd say that only the Colts in 2004, Saints in 2007, and Titans in 2009 were the only real quality opponents in this mix. Only the Saints were blown out while the other two lost by a field goal.

[LordCC]

Love the pic, she is hot!