NFL Week 1: Who Plays on Thursday Night Football?
By Nick Ziegler
NFL Week 1 will be starting on Thursday Night Football. Who will be playing the first game to kick off the 2016 season?
After a long wait, NFL Week 1 is nearly here. The long offseason with free agency, the NFL Draft, and training camps is over. Now, it’s back to football. As usual, the defending champions will be opening up the season to celebrate their Super Bowl win one more time.
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The Denver Broncos will be at home to start off the season, and the team they are playing is the very same team they beat last season. There will certainly be a sour taste in the mouth of the Carolina Panthers in Week 1. Losing the Super Bowl to the Broncos in disappointing fashion will certainly be on their minds prior to the game.
Even though the two teams played earlier this calendar year, they do have some new faces. Most notably, the Broncos will be a far different looking team. After winning his second Super Bowl, quarterback Peyton Manning sailed off into the sunset on a high note.
The plan was for Brock Osweiler to become the starter when Manning retired, but he signed as a free agent with the Houston Texans. Due to Osweiler leaving, president John Elway was left in a very difficult position at quarterback.
Despite trading for Mark Sanchez in the offseason, and drafting Paxton Lynch in the first round, the Broncos will be using Trevor Semian as their starter in Week 1. There will be a ton of pressure on Semian in his first start, as the Panthers will be hungry for revenge.
In addition to wanting revenge, the Panthers will also have wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin back. Benjamin missed the entire 2015 season due to a torn ACL. Having him at wide receiver will only make the Panthers’ offense better in 2016.
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Finally, it should be a great game to kick off the regular season, as it doesn’t get much better than a Super Bowl rematch.