You want storylines? Tickets for 2013 NFL season games come with storylines galore, no extra charge.
(Ed. note: That’s not entirely true, considering great storylines make for more in-demand tickets, but you get the idea.)
The least surprising news about the schedule is that the defending Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens will open in Denver against the Broncos, where they won a double-overtime playoff classic. Peyton Manning now has Wes Welker catching passes, which ought to put Baltimore’s newly remade defense to the test. Of course, Baltimore’s newly remade defense has a shiny new centerpiece in pass-rusher Elvis Dumervil, who left Denver for Baltimore.
That’s not the only tasty Week One matchup, though. Green Bay travels to the Bay Area in a matchup versus the 49ers on the season-opening Monday Night Football doubleheader, and the NFC East takes center stage on Sunday Night Football when the New York Giants head to the Dallas Cowboys.
And that’s just the first week. Whew!
Other highlights on the schedule include:
- Week 3: Houston Texans at the Baltimore Ravens (Ed Reed returns to Baltimore . . . in an away uniform)
- Week 7: Denver Broncos at the Indianapolis Colts (The once (Peyton Manning) and future (Andrew Luck) kings of Indy Colts football finally meet head-to-head)
- Week 12: Denver Broncos at the New England Patriots (Wes Welker returns to Foxboro . . . in an away uniform)
- Week 12: San Francisco 49ers at the Washington Redskins (Kaepernick vs. RGIII)
- Week 13: Pittsburgh Steelers at the Baltimore Ravens (on Thanksgiving!)
- Week 14: Miami Dolphins at the Pittsburgh Steelers (Mike Wallace returns to Heinz Field . . . in an away uniform)
- Week 16: Atlanta Falcons at the San Francisco 49ers (Late-season rematch of the NFC Championship could be critical to playoff chances, or at least playoff seeding)
- Week16: New England Patriots at the Baltimore Ravens (Late-season rematch of the AFC Championship could be critical to playoff chances, or at least playoff seeding)
