And so we will pick up where we left off.
Well, at least the NFL will.
The league released the 2016 schedule Thursday night, an event it deems so important the PR staff on Wednesday tweeted an announcement that an announcement of the schedule was coming soon.
Really. They did.
But we digress.
The schedule is out, and here are the highlights:
BRONCOS-PANTHERS II
The season starts with the traditional Thursday night opener on Sept. 8 when the Denver Broncos host the Carolina Panthers.
Yes, the last game you saw from the 2015 season will be the first game you see in the 2016 season. Cam Newton and the Panthers hope for a better ending – or Dancing with the Stars asks Von Miller back for a second season and moves the show to Thursday night.
The one big difference, of course, is Peyton Manning has retired and right now the starting quarterback for the Broncos is Mark Sanchez.
OPENING STATEMENTS
Everyone will project how their teams will do, but who really knows which teams will be good in November and December.
Did you have the Panthers going 15-1 last season? That’s what we thought.
But those first couple weeks are easier to gauge, and that is why we are intrigued by:
Besides Panthers-Broncos in Week 1, the New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals on Sunday Night Football should be another game worthy of prime time.
But in Week 2, it really gets interesting:
— The headliner is the Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers and all of those bad feelings from last season’s playoff game. It's the best rivalry in the AFC North, and it will make for a busy week on Twitter. But this game loses a bit of its luster because Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict will still be serving his three-game suspension to start the season. (The rematch is in Week 15 on national television.)
— For more early division supremacy, we get the New York Jets at Buffalo Bills, the Miami Dolphins at Patriots, the Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins and the Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings.
Our favorite matchup in Week 3 is the Vikings at Panthers. We can finally find out what would have happened in the divisional-round playoff game last year we, uh, missed, because of the, uh, missed field goal attempt by the Vikings against the Seattle Seahawks.
THE PATRIOTS IN WEEK 5
In case you were wondering, the Patriots play at the Cleveland Browns in Week 5.
We note that just in case a certain quarterback is suspended for the first four games of the season and is making his debut this week.
WELCOME BACK, ROBERT
Washington sports talk radio has been joking this week that they better schedule Cleveland at Washington early in the season before Robert Griffin III is sidelined again.
The game will be in Week 4 – so maybe someone was listening.
HO, HO, HO!
Christmas is a Sunday, so the league will play the majority of its schedule on Saturday, Dec. 24.
But never one to let a TV opportunity pass it by, the league still scheduled two games for Christmas Day – the Broncos at the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens at the Steelers.
We’re sure NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will explain to the children of the Broncos and Ravens players that Daddy has to travel to work on Christmas Day so the league can fill its stockings with broadcast TV money.
Los Angeles Rams in London
They “host” the Giants on Oct. 23. Kickoff time in L.A.: 6:30 a.m.
And, oh yeah, this one interests us because we just know Rams coach Jeff Fisher will do something with his defense to get under Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr.'s skin.
And before we go …
San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills on Oct. 16: Chip Kelly vs. LeSean McCoy, Part II. Come on, you enjoyed all the "he won't shake my hand" stories from last season.
Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers on Oct. 30: The NFC Championship Game rematch could quite possibly be next year's NFC Championship Game preview as well.
Seattle Seahawks at New England Patriots on Nov. 13: We can promise you this for the Super Bowl XLIX rematch: If the Seahawks have the ball at 1-yard line with the game on the line, Pete Carroll will NOT give the ball to Marshawn Lynch. And wherever he is watching the game, Beast Mode will still get upset.
The Indianapolis Colts play in London on Oct. 2 and do not have a bye week the following. That's a rough way to travel.
And the New York Giants will be at Dallas in Week 1, marking their fourth consecutive opener on the road.
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