NFL should consider Rams, Saints for Monday Night Football opener in 2019
By Dan Parzych
One can only imagine how intense the 2019 meeting between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints will be.
While the Los Angeles Rams continue to explore free agency to see which players are still worth considering along with preparing for April’s draft, the NFC champions must also be wondering about which opponent they could end up facing in Week 1 of the 2019 season.
On Monday, the NFL announced that this year’s opener to the new season on Thursday will consist of the Green Bay Packers traveling to the Windy City to take on the NFC North champions in the Chicago Bears.
Normally over the years, the defending Super Bowl champions are the ones that usually host the first game of the new season, but it looks like the New England Patriots will be hosting the first Sunday night contest instead.
Since the Rams won’t actually be facing the Patriots for a Super Bowl 53 rematch during the regular season, only time will tell when it comes to determining who the NFC champions will get to face for their first game of 2019.
However, if the NFL were smart, and wanted to provide football fans with some of the best excitement in Week 1, they would give the Monday Night Football opener to Los Angeles against the New Orleans Saints.
After watching the controversy from the NFC Championship in which the Rams seemed to get away with a pass-interference penalty that looked like an easy call, one can only imagine how intense the 2019 meeting with the Saints is going to be.
Without question, New Orleans is going to have revenge on their minds for this contest since many believe that Sean Payton and company would have been able to put up a better fight against the New England Patriots after the Rams failed to score a single touchdown in the Super Bowl.
Keep in mind that Los Angeles has actually played on Monday night to help kick off the new season twice over the last three years, so the chances of them getting another opportunity to do so in 2019 seem high.
No matter when the rematch of the NFC Championship, chances are it’s going to be one of the most intense games of next season, and there’s even the strong possibility of these two teams meeting for a second time come January when it matters the most in the playoffs.
The NFL has plenty of great options to consider for Monday Night Football in Week 1, but when it comes to the opportunity to see the Rams and Saints battle it out, what more could football fans want that first week of action?