Steelers' 2009 schedule released
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The Steelers of 2009 will get a heavy dose of prime time exposure again as the NFL scheduled them for the maximum of five night games for the third straight season.
The reigning Super Bowl champions will play three of those on the road, all after their Nov. 1 off week. It's their latest off week since they had off Nov. 11, 1990, the first season in which each team had one weekend off during the schedule.
The NFL released its entire schedule this evening.
As announced last month, the Steelers will kick off the 2009 season in Heinz Field Thursday Sept. 10 against Tennessee at 8:30 p.m., the traditional opener for the Super Bowl champion.
The NFL also gave them a small break by scheduling their game at Miami Jan. 3 rather than early in the season as the league has done so often in the past. Three of the Steelers previous four games in Miami were played in September.
The league acceded to the request of the Baltimore Ravens and not scheduled them for a night game in Heinz Field. The Ravens complained that three of their past four regular-season games in Pittsburgh were at night (not counting January's AFC title game, also at night), while the Steelers had not played a night game in Baltimore since 2003.
That changes this year. Baltimore will have a 1 p.m. kickoff at Heinz Field Dec. 27 while the Steelers play at Baltimore Nov. 29 at 8:20 p.m. It is possible, however, that the Dec. 27 game could be moved to prime time because it is within the NFL late-season flex schedule.
The Steelers' 2009 schedule is a balanced one. Twice they have consecutive road games and twice they have two straight at home.
Although they have those five night games, they have fewer late afternoon games scheduled than they did last season. The Steelers had only two 1 p.m. games scheduled outside the flex schedule last season. This year, they have four. Only two games are scheduled for 4:15 p.m., one in Chicago and one at home.
STEELERS 2009 Schedule
Thursday, Sept. 10 -- TENNESSEE, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 20 -- at Chicago, 4:15 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 27 -- at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 4 -- SAN DIEGO, 8:20 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 11 -- at Detroit, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 18 -- CLEVELAND, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25 -- MINNESOTA, 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 1 -- Idle
Monday, Nov. 9 -- at Denver, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 15 -- CINCINNATI, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 22 -- at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 29 -- at Baltimore, 8:20 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6 -- OAKLAND, 1 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 10 -- at Cleveland, 8:20 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 20 -- GREEN BAY, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 27 -- BALTIMORE, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 3 -- at Miami, 1 p.m.
First Published April 14, 2009 7:02 pm
