Patriots to kick off season with the Steelers in Foxboro

The reigning Super Bowl champions are scheduled to appear in prime time five times in 2019 beginning with their Sept. 8 opener with Pittsburgh at Gillette Stadium.

They were in Foxboro back on Sept. 9, 2002, for a “Monday Night Football” game that served as the grand opening of Gillette Stadium and the night the Patriots’ first Super Bowl championship banner was unfurled.

Seventeen seasons later, the Pittsburgh Steelers will return for a regular-season opener at Gillette, Sept. 8 of this year for a “Sunday Night Football” game that will see the Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl championship banner unveiled.

The Patriots also opened the season against the Steelers as defending Super Bowl champions on Sept. 10, 2015, a Thursday night game in Foxboro.

If you’re a Patriots fan looking for a positive trend, the Pats defeated the Steelers in those openers in both 2002 and 2015 -- 30-14, 17 years back and 28-21 four years ago.

The reigning Super Bowl champion traditionally hosts the NFL regular-season opener on a Thursday night, of course, but in this, the league’s 100th anniversary, pro football’s oldest rivalry, Green Bay-Chicago, will kick off the campaign on Sept. 5.

The matchup with the Steelers will be the Patriots’ first of five scheduled appearances in prime time in 2019, three of them falling in a span of 24 nights from Oct. 10-Nov. 3.

The prime-time game on Oct. 10 will be a Thursday nighter versus the New York Giants at Gillette, Oct. 21 will be a Monday night game versus the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, Nov. 3 is a Sunday night game versus the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium and Dec. 1 comes on a Sunday night against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium.

The most difficult segment of the Patriots’ schedule begins Week 8 when a game with the Cleveland Browns, the team that has become the NFL’s rage, at 4:25 p.m. on Oct. 27 begins a stretch that will see them go on to play at Baltimore, at Philadelphia, at home versus Dallas, at Houston and back at home to host Kansas City in a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game in consecutive weeks.

The Patriots will renew acquaintances with a friend-turned-toe early in the season as they will travel to play former linebacker coach and de facto defensive coordinator-turned-Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores at their house of horrors, Hard Rock Stadium, in Week 2, at 1 p.m. on Sept. 15.

That will kick off a three-game swing through the AFC East that will see the Patriots return home to play the Jets at Gillette on Sept. 22 and travel to Orchard Park, N.Y., for a date with the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field on Sept. 29, both 1 p.m. starts. The Patriots will face the Jets in two of the first seven games of the season.

The Oct. 10 game with the Giants will start a stretch of eight straight games in which the Patriots will play either in prime time or as the marquee matchup at the end of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader at 4:25 p.m.

The Patriots will enjoy their bye in Week 10, the second week of play in November, the down time falling between road games with the Ravens and Eagles.

For the third straight year, the Patriots will wrap up the regular season with back-to-back games at home, this time hosting their division rivals from Buffalo (on either Saturday, Dec. 21, or Sunday, Dec. 22) and Miami (Dec. 29).

The Patriots’ 2019 preseason schedule:

• Thursday, Aug. 8 (7:30) – at Detroit

• Saturday, Aug. 17 (7:00) – at Tennessee

• Thursday, Aug. 22 (7:30) – Carolina

• Thursday, Aug. 29 (7:30) – New York Giants

The Patriots’ 2019 regular-season schedule:

• Sunday, Sept. 8 (8:20) – Pittsburgh

• Sunday, Sept. 15 (1:00) – at Miami

• Sunday, Sept. 22 (1:00) – New York Jets

• Sunday, Sept. 29 (1:00) – at Buffalo

• Sunday, Oct. 6 (1:00) – at Washington

• Thursday, Oct. 10 (8:20) – New York Giants

• Monday, Oct. 21 (8:15) – at New York Jets

• Sunday, Oct. 27 (4:25) – Cleveland

• Sunday, Nov. 3 (8:20) – at Baltimore

• Sunday, Nov. 10 – Bye Week

• Sunday, Nov. 17 (4:25) – at Philadelphia

• Sunday, Nov. 24 (4:25) – Dallas

• Sunday, Dec. 1 (8:20) – at Houston

• Sunday, Dec. 8 (4:25) – Kansas City

• Sunday, Dec. 15 (1:00) – at Cincinnati

• Saturday, Dec. 21 or Sunday, Dec. 22 (TBD) – Buffalo

• Sunday, Dec. 29 (1:00) – Miami