Steelers’ schedule has a lot of different starting times

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Super Bowl champion Steelers will play five night games for the second season in a row, including their first two at home, but have only one Monday night game.

The Steelers will play twice on Thursday night, starting with the previously announced Sept. 10 NFL season opener at home against Tennessee, and twice on Sunday night, but their only Monday night appearance is Nov. 9 at Denver — the game after their bye week.

They also didn’t play a Monday night home game the last time they were coming off a Super Bowl victory, in 2006.

The Steelers’ schedule, announced Tuesday night, appears to be far less strenuous than that of a season ago, when their opponents included the Giants, Cowboys, Colts, Patriots, Eagles and Redskins. This season, the weaker AFC West replaces the AFC South and the NFC Central replaces the NFC East on their schedule.

The Steelers’ other Thursday night game is Dec. 10 at Cleveland, four days after they meet Oakland in one of their three December home games. The others are Dec. 20 against Green Bay, the Packers’ first visit to Pittsburgh since 1998, and Dec. 27 against Baltimore.

The Sunday night games are Oct. 4 against San Diego, the Chargers’ third game in Heinz Field in less than a year, and Nov. 29 at Baltimore. The Chargers lost the first 11-10 game in NFL history in Pittsburgh on Nov. 16, then lost there again in the playoffs 35-24 on Jan. 11.

Following the Sept. 10 opener, the Steelers play Sept. 20 at Chicago, in their only scheduled 4:15 p.m. start, and Sept. 27 at Cincinnati. After the Sunday night game against San Diego, they visit Detroit on Oct. 11.

The Steelers haven’t played in Detroit in the regular season since a 19-16 overtime loss on Thanksgiving in 1998, when they believed they had won the overtime coin flip only to have referee Phil Luckett rule captain Jerome Bettis called both heads and tails. The Lions were given the ball and immediately drove for the decisive field goal.

The Steelers don’t play a Sunday afternoon home game until Oct. 18 against Cleveland, their sixth game. They stay at home to play Minnesota the following Sunday.

Last season, the Steelers played seven games that started at 4:15 p.m. , four at home, but they have only one such kickoff currently scheduled, at Chicago. However, games beginning Nov. 22 through the rest of the season are subject to the NFL’s flexible scheduling policy and can be moved to later starts or to Sunday night.

Three Steelers three homes games after Nov. 22 are scheduled for 1 p.m. starts — the December games against Oakland, Green Bay and Baltimore, plus a Jan. 3 game at Miami.

This will be the second time in four seasons the Steelers have opened the NFL schedule with a Thursday night home game.