CHARLOTTE - The 2016 NFL season will begin with the same matchup that capped the 2015 season – in historically unique fashion.
The Carolina Panthers will visit the Denver Broncos on September 8 to kick off the season. The Thursday Night Football showdown will mark the first time in NFL history that the first game of the season has featured the teams that faced off in the Super Bowl the previous season. The Super Bowl IV champion Kansas City Chiefs visited the runner-up Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 of the 1970 season, but that was a Sunday game after the season had kicked off Friday night.