In Indianapolis, Jim Ayello noted the Colts will open the '19 season against the Chargers in L.A., after last year NFL schedule-makers did the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Brickyard 400 "no favors" by scheduling the team's home-opener the same day the NASCAR race made its September debut. IMS President Doug Boles said of the Colts starting the season on the road, "I don't know how many fans we were forcing to make a decision between going to the Colts game or coming to the Brickyard, but the good news is that they don't have to make that decision this year" (INDYSTAR.com, 4/17).
HOLIDAY HONOR: In Rochester, Stevie Johnson notes the Bills' schedule "may be without a primetime slot this year," but the team will have the "rare chance to play on Thanksgiving." The Bills will play at the Cowboys "on the holiday for the first time" since '94. Johnson wrote the team should "relish the opportunity" (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 4/18).
RIVALRY RETREADS: In Ft. Worth, Clarence Hill Jr. notes the Cowboys host the Giants in the late Fox window on Sept. 8, marking the "sixth time in the last eight years that they have opened" against one another (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 4/18). Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, Ben Goessling writes it is "unclear" why the NFL has made Bears-Vikings a "staple of its Week 17 schedule." The Vikings have closed every season at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Bears (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/18).
