Broncos won’t open 2012 NFL season

Tom Brady greets Tim Tebow postgame in 2011. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

There was a chance — call it even a good chance — that the Denver Broncos would have opened the 2012 NFL season in Foxborough, Massachusetts had the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl last night.

Think about it. Tom Brady vs. Tim Tebow set ratings records earlier this season. Everyone will be eager to see how Tebow progresses after an offseason of focused work as Broncos starting quarterback. Surely the big-wigs at NBC were watering at the mouth at the idea of kicking off 2012 with a rematch between two of the league’s most popular quarterbacks.

Of course, that won’t happen now. The New York Giants won The Big Game, and they’ll open the season on Thursday, September 6th at home, as has been the tradition for the Super Bowl champs for the better part of a decade.

And, unlike the Patriots, the Giants aren’t on the Broncos’ schedule next year.

So the NFL world will have to wait at least one NFL game before Tebowmania takes over again, and the Broncos and Patriots will probably settle for a different primetime matchup in 2012 instead.