Pats start campaign on national stage

Monday Night Football kicks off with a bang. First of all, ABC kicks off the first season premiers of prime Time television with the Drew Carey Show followed by Whose Line is it Anyway?.

Then, Monday Night Football kicks off with a repeat of last year's AFC Championship game.

The Patriots are playing the Steelers and New England is looking forward to the rematch. The Patriots surprised everybody last year with their back up quarterback taking them all the way to the promise land. This year people are being pretty pessimistic and saying that the team can go nowhere but down. This is the wrong way to look at it.

The Patriots still have the best defensive schemes in football, and although they lost the quarterback with possibly the best arm in football, there are so many more positives for this year than there are on the negative side of the ball.

First and foremost, the Patriots are playing in a brand new stadium. I watched USA vs. Holland there this May before the World Cup, and it is one of the most beautiful stadiums in the country. Every seat throughout the entire stadium has its own cup holder, and there are no bleachers anywhere, which is completely different from Foxboro Stadium. The memories from Foxboro are amazing, but this new stadium is absolutely too good to pass up.

Next, there are many games that will be nationally televised because they won last year, including the opening game against the Steelers. This is something that all New England fans who are not near the Boston stations are looking forward to.

Lastly, there is nothing wrong with good, strong defense. Bill Belicheck is a great defensive coach and his schemes are a large reason why last year worked. It is also a good reason why the Patriots, a team still possibly underrated, have a pretty good chance of repeating last year's run.

Enjoy the season as the Giants and the 49ers kick off the season tonight, and then enjoy the opening of Monday Night Football.