Patriots owner Robert Kraft may have let the cat out of the bag a little Monday when he gave his prognostications on the scheduling for next year’s NFL season. While much of the chatter Monday was about how the Ravens may not be able to play at home for the first game of the season, as is the tradition for the Super Bowl-winning team, Kraft had thoughts about who Baltimore’s opponent would be.
“I’d be surprised if we’re not the opening opponent for Baltimore on Thursday night,” he said of the kickoff to the 2013 NFL season, according to Patriots.com.
While the NFL has traditionally picked Super Bowl participants to open the new season and scheduled their openers against foes they saw in the playoffs — in this case, the AFC Championship-losing Patriots — Kraft’s opinions aren’t necessarily inside information. The league has a complex scheduling process, and if something as simple as an O’s game can upset the apple cart, then Ravens-Patriots to kick off 2013 is no guarantee.
