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Home , Jim Tomsula, Mike Zimmer

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF (1 DAY)

2015 KICKOFF WEEKEND NOTES

Kickoff Weekend begins on Thursday, September 10 in primetime on NBC when the defending-champion New England Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium. It’s when things start to count.

Some clubs have excelled in openers. Here is a sampling of notable active NFL Kickoff streaks:

 The XLIX-champion NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS, who host Pittsburgh in the spotlight Kickoff 2015 game on Thursday night, have a 15-1 record at Gillette Stadium over the past two seasons. The Patriots have the fifth-most Kickoff Weekend wins among AFC teams (30).

 The AFC North champion PITTSBURGH STEELERS, who travel to New England on Thursday night of Kickoff Weekend, have the most wins (41) among AFC teams on Kickoff Weekend.

 The NFC North champion , who travel to Chicago on Kickoff Weekend, hold the record for the most wins in road openers (53) in the NFL and the fourth-best winning percentage in openers on the road (.576, 53-39-2).

 The AFC West champion DENVER BRONCOS, who start the season at home against Baltimore, have posted a 41-13-1 (.759) record in home openers, the top mark in the NFL. Denver has won 18 of its past 20 home openers.

 The NFC East champion begin the year by hosting the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football with a 37-17-1 (.685) record in openers at home, the fourth-best winning percentage in NFL history.

 The AFC South champion INDIANAPOLIS COLTS start the season at Buffalo with a 33-29-0 (.532) record in road openers, the second-best winning percentage in the AFC.

 The , who host New Orleans on Kickoff Weekend, have the third-longest current winning streak among NFC teams in home openers (five).

 The and start the season at home against Philadelphia and Minnesota, respectively, during a doubleheader. Atlanta has won its past seven home openers – the longest active streak in the league – while San Francisco has won 14 of its past 20 home openers.

 The , who visit Atlanta to open the 2015 campaign, have won six consecutive road openers, the longest active streak among NFC teams.

 HOME SWEET HOME: The (65-26-4), who host the Green Bay Packers on Kickoff Weekend, have a .714 winning percentage in home openers, the second-best mark in the NFL…the NEW YORK GIANTS, who host the Falcons in Week 2, have won 49 openers at home, the fourth-most wins in home openers in the NFL…the HOUSTON TEXANS, who host Kansas City on Kickoff Weekend, have won their past five home openers, the longest current streak in the AFC…and the NFC champion , who host Chicago in Week 3, have won six consecutive home openers, the second- longest streak in the league.

 HEAD COACHES: New England’s is 13-7 (.650) on Kickoff Weekend and his 13 wins are the most among active head coaches…Belichick, St. Louis’ JEFF FISHER (11-8; .579) and the New York Giants’ TOM COUGHLIN (10-9; .526) are the only active head coaches who have won at least 10 Kickoff Weekend games and own an opening weekend winning percentage above .500…Denver’s (5-3), Buffalo’s REX RYAN (5-1) and Tennessee’s KEN WHISENHUNT (5-2) each has a four-game winning streak on Kickoff Weekend, the longest current streak among active head coaches… (2-0) of the Eagles, BILL O’BRIEN (1-0) of the Texans and MIKE ZIMMER (1-0) of the Vikings are the only active head coaches with perfect records on Kickoff Weekend…and three head coaches – the New York Jets’ TODD BOWLES, Atlanta’s DAN QUINN and San Francisco’s JIM TOMSULA – make their Kickoff Weekend debuts in 2015.