Jets host Giants in preseason opener at new stadium
Quarterback Mark Sanchez #6 of the New York Jets looks to throw the ball down field while under pressure from Gerris Wilkinson #59 and Mathias Kiwanuka #94 of the New York Giants. (Aug. 29, 2009) Credit: Getty Images
This time, the Giants will get to call the coin toss.
That's because they'll be the visiting team when the Jets host the first football game at the New Meadowlands Stadium. It will be a Monday Night Football game on Aug. 16 as a national audience will get to see the debut of the $1.7-billion stadium the two teams built together as well as the opening coin toss that the visiting team traditionally calls.
The NFL unveiled its preseason schedule Wednesday with the matchup between the two cohabitants as the culminating event of opening weekend.
The regular-season schedule will be released later this month, and it will have the Giants hosting the first meaningful game in the building on Sept. 12. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided that based on a coin toss last month. As a consolation, the Jets will host the season's first regular-season Monday night game and also the first preseason game.
The Giants and Jets usually meet in the third week of the preseason. Are the Jets, who were disgruntled over the way Goodell handled the regular-season scheduling decisions, angered at having to share the stage with the Giants when the very first curtain rises?
"We are excited to host the first football game played in our new stadium," Jets spokesman Jared Winley said. "Playing the Giants is a fitting way to kick off the preseason in a game that will generate tremendous excitement for both teams' fans.'
Because of the late start to the preseason - the Giants and Jets will be the last teams to play a game - they also will be the last teams to report to training camp. Neither team can begin workouts until Aug. 1. It's the second year in a row that the Giants open the preseason on a Monday night. Last year they beat the Panthers in the Monday night preseason opener, their only preseason win.
After the inaugural game, the Giants will complete their preseason with a home game against the Steelers, a game at Baltimore against the Ravens, and a home game against the Patriots.
The Jets will travel to play the Panthers in Week 2 of the preseason before hosting the Redskins and completing the schedule in Philadelphia on Sept. 2. Most of the dates and times for the preseason games have not been finalized.
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