Steely McBeam
Well-known member
- Mar 20, 2019
- 2,135
- 0
Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Steelers will open the 2021 season with a road trip to face the Buffalo Bills. Starting the season away from Heinz Field is something the Steelers have gotten used to in recent years. The Buffalo trip will make the seventh straight year the Steelers will begin their season on the road.
“It would be nice to open at home once in a while,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said, via the team’s website. “It’s not the biggest deal in the world. We open on the road and then we come back with two home games, so it’s fine. It’s not that big a deal, but I would say we’re due for a home opener, that’s for sure.”
The last home opener in Week 1 for the Steelers came in 2014 when they won a 30-27 game over the Cleveland Browns. In the six years since, they’ve opened twice at New England, twice in Cleveland, once in Washington and once against the New York Giants.
As Rooney mentioned, Pittsburgh does return for two straight home games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals after the road trip to Buffalo. In fact, four of their first six games will be played at home.
Rooney still remains optimistic that when they do open at home, Heinz Field will be full of Steelers fans.
“We’re planning on having full capacity. The trends are all headed in the right direction, and we’re excited about getting our fans back in the stadium,” said Rooney. “Again, I just encourage anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated to go out and get vaccinated. That’s the best way for everything to get back to normal.
“We’re still in a situation where we have to be prepared to adjust, and certainly we will be, but where things stand today and the way things are trending we feel good about being about as close to normal by August as possible. We’re looking forward to being pretty close to back to normal by then.”