Over the course of 132 days of the NFL Lockout, many of us were concerned that the owners and players might just be stupid enough to delay the start of the NFL season while they battled over revenue. We'd have a small reason for optimism and then everything would come crashing down.
Well, we now have ten years of labor peace (more or less). It seems like the lockout was years ago and just yesterday all at the same time. The Packers and Saints kick off the 2011 NFL season on NBC and it seems worthwhile to have an open thread for what should be a fun game. The last two Super Bowl champs are two of the favorites in the NFC and return much of their talent. I don't know how the lockout will affect either team, but I'm hoping for a fun game.
We'll have plenty of 49ers-Seahawks discussion all through the weekend, but for now we've got a chance to just enjoy some quality football. I think the odds are high we see at least one of these two teams in the NFC championship game, but as we know, plenty can change between today and January. For now, let's just enjoy some football!