I think it's incredibly poor form on the NFL's part to schedule the two Super Bowl contestants as a pre-season game the following year. :141847_bnono: The suspense of the SB rematch should be built up leading into the regular season, not watered down by a meaningless preseason game. The tendency for both fans and talking heads is to reference the last game played between the two teams. Yes, even when that game was a pre-season game. You will hear things to the effect of "Tonight! A rematch of last year's Super Bowl Matchup! (followed by) These two teams already met earlier in the preseason this year, what can we draw from that game, ____________?" We should be hearing, "Tonight! A rematch of last year's Super Bowl Matchup! Last time these two met, the Seahawks dismantled the best offense in NFL history en route to their 1st Super Bowl as a franchise. Will tonight be more of the same, or has Denver done enough to catch Seattle?" Of course there will be many folks accurately dismissing the pre-season game as meaningless, but it still takes away some of the luster and focus of the real rematch.
To illustrate my point: imagine if boxers or MMA fighters coming off championship bouts had nationally televised sparing sessions with one another prior to a rematch. It would reasonably diminish the build up to big fight.
I was very disappointed when I saw this. The rest of the matchups, as many have said, are so old news they don't measure at all on the intrigue meter. :thcoffee: