NFL Thursday Night Football takes place tonight with an NFL 2016 season opener between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. The game takes place from Sports Authority Field in Denver, Colorado and has a scheduled start time of 8.30 p.m. ET. The game can be watched on TV on the NBC network or online through NBC live stream via the link below.

Today's game is essentially a rematch of last season's Super Bowl game, and the Panthers will no doubt be in the mood to gain at least a degree of revenge for their loss in last season's climax.

However, since they last faced off against one another, things have changed a lot. Of course, Peyton Manning has retired and will not be in the Broncos line up today. Such a central player to the Broncos' rise in recent seasons can leave a big gap in the team, even if he looked out of sorts at various points last season.

Last season's Super Bowl was billed to be a massive match up between Peyton Manning and Cam Newton. But in brutal honesty, neither had that great of a game in last season's showcase.

Manning went 13 of 23 for just 141 yards and no touchdowns with one interception. He was sacked five times and lost a fumble. He finished with a very average passer rating of 56.6. However, Newton did even worse, and had a passer rating of just 55.4. He was 18 of 41 for 265 yards, no TDs and 1 interception. On top of that he lost two fumbles and was sacked a brutal six times by the Broncos' merciless defensive unit.

It goes without saying that Denver's glory last season was built on their spectacularly efficient defense. They dominated opposition offenses all season long, and even in last season's climax they were the major source of Carolina Panthers' misery.

Von Miller had an immense season last year, but Broncos' defensive coordinator has sent out a warning to the league prior to the season commencing, saying that Miller is even better than he was 12 months ago. If that's true, offensive units will be having a miserable time coming up against Denver this season.

Wade Philips, Denver defensive coordinator, has said this week: "He seems to be more comfortable in everything. He's really focused. I'm really pleased where he is right now. That seemed to be where he was at the end of last year. ... Maybe it's just the comfort in the defense, but I think he wanted to prove to everybody that maybe he's the best player. Maybe he's the defensive player of the year. He was the MVP in the Super Bowl, but I think his next goal is to be the defensive player of the year."

Today's big NFL Thursday Night Football 2016 season opener between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers has a scheduled start time of 8.30 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the NBC network or online through NBC live stream by clicking here.