Updated, 8:55 p.m. ET
The time of the opening kickoff for the annual Jets-Giants preseason game at MetLife Stadium has been moved to 2 p.m. ET on Saturday due to Hurricane Irene expecting to reach the New York/New Jersey area early Sunday morning.
The game, which this summer is the Giants' home game, was scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. but the NFL has approved the time change.
Rain is expected to fall Saturday morning through the 2 o'clock hour in the East Rutherford, N.J., area, according to accuweather.com. Then rain is forecast to start again at 5 p.m. and once more at 9 p.m. The effects of Irene will start to be felt around midnight as the winds are expected to increase to 30 mph and greater and the rain starts to fall heavier into the Sunday morning hours.
This will be the Jets' first preseason day game since 2003, when they played the Bengals at home with a scheduled 1 p.m. start. Before that, in August 1992 they played an afternoon Hall of Fame Game against the Eagles and had a 4 o'clock (ET) kickoff in Madison, Wis., against the Packers.
But Saturday's new kickoff time will mark these stadium mates' first afternoon preseason game since 1977. That was their first preseason meeting in the Giants' new Meadowlands venue (they played their '76 game at Yankee Stadium). The '77 game kicked off at 1 p.m. The Jets won that game as well, 10-0.
The Jets will be playing the Giants for the 43rd straight preseason. The teams opened their series in the afternoon back in 1969, when the Green & White, fresh off their Super Bowl III triumph, played Big Blue for the first time in any game and prevailed, 37-14, at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Conn.
