Before you’ll even know it, it’ll be time for football again. The NFL preseason, which serves as the official precursor to the regular season and our first real chance to catch a glimpse at highly touted rookies and new-look teams, is fewer than four months away.
It might seem even closer than that after Wednesday night, when the NFL released the 2018 preseason schedule.
We already knew that football will officially begin again on Aug. 2, when the Chicago Bears will take on the Baltimore Ravens in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio — assuming, you know, the field is in a playable condition. On Wednesday night, we got the rest of the schedule. A few notable games include:
- Week 1: Browns vs Giants in what could be our first glimpse at the two top-drafted rookie quarterbacks.
- Week 1: Falcons vs Jets in what could be the debut of the Jets’ rookie quarterback or Teddy Bridgewater.
- Week 1: Vikings vs Broncos in what could be our first look at Kirk Cousins in a Vikings’ uniform against the Vikings’ former quarterback, Case Keenum.
- Week 1: Texans vs Chiefs in what could be Deshaun Watson vs Patrick Mahomes, which would be fun as hell.
- Week 2: Eagles vs Patriots in a Super Bowl rematch.
- Week 3: Bengals vs Bills in what could be AJ McCarron’s dress rehearsal for the regular season against his former team or could be McCarron’s last chance to win the starting job if the Bills end up drafting a quarterback.
- Week 3: Chiefs vs Bears in a game that pits Matt Nagy against his former team as he gets the Bears ready for the regular season.
- Week 3: Giants vs Jets in a New York rivalry game.
- Week 4: Any of the games featuring rookie quarterbacks who are scheduled to start the regular season on the bench, which means they should see the field in the final week of the preseason as the starters get an off week.
OK, let’s get to the entire schedule, which you can find below, via NFL.com. As you can see, the exact dates for most of the games haven’t been released yet, but you’ll find an outline of the schedule along with the exact time and channel for the eight nationally television games.
Hall of Fame Game (August 2)
- What: Bears vs Ravens
- When: 8 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC
Week 1 (August 9-13)
- Los Angeles Chargers vs Arizona Cardinals
- Los Angeles Rams vs Baltimore Ravens
- Carolina Panthers vs Buffalo Bills
- Chicago Bears vs Cincinnati Bengals
- Minnesota Vikings vs Denver Broncos
- Tennessee Titans vs Green Bay Packers
- New Orleans Saints vs Jacksonville Jaguars
- Houston Texans vs Kansas City Chiefs
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Miami Dolphins
- Washington Redskins vs New England Patriots
- Cleveland Browns vs New York Giants
- Atlanta Falcons vs New York Jets
- Detroit Lions vs Oakland Raiders
- Pittsburgh Steelers vs Philadelphia Eagles
- Dallas Cowboys vs San Francisco 49ers
- Indianapolis Colts vs Seattle Seahawks
Week 2 (August 16-20)
- Kansas City Chiefs vs Atlanta Falcons
- Miami Dolphins vs Carolina Panthers
- Buffalo Bills vs Cleveland Browns
- Cincinnati Bengals vs Dallas Cowboys
- Chicago Bears vs Denver Broncos
- New York Giants vs Detroit Lions
- Pittsburgh Steelers vs Green Bay Packers
- San Francisco 49ers vs Houston Texans
- Baltimore Ravens vs Indianapolis Colts (ESPN, Aug. 20)
- Seattle Seahawks vs Los Angeles Chargers
- Oakland Raiders vs Los Angeles Rams
- Jacksonville Jaguars vs Minnesota Vikings
- Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots
- Arizona Cardinals vs New Orleans Saints
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Tennessee Titans
- New York Jets vs Washington Redskins (ESPN, Aug. 16)
Week 3 (August 23-26)
- Cincinnati Bengals vs Buffalo Bills (Fox, Aug. 26)
- New England Patriots vs Carolina Panthers
- Kansas City Chiefs vs Chicago Bears
- Philadelphia Eagles vs Cleveland Browns (Fox, Aug. 23)
- Arizona Cardinals vs Dallas Cowboys (NBC, Aug. 26)
- San Francisco 49ers vs Indianapolis Colts
- Atlanta Falcons vs Jacksonville Jaguars
- New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Chargers (CBS, Aug. 25)
- Houston Texans vs Los Angeles Rams
- Baltimore Ravens vs Miami Dolphins
- Seattle Seahawks vs Minnesota Vikings
- New York Giants vs New York Jets
- Green Bay Packers vs Oakland Raiders
- Tennessee Titans vs Pittsburgh Steelers
- Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (CBS, Aug. 24)
- Denver Broncos vs Washington Redskins
Week 4 (August 30-31)
- Denver Broncos vs Arizona Cardinals
- Miami Dolphins vs Atlanta Falcons
- Washington Redskins vs Baltimore Ravens
- Buffalo Bills vs Chicago Bears
- Indianapolis Colts vs Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns vs Detroit Lions
- Dallas Cowboys vs Houston Texans
- Green Bay Packers vs Kansas City Chiefs
- Los Angeles Rams vs New Orleans Saints
- New England Patriots vs New York Giants
- New York Jets vs Philadelphia Eagles
- Carolina Panthers vs Pittsburgh Steelers
- Los Angeles Chargers vs San Francisco 49ers
- Oakland Raiders vs Seattle Seahawks
- Jacksonville Jaguars vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Minnesota Vikings vs Tennessee Titans