The New England Patriots will open their 2013 NFL Preseason with road game against the Philadelphia Eagles, followed by a nationally-televised home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. on FOX.

The Patriots open their preseason at Philadelphia on Friday, Aug. 9.

The Patriots and Eagles have been preseason opponents in 20 previous occasions, with the Pats having their last preseason road contest being in 2009, coincidentally against the Eagles as well. Last season, the Patriots and Eagles met in the preseason on Monday Night Football with Philadelphia taking a 27-17 win at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 20.

As for the regular season, in 2013, the Patriots will play each of the other AFC East rivals twice and are slated to play one game against each of the AFC North and NFC South teams. Being that they finished last season as the first-place team in the AFC East, the Patriots will play the first-place teams of the AFC South (Houston Texans) and AFC West (Denver Broncos) as well later in the season.

Below is a breakdown of the upcoming preseason schedule for the Patriot:

2013 PATRIOTS PRESEASON SCHEDULE

Friday, Aug. 9  at Philadelphia Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Patriots Preseason Network

Friday, Aug. 16 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 8:00 p.m. on FOX

Thursday, Aug. 22 at Detroit Lions at 7:30 p.m. on Patriots Preseason Network

Thursday, Aug. 29 vs. New York Giants at 7:30 p.m. on Patriots Preseason Network