The NFL preseason is finally here in full swing and after the Pro Football Hall of Fame game in Canton, the rest of Week 1 will continue on Thursday and Friday and the best matchup is between the Patriots and the Eagles and the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders should be a good tilt as well.
The Ravens are obviously coming off of a Super Bowl victory, while the Buccaneers have some hope after drafting some solid players and adding Darrelle Revis in a trade in the offseason. The team rid itself of Eric Wright and now Josh Freeman must step up. The Ravens are back after a championship and have a number of new players in the fold and old ones gone, including Elvis Dumervil and they will also have to overcome the injury to Dennis Pitta at tight end.
Thursday's games have a number of high profile teams playing their first preseason game, including the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens as well as the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns, San Diego Chargers and Atlanta Falcons will also be in action. Peyton Manning likely won't play much, but he will be greatly anticipating getting back on the field after the Broncos were defeated by the Ravens in the AFC playoffs.
Robert Griffin won't be in action during the preseason after coming back from a serious knee injury, but the Redskins are greatly anticipating his return after making the playoffs and winning the NFC East for the first time in years. Mike Shanahan has high hopes for the team and he said in training camp that a number of his players remind him of his old days in Denver when he was winning Super Bowls with John Elway, including now second year running back Alfred Morris, who in any other year would have won rookie of the year after being a sixth round pick.
The Bengals and Falcons are playing as two teams that made the postseason last year along with Denver and San Francisco, while the rest are matchups of one team that did and one that didn't, apart from the Rams and Browns, as both missed out last season. A number of teams in action have Super Bowl aspirations, including the Ravens as they try to repeat, as well as the Falcons, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers, who lost to Baltimore last season. The Redskins feel they are ready after winning the NFC East last season and the Chargers feel that they are ready to come back after having a tough season under Norv Turner and now they have Mike McCoy in the fold.
The preseason schedule will pick up later on Friday with a number of other games and on Saturday the New York Giants will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Check here for the full schedule from Sports World Report.
Friday, Aug. 09
Miami at Jacksonville 7:30 pm EverBank Field
N.Y. Jets at Detroit 7:30 pm Ford Field
New England at Philadelphia 7:30 pm NFL Network Lincoln Financial Field
Arizona at Green Bay 8:00 pm Lambeau Field
Kansas City at New Orleans 8:00 pm Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Houston at Minnesota 8:00 pm Mall of America Field
Chicago at Carolina 8:00 pm Bank of America Stadium
Dallas at Oakland 10:00 pm NFL Network O.co Coliseum
