The NFL preseason starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings in the Hall of Fame game on Sunday night from Tom Benson HOF Stadium in Canton and the game is on TV from NBC and starts at 8 pm ET with live stream coverage from the NBC Sports Live Extra website as Adrian Peterson, Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger and Teddy Bridgewater.
The Vikings have Peterson back after being out for 15 games last season, while Bridgewater will reportedly start after "dealing with a family issue", according to ESPN. Bridgewater is coming into his second season and the Vikings have high expectations for the quarterback and their offense. Bridgewater was away from the Vikings the past couple days dealing with the issue, but he is back and ready to play in the Hall of Fame game.
The Vikings have Mike Wallace coming in after a trade and the team sees him as a deep threat that could help open up the offense for Bridgewater. The Steelers have high expectations this year and Big Ben may have his best offensive team after the numbers they put up last season. Roethlisberger has Brown back after a historic year and while Le'Veon Bell will open with a suspension, he is expected to have another big season. DeAngelo Williams adds depth and having Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton behind Brown should give the Steelers plenty of targets down the field.
Bridgewater is coming into the second season of his career and offensive coordinator Norv Turner will be looking to get the offense to the next level. The preseason game will kick off the start of 2015 in the NFL and it comes after Jerome Bettis was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Roethlisberger will sit out for the game along with Antonio Brown, Bell and Heath Miller, but there are plenty of young players to keep an eye on, including Landry Jones and Tajh Boyd.
Landry is looking to stick around as one of the backup quarterbacks, while the Vikings will get the first chance to see what rookie Trae Waynes can do at cornerback. The Vikings also have Charles Johnson coming in after a solid season last year and he could have a bigger role this year. The Steelers have DeAngelo Williams as the running back behind Bell and he is going to need to be solid top start the season with Bell out for a couple games.
The Steelers are playing in the Hall of Fame game for the first time since 2007. Bridgewater comes in after throwing for 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season while completing 64 percent of his passes. Bridgewater appears to be the QB of the future for the Vikings and getting Peterson back should be a big help for the team.
Check here for the Hall of Fame game coverage from NBC for the Steelers and Vikings.
