WWE & UFC Star Brock Lesnar Preseason Highlights (2004) | NFL
Many football fans are excited about the upcoming 2016-17 NFL season. There will be plenty of football leading up to the regular season too, as fans are eagerly anticipating the preseason games. That leads to the popular question of How do I watch NFL preseason games?
While watching football live in person is the top way to go, many NFL preseason games are presented on a variety of different channels, networks or live stream options. Theyll include the NFL Network, ESPN, CBS, Fox and NBC.
ESPN and their WatchESPN live stream platform will present the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7 as well as a Week 1 matchup on Aug. 13. The CBS, Fox and NBC networks will air certain games between Aug. 25 and Aug 28. These networks each have respective live stream online or on-demandvideo options as well.
The best way to catch any preseason game available is the NFL Game Pass service. This service is available on a free 7-day trial basis, which could possibly give fans a good number of free games to watch live online via the website or compatible mobile apps. It includes a wide variety of special features including the ability to watch games on demand after theyve been presented.
NFL Game Pass can be purchased for the full NFL preseason with on demand replay of regular season gamesfor a price of $99. The service will work on phones and tablets with the compatible apps found at Microsoft store, Apples App Store and Google Play Store. In addition, NFL fans can watch the service using the platform on Xbox One, Apple TV, PlayStation 4, Google Chromecast and/or Roku.
Keep in mind the NFL preseason starts on Sunday, Aug. 7. It will run for four weeks with Sept 2. the date of the final games for this preseason.
For more NFL coverage, make sure to check out our hub.
Packers vs. Patriots 2015 NFL Preseason Week 1 highlights
The 2016 NFL preseason is here and it kicks off Sunday night for the Hall of Fame Game pitting the Green Bay Packers against the Indianapolis Colts. The game takes place at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, in Canton, Ohio, and it airs on ESPN at 8 p.m. EST. For many, preseason NFL football is not as exciting as the regular season, but for diehard fans and sports betters it still provides the action they are looking for.
The current betting odds for the NFL Hall of Fame Game has the Colts favored by -3 and the over/under is at 34 points. The NFL Hall of Fame Game takes place in Ohio so the home-field advantage is thrown out the window for this one. Many football analysts are going into far too much detail to analyze this matchup. They mention stats on the overall record of a team for preseason football, against-the-spread analysis for the history of a team and the Hall of Fame preseason game as well as the records of the coaches in preseason football, all of which dont mean squat. When looking at this matchup, we need to keep it simple by looking at last season, who is playing Sunday night, and who isnt going to be on the field.
Andrew Luck is expected to start for the NFL 2016 Hall of Fame Preseason Game. [Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images]About the Colts
The Colts finished second in the AFC South last year with a record of 8-8, and they have a solid team this year. Quarterback Andrew Luck is the highest paid player in NFL history with a contract for $140 million over the next six seasons. Lucks shoulder injury last year prevented the NFL superstar from putting up his usual numbers. In fact, Andrew Luck had a record-low season last year. Look for Luck to play for a series or two in this game to knock the cobwebs off before backup quarterback and former Green Bay Packer Scott Tolzien takes over.
Head coach Chuck Pagano said he would have all of his starters play at some point, but for how long is not certain. This of course is what we expect during NFL preseason football. Ryan Kelly is the rookie center and is expected to start. Fans will also see cornerback Patrick Robinson, who made a name for himself playing for both the Saints and the Chargers. The Colts now look forward to this playmaker debuting for their team Sunday night.
About the Packers
The Green Bay Packers finished second in the NFC North last season with a record of 10-6 and are considered Super Bowl contenders. They are favored to win the NFC North this season with Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson both being healthy, which is good news for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Thats great news come regular season, but dont expect to see too much of them come Sunday night. What fans can expect is to see a whole lot of rookies play for a whole lot of clock time.
Randall Cobb of the Packers catches a touchdown against the Colts in a 2012 game. [Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images]Backup quarterback Joe Callahan is scheduled to start for the Packers and will most likely play the majority of the game. Fellow backup quarterback Brett Hundley has been sidelined with an ankle injury. Aaron Rodgers didnt practice on Thursday and has made it clear that he wants no part of this game. This should give Callahan plenty of practice time for this preseason NFL game. The second and third team defense will be played a bunch as Green Bay is searching for a replacement for defensive tackle BJ Raji who retired last season.
NFL 2016 Hall of Fame Preseason Game Prediction
The Colts have some experienced players on the field, while the Packers are debuting some rookies that have never played an NFL game before. The Colts are only giving up three points here so a bet on them would make sense. Betting on preseason games for the NFL is always tricky and the 2016 season is no different; however, all the data points to the Colts winning the Hall of Fame Game come Sunday night.
Patriots vs. Panthers highlights - 2015 NFL Preseason Week 3
Published on Aug. 5, 2016
First, the results of last week"s predictions:
PGA Championship, third and final rounds. Predictions: 2.7 and 4.3; final ratings: 1.3 (rain) and 3.4.
Women"s British Open, final round. Prediction: 0.5; final rating: 0.6.
MLB "Sunday Night Baseball," Mariners-Cubs. Prediction: 1.0; final rating: 1.2.
NHRA racing from Sonoma. Prediction: 0.8; final rating: 0.65.
NASCAR Sprint Cup from Pocono. Prediction: 2.6; race postponed.
This week"s predictions (all times Eastern):
2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony (7:30 p.m. Friday, NBC). Four years ago, the opening ceremony of the London Summer Olympics scored a whopping 21.0 rating the highest for a non-U.S. Games since 1994. This years opening ceremony will be hard-pressed to match that figure for multiple reasons:1.London is one of the worlds most iconic and recognizable cities; 2. Rios chief advantage over London, its close proximity to the Eastern time zone, will be neutralized by NBCs decision to tape-delay the ceremony; 3.A steady drumbeat of negative media coverage seems to have dampened some of the national interest in the games, at least if one judges by a recent Gallup poll. With all of that in mind, look for Fridays opening ceremony to fall more in line with Beijing in 2008 (18.8). Prediction: 19.2.
2016 Summer Olympics: Beach volleyball, swimming and mens gymnastics (8 p.m. Saturday, NBC). The first official night of the Olympics features live swimming and beach volleyball, as well as taped mens gymnastics. While the comparable night in 2012 featured Michael Phelps going head-to-head with Ryan Lochte in a much-hyped showdown, Saturdays telecast is relatively light on star power. Even with the benefit of airing live, look for NBC to see a dip from 2012s 15.8 rating. Prediction: 14.7.
2016 Summer Olympics: Womens gymnastics, swimming and womens diving (7 p.m. Sunday, NBC). The second night of competition features live swimming and diving as well as taped womens gymnastics, with big names Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles both set to compete. The 19.8 rating of 2012 is quite the high bar, but look for ratings to at least come close. Prediction: 18.8.
2016 Summer Olympics: Mens basketball, United States vs.China (6 p.m. Saturday, NBCSN). With LeBron James and Stephen Curry both skipping the Olympics, the USA basketball team is without more star power than usual. In addition, there were far fewer eyeballs on their exhibition games this year than in 2012, thanks to a move from ESPN to NBA TV. With all of that said, the latest version of the Dream Team should still pull solid numbers. Prediction: 2.0.
NFL Hall of Fame Game, Packers vs.Colts (8 p.m. Sunday, ESPN). The last two Olympic years, the NFL Hall of Fame Game aired on NFL Network, scoring a mere 1.2 rating each time. This years game should do better on ESPN, though not by much given the Olympic competition. Sundays game will be lucky to pull half of last years 5.2 on NBC. Prediction: 2.2.
NASCAR Sprint Cup from Watkins Glen (2:30 p.m. Sunday, USA Network). With the Olympics taking center stage on NBCSN, NASCARs Sprint Cup heads to USA for the only time thisseason. Given the network switch and the tough competition, it stands to reason that ratings will fall short of last years 2.5. Prediction: 2.1.
PGA Tour,Hartford Open, final round (3 p.m. Sunday, CBS). Last years Hartford Open hit a 10-year ratings high, but do not expect anything close to a repeat this week. Not only has the tournament been pushed back a month from its usual late June date, it faces direct competition from the Olympics. Look for ratings to fall dramatically from last years 2.0. Prediction: 1.1.
Paulsen is the founder of Sports Media Watch and a contributor for Sporting News. Follow him on Twitter @Paulsen_SMW .
Ameer Abdullah 2015 NFL Preseason Week 1 highlights
Jameis Winston will make his debut for the Buccaneers on Saturday. Here"s all you need to know to catch the three games.
The first week of the 2015 NFL preseason is nearly in the books, with six games on Thursday and six games on Friday. But there"s still plenty of action before it"s said and done, including three games on Saturday and a game between the Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
On Saturday, the San Francisco 49ers will face the Houston Texans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play the Minnesota Vikings and the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Arizona Cardinals. There"s plenty to pay attention to from each game, from the debut of Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston to determining what the heck the 49ers will actually look like after such a ridiculously poor offseason.
Winston will be the most interesting thing at this stage. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, and the Buccaneers are putting all of their eggs in his basket right off the bat. This is Winston"s team, and seeing how he looks for however long he plays will be plenty interesting.
Below, we"ve got the full schedule and something to watch for during each game (all times ET,stations via 506sports):
San Francisco 49ers at Houston Texans
(Away: KPIX-CBS 5, Home: KTRK-ABC 13) -- 8 p.m.
As noted above, the 49ers had an absolutely wretched offseason. There"s a new coaching staff; they lost Patrick Willis, Anthony Davis, Justin Smith and Chris Borland to retirement (only one of them -- Smith -- was expected to retire anytime soon). They saw Frank Gore, Michael Crabtree, Perrish c*x and Chris Culliver leave in free agency.Aldon Smith got arrested again, prompting his release from the team.
Obviously, they have a ton of stuff to prove at this stage in the offseason. New coach Jim Tomsula needs to fill holes all over the roster, including the middle and right side of the offensive line. If Colin Kaepernick is to progress and take advantage of new weapon Torrey Smith this season, they really need to get that offensive line figured out.
But hey, that"s not all that"s worth watching in this one. The Texans also have a pretty important battle on their hands at the quarterback position. Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett are battling for the starting job and neither seems to have an edge at this stage. It sounds like they"ll need more than just this one game to figure out that battle.
We"ll see how the Vikings look a day after head coach Mike Zimmer called an early end to practice due to everything seemingly going wrong. The Vikings are a young team with a lot to prove, and Zimmer will be expecting the best out of them. They did play in the Hall of Fame Game, and looked solid in a win over the Steelers, but apparently Zimmer needs to see more from the team in practice.
Whatever the case, the Vikings will be hoping to spoil the first game action of the aforementioned Winston. The Buccaneers made Winston the top pick and didn"t even set him up with a quarterback battle in training camp. Winston was immediately named the starter, and he"ll have a chance to show his stuff against the Vikings on Saturday.
On the other side of the ball, the Buccaneers need to find some kind of pass rush (and, similarly, the Vikings need to show they can handle one to keep Teddy Bridgewater clean). Don"t expect the Buccaneers to reveal any of their elaborate blitz schemes in the preseason, but they should send extra men early and often in this game.
Kansas City Chiefs at Arizona Cardinals
(Away: KCTV-CBS 5, Home: KNXV-ABC 15) -- 9 p.m.
The Cardinals have been one of the more surprising teams in the league over the past couple seasons. They"ve been dominant in one of the toughest divisions in the league, and that"s even with huge issues at the quarterback position. Carson Palmer is solid, but he"s somewhat injury-prone and the Cardinals need to concentrate on keeping him upright.
On Saturday, Palmer is expected to play at least a series, and the offensive line will need to pull out all the stops to make sure Palmer stays on his feet in the limited time he"s in action.
For the Chiefs, the biggest thing to pay attention to is that Eric Berry will be in action on Friday. Berry missed the end of the 2014 season due to cancer, but he recently returned to the team. Head coach Andy Reid has already announced that Berry will be playing. It"s a great story about a great player, so it"s definitely worth checking out. Other than that, the Chiefs are primarily looking to get out of this one without injury, as they don"t have a bunch of major position battles to figure out at this stage.
