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With twelve (!!) games on the schedule for Thursday night, three quarters of the league’s fan bases will see the first glimpses into what their teams will look like in the upcoming season.
While the Lions don’t open preseason play until Friday night against the Oakland Raiders, there’ll still be plenty to watch for tonight. Andrew Luck will be slinging it on the big stage for the first time in two years and is expected to play as much as the entire first quarter. One of the strongest running back classes of the last decade will make its debut, including names like Saquon Barkley, Ronald Jones II, Nick Chubb and Rashaad Penny. Alex Smith will make his Washington Redskins premiere, and two quarterbacks who are sure to be among the league’s most entertaining players in DeShaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes will be facing off.
Here’s the full slate of games:
7 P.M. games
Cleveland Browns at New York Giants*
Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills
New Orleans Saints at Jacksonville Jaguars
Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles
Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Miami Dolphins
7:30 P.M. games
Washington Redskins at New England Patriots
Los Angeles Rams at Baltimore Ravens
8 P.M. games
Tennessee Titans at Green Bay Packers
8:30 P.M. games
Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
10 P.M. games
Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers*
Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks
*Will be nationally televised on NFL Network
Who are you looking forard to seeing the most? Which undrafted free agent will shine in Week 1? Will Baker Mayfield or Tyrod Taylor look better at quarterback for the Browns? Let us know the answers to those questions and any other thoughts about tonight’s games in the comments.