NFL Preseason Schedule: Football Is Back This Week

Football season is back. The regular season won’t star until September but the 2013 NFL preseason schedule begins this week.

The Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys played their first game of the season last week during the Hall of Fame Game (Dallas won 24-20) but most teams will take the field for the first time of the preseason this week.

So what games should you pay attention too? Players won’t be going at full throttle during the preseason so it isn’t exactly must watch television. Still, there are a few intriguing story lines to watch during the first few weeks of the NFL season.

NFL.com points to the Baltimore Ravens game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as one of the must watch match-ups of week 1. The Ravens won the Super Bowl last year but they’ll be stepping onto the field this week without stalwarts Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

In week 2, the San Francisco 49ers will face the Kansas City Chiefs. Preseason games don’t usually have a very strong competitive feel to them but Alex Smith is going to take the field with something to prove. The longtime 49ers QB was benched last year in favor of Colin Kaepernick. He was then traded to the Chiefs during the off-season.

The majority of preseason games will broadcast on the NFL Network but there will be several games broadcast on Fox, NBC, and CBS. You can also order the preseason NFL package here for $19.99.

You can see the full 2013 NFL preseason schedule here. Are there any games that you are waiting to see?