NFL Preseason Schedule 2016: Dates, Ticket Info and More

While pigskin-starved NFL fans still have to wait another month for the first official game of the 2016 campaign, the preseason has arrived to provide temporary solace during the remaining weeks of the offseason.

Though the NFL had to cancel the Hall of Fame Game between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts, fans of every team will get the opportunity to see their squads lace it up in the coming days.

With that in mind, here is a look at the full 2016 preseason schedule, courtesy of NFL.com, before digging into a couple of marquee games that jump off the list because of an intriguing storyline or the teams involved.

Ticket information for the preseason (and regular season) can be found at ScoreBig.com.

Preseason Week	Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	National TV
1	Thursday, Aug. 11	Washington at Atlanta Falcons	7 p.m.
1	Thursday, Aug. 11	Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Philadelphia Eagles	7 p.m.
1	Thursday, Aug. 11	Carolina Panthers at Baltimore Ravens	7:30 p.m.
1	Thursday, Aug. 11	New Orleans Saints at New England Patriots	7:30 p.m.
1	Thursday, Aug. 11	Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets	7:30 p.m.
1	Thursday, Aug. 11	Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears	8 p.m.
1	Friday, Aug. 12	Miami Dolphins at New York Giants	7 p.m.
1	Friday, Aug. 12	Detroit Lions at Pittsburgh Steelers	7 p.m.
1	Friday, Aug. 12	Minnesota Vikings at Cincinnati Bengals	7:30 p.m.
1	Friday, Aug. 12	Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers	8 p.m.
1	Friday, Aug. 12	Oakland Raiders at Arizona Cardinals	10 p.m.
1	Saturday, Aug. 13	Seattle Seahawks at Kansas City Chiefs	4:30 p.m.
1	Saturday, Aug. 13	Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills	7 p.m.
1	Saturday, Aug. 13	Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams	8 p.m.	ESPN
1	Saturday, Aug. 13	San Diego Chargers at Tennessee Titans	8 p.m.
1	Sunday, Aug. 14	Houston Texans at San Francisco 49ers	7 p.m.
2	Thursday, Aug. 18	Philadelphia Eagles at Pittsburgh Steelers	7 p.m.
2	Thursday, Aug. 18	Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions	7:30 p.m.
2	Thursday, Aug. 18	Atlanta Falcons at Cleveland Browns	8 p.m.
2	Thursday, Aug. 18	Oakland Raiders at Green Bay Packers	8 p.m.
2	Thursday, Aug. 18	Chicago Bears at New England Patriots	8 p.m.
2	Thursday, Aug. 18	Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks	10 p.m.
2	Friday, Aug. 19	New York Jets at Washington	7:30 p.m.
2	Friday, Aug. 19	Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys	8 p.m.
2	Friday, Aug. 19	Arizona Cardinals at San Diego Chargers	9 p.m.
2	Saturday, Aug. 20	Carolina Panthers at Tennessee Titans	3 p.m.
2	Saturday, Aug. 20	New York Giants at Buffalo Bills	4 p.m.
2	Saturday, Aug. 20	Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts	7 p.m.
2	Saturday, Aug. 20	Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Jacksonville Jaguars	7:30 p.m.
2	Saturday, Aug. 20	New Orleans Saints at Houston Texans	8 p.m.
2	Saturday, Aug. 20	San Francisco 49ers at Denver Broncos	9 p.m.
2	Saturday, Aug. 20	Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Rams	10 p.m.
3	Thursday, Aug. 25	Atlanta Falcons at Miami Dolphins (in Orlando)	8 p.m.	NBC
3	Thursday, Aug. 25	Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks	10 p.m.
3	Friday, Aug. 26	New England Patriots at Carolina Panthers	7:30 p.m.
3	Friday, Aug. 26	Buffalo Bills at Washington	7:30 p.m.
3	Friday, Aug. 26	Pittsburgh Steelers at New Orleans Saints	8 p.m.
3	Friday, Aug. 26	Cleveland Browns at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	8 p.m.	CBS
3	Friday, Aug. 26	Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers	10 p.m.
3	Saturday, Aug. 27	Kansas City Chiefs at Chicago Bears	1 p.m.
3	Saturday, Aug. 27	Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens	7 p.m.
3	Saturday, Aug. 27	Philadelphia Eagles at Indianapolis Colts	7 p.m.
3	Saturday, Aug. 27	New York Giants at New York Jets	7:30 p.m.
3	Saturday, Aug. 27	Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders	8 p.m.	CBS
3	Saturday, Aug. 27	Los Angeles Rams at Denver Broncos	9 p.m.
3	Sunday, Aug. 28	San Diego Chargers at Minnesota Vikings	1 p.m.	Fox
3	Sunday, Aug. 28	Arizona Cardinals at Houston Texans	4 p.m.	Fox
3	Sunday, Aug. 28	Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars	8 p.m.	NBC
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Jacksonville Jaguars at Atlanta Falcons	7 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins	7 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	New England Patriots at New York Giants	7 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	New York Jets at Philadelphia Eagles	7 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Pittsburgh Steelers at Carolina Panthers	7:30 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals	7:30 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions	7:30 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Washington at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7:30 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Chicago Bears at Cleveland Browns	8 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys	8 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Green Bay Packers at Kansas City Chiefs	8 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Los Angeles Rams at Minnesota Vikings	8 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans Saints	8 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Denver Broncos at Arizona Cardinals	9:30 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	Seattle Seahawks at Oakland Raiders	10 p.m.
4	Thursday, Sept. 1	San Francisco 49ers at San Diego Chargers	10 p.m.

Marquee Preseason Games

Week 1: Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams

There is plenty that stands out about this matchup at initial glance. For one thing, it is under the Saturday night lights and features America's team in the Dallas Cowboys with plenty of star power that includes quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Dez Bryant.

However, the Cowboys will take a rare backseat in this one because it is the first game in Los Angeles for the Rams after they moved from St. Louis this offseason. The intensity of the crowd, how many show up and stay for the whole game, and whether Cowboys fans will take over the stadium—as they so often do at road contests—will all be discussed.

It will also provide a preliminary glimpse into what the atmosphere will be like in Los Angeles during the regular season.

In terms of the football, there is little to draw from an X's and O's standpoint during the first week of the preseason since the starters will play sparingly and teams aren't likely to delve deep into their playbooks.

Still, it will be the first taste of live NFL action for quarterback Jared Goff, whom the Rams selected with the No. 1 overall pick. As a California Golden Bear, he racked up an incredible 4,719 passing yards and 43 touchdown tosses in his final collegiate season. While he won't air it out 529 times in the pros like he did in 2015, the talent was clear when he amassed those numbers.

Don't assume he will automatically start, though, even with a college resume like that. Ryan Kartje of the Orange County Register noted Rams coach Jeff Fisher played Steve McNair a mere two games as a rookie with the Houston Oilers and waited until the Tennessee Titans started 0-3 to put Vince Young in as a first-year player.

Fisher discussed his patience with rookie quarterbacks and how it applies to Goff, per Kartje: "We haven't changed our philosophy. We're going to coach him to be successful. We're not going to put him in with a chance to fail. That's the most important thing in developing a young quarterback."

This will be the first chance for fans and analysts to see Goff in an NFL game and judge how he handles his nerves on a marquee stage. Even though it's only preseason, his performance could go a long way toward determining if he will be under center during Los Angeles' first regular-season game.

Week 3: New England Patriots at Carolina Panthers

David Goldman/Associated Press

Week 3 of the preseason is typically the one that most closely resembles the regular season, with starters playing more minutes and teams gearing toward the important contests. That adds a layer of intrigue to any game that week, especially the one pitting the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers against the New England Patriots.

This will be one of the final tune-ups for two of the best teams in the league that feature interesting quarterback situations.

Carolina's Cam Newton is the defending MVP and a three-time Pro Bowler who led his squad to last season's Super Bowl after posting a 15-1 record during the regular season. Despite the incredible success during the year, the lasting memory of the quarterback is the fact he lost to the Denver Broncos in the big game, 24-10.

He and the rest of the offense failed to generate consistent scoring opportunities, and Newton finished with an interception and two lost fumbles without personally finding the end zone. Beating the Patriots—winners of four Super Bowls during Tom Brady's quarterback tenure—in the preseason won't atone for that lackluster performance, but it would signal Newton is ready to dominate again in 2016.

As for New England, it went 12-4 but lost to the eventual champion Broncos in the AFC Championship Game last season. Its biggest concern is the fact Brady is suspended for the first four regular-season games because of Deflategate, which means Jimmy Garoppolo will likely receive extended playing time in this one against a defense that was a victory away from a championship.

Garoppolo has 11 games and 188 passing yards on his NFL resume, although he did play in three preseason games last year and threw for 554 yards and two touchdowns.

Jim McBride of the Boston Globe said Garoppolo's former quarterback guru, Jeff Christensen, thinks the Eastern Illinois product will be just fine in 2016:

"

Garoppolo's former QB guru believes he's in a perfect situation to succeed. One of the biggest reasons for Christensen's optimism is the amount of time Garoppolo has spent in the Patriots' system. He's had the benefit of watching Brady on the field for two seasons and how he prepares off it for the better part of three years. He's also been working under the watch of Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels.

"

This Week 3 preseason game is a possible Super Bowl matchup and includes the underlying story of how Garoppolo will perform against a talented defense that finished sixth in points allowed per game in 2015.

It is as close to appointment viewing as the NFL's preseason gets.