NFL Preseason Schedule 2016: Dates, Ticket Info and More for Opening Week

The 2016 NFL preseason got off to a rough start for fans and the league alike.

By now, most anyone who watches the NFL knows the encounter between the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts at the Hall of Fame went kaput, leaving the exhibition slate at 64 games.

It was a blow to those two teams in particular because it was one less game sampling of film to help narrow the roster down to 53 men. Granted, for fans it would have been a pretty lackluster affair featuring third- and fourth-string quarterbacks, but having a football Sunday back was having a football Sunday back.

Dried paint can't stop the entirety of Week 1. There's a nice slate on deck, with most games aired local, if not on a tape delay, with NFL.com providing live streaming. For those who want to go and need tickets, ScoreBig.com has it covered. Here's a look at the entire first week.

2016 NFL Preseason Week 1 Schedule

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.

Full dates and kickoff times for each week are available at NFL.com.

Top Games to Watch 

Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams

A nationally televised game is, of course, one of the encounters to watch this weekend. 

Broadcasters picked a doozy, with the Los Angeles Rams making their debut and...Case Keenum under center.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, it's Keenum who could get the starting nod this year as opposed to high-profile rookie and No. 1 pick Jared Goff:

Alas, Goff has time to change this starting with this game against the Dallas Cowboys. Keenum, after all, is a journeyman quarterback with 15 touchdowns to nine interceptions over his career while completing 56.7 percent of his passes.

Los Angeles is interesting outside of a new locale and quarterback, though. This is a franchise with Todd Gurley at running back, one of the league's best. It's a front office that decided to blow things up on the defensive side of the ball, too, ditching mainstays such as James Laurinaitis (now in New Orleans) over the offseason.

Little of this mentions Dallas, and for good reason. The Cowboys are a known commodity. Tony Romo missed a huge chunk of time last year, and the team went on to win all of four games, so he won't suit up much. Star running back and No. 4 pick Ezekiel Elliott likely won't give it a go thanks to a hamstring injury, per the Dallas Morning News' Brandon George.

New faces in new places is fun. A new team in a new place is must-see television, for now. 

Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers

It's odd to see the Cleveland Browns as a team in a "top game" at all, but here goes. 

The Browns have former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson as head coach now, an enforcer of a man who knows how to mold a system around a quarterback to get the most out of the signal-caller.

It's interesting, then, that Jackson has already decided to fire up the Robert Griffin III career salvage tour.

"It's time. Robert has earned the right to be named the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns," Jackson said, announcing his starter for the regular season to Andrew Gribble of the team's official website.

Griffin has appeared in 37 games over three years, completing 63.9 percent of his passes with 8,097 yards, 40 touchdowns to 23 interceptions and eight touchdowns on the ground, his career fizzling after an odd tug-of-war between the front office and coaching staff in Washington. 

This contest is like Dallas-Los Angeles. Fans already know about the Green Bay Packers, a team that wasn't going to suit up either of its top quarterbacks for the Hall of Fame Game. The team is a known commodity with a staff that won't risk playing star players for long stretches.

Cleveland, on the other hand, offers plenty of intrigue around RG3. How will Jackson utilize shifty back Duke Johnson and, more importantly, high-profile rookie wideout Corey Coleman? The game against Green Bay will offer the first tells.

Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears

Here's a contest with two intriguing teams.

The Denver Broncos look quite different this year, with Mark Sanchez and rookie Paxton Lynch lining up under center. Denver lost Peyton Manning's long-time successor, Brock Osweiler, over the offseason, and Sanchez hasn't nailed down the job by any means.

In fact, Sanchez hasn't distanced himself from Trevor Siemian, according to Troy Renck of Denver7 ABC:

For those out of the loop (meaning everyone), Siemian was the No. 250 pick out of Northwestern in the 2015 draft—which says much, much more about Sanchez than it does the sophomore.

Chicago looks different with roles to carve out, too. The Bears let mainstays such as running back Matt Forte and tight end Martellus Bennett go over the offseason. The duties at running back now rest in the hands of 2015 fourth-round pick Jeremy Langford, who ran for 537 yards and six scores last year on a 3.6 yards-per-carry average.

The Bears also offer intrigue because Kevin White seems healthy. For those who forgot, White was the No. 7 pick in 2015 but didn't suit up, meaning he's debuting this year in what could be a pass-happy offense while he lines up across from Alshon Jeffery.

It's an exciting time for Chicago. For Denver, not so much. Either way, it's worth catching both teams in action to see how the process continues.

Stats are courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of Wednesday. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.