NFL Preseason TV Schedule: Dates, Times, Full Coverage Info and More

The 2012 NFL preseason already began with the Hall of Fame game, but it truly begins on Thursday night when the Buffalo Bills take on the Washington Redskins at 7:00 p.m. ET.

There are a number of great matchups that will showcase some established talent and a lot of fresh faces – including rookies and unknown players just trying to make a roster.

Let’s take a look at the complete schedule for all four weeks and highlight a few elite matchups.

DATES	MATCHUP	TIME ET (National TV)
Week 1 (Aug. 9-13)
Thursday, Aug. 9	Washington at Buffalo	7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 9	Baltimore at Atlanta	7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 9	New Orleans at New England	7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 9	Pittsburgh at Philadelphia	7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 9	Green Bay at San Diego	8:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Thursday, Aug. 9	Denver at Chicago	8:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 10	N.Y. Jets at Cincinnati	7:30 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Friday, Aug. 10	Cleveland at Detroit	7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 10	N.Y. Giants at Jacksonville	7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 10	Tampa Bay at Miami	7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 10	Arizona at Kansas City	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 10	Minnesota at San Francisco	9:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 11	Houston at Carolina	7:00 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Saturday, Aug. 11	Tennessee at Seattle	10:00 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Sunday, Aug. 12	St. Louis at Indianapolis	1:30 p.m. ET
Monday, Aug. 13	Dallas at Oakland	8:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Week 2 (Aug. 16-20)
Thursday, Aug. 16	Cincinnati at Atlanta	8:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
Thursday, Aug. 16	Cleveland at Green Bay	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 17	Tennesse at Tampa Bay	7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 17	Detroit at Baltimore	8:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
Friday, Aug. 17	Miami at Carolina	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 17	Buffalo at Minnesota	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 17	Jacksonville at New Orleans	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 17	Oakland at Arizona	10:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 18	N.Y. Giants at N.Y. Jets	7:00 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Saturday, Aug. 18	Washington at Chicago	8:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 18	San Francisco at Houston	8:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 18	Kansas City at St. Louis	8:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 18	Seattle at Denver	9:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 18	Dallas at San Diego	9:00 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Sunday, Aug. 19	Indianapolis at Pittsburgh	8:00 p.m. ET NBC
Monday, Aug. 20	Philadelphia at New England	8:00 p.m. ET ESPN
Week 3 (Aug. 23-26)
Thursday, Aug. 23	Green Bay at Cincinnati	7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 23	Jacksonville at Baltimore	7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 23	Arizona at Tennessee	8:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Friday, Aug. 24	Philadelphia at Cleveland	7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 24	Atlanta at Miami	7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 24	New England at Tampa Bay	7:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 24	Chicago at N.Y. Giants	8:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Friday, Aug. 24	San Diego at Minnesota	8:00 p.m. ET
Friday, Aug. 24	Seattle at Kansas City	8:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 25	Indianapolis at Washington	4:00 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Saturday, Aug. 25	Pittsburgh at Buffalo	7:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 25	Detroit at Oakland	7:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 25	St. Louis at Dallas	8:00 p.m. ET
Saturday, Aug. 25	Houston at New Orleans	8:00 p.m. ET (CBS)
Sunday, Aug. 26	San Francisco at Denver	4:00 p.m. ET (FOX)
Sunday, Aug. 26	Carolina at N.Y. Jets	8:00 p.m. ET (NBC)
Week 4 (Aug. 29-30)
Wednesday, Aug. 29	Tampa Bay at Washington	7:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Aug. 29	New England Patriots at N.Y. Giants	7:30 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Wednesday, Aug. 29	Miami at Dallas	8:30 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Atlanta at Jacksonville	6:30 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	N.Y. Jets at Philadelphia	6:35 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Kansas City Chiefs at Green Bay	7:00 p.m. ET (NFLN)
Thursday. Aug. 30	Buffalo at Detroit	7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Minnesota at Houston	7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Carolina at Pittsburg	7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	New Orleans at Tennessee	7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Cincinnati at Indianapolis	7:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Chicago at Cleveland	7:30 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Baltimore at St. Louis	8:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	San Diego at San Francisco	10:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Oakland at Seattle	10:00 p.m. ET
Thursday. Aug. 30	Denver at Arizona	11:00 p.m. ET (NFLN)

Top Matchups

Week 1 – New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints

While we won’t see much of the starters in this game, it will still be nice to see Tom Brady and Drew Brees face off for hopefully at least one possession.

We’ve already seen what the Saints can do, as they took the field against the Cardinals in the HOF game, but we may see a bit more of their potential starting unit against an elite team like the Pats.

Brandon Lloyd, Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones are all some new players to keep an eye on for New England, while Travaris Cadet and Courtney Roby could be some guys to watch on NOLA.

Week 2 – New York Jets vs. New York Giants

The battle for New York will showcase the defending Super Bowl champions vs. Tim Tebow and the new-look Jets.

Most of the focus will be on Tebow and his role in the Jets system, while the Giants seem to be flying under the radar, which is surprising as defending champs.

Eli Manning, Victor Cruz and the rest of the G-Men will be looking to build some more buzz by stomping the Jets out in the New Meadowlands.

Week 3 – Denver Broncos vs. San Francisco 49ers

Peyton Manning is making his triumphant debut with the Broncos, while Randy Moss will be on display and making his highly anticipated return to the NFL.

Expect a great game between two teams that have major expectations placed upon them for 2012-13.

Week 4 – New York Giants vs. New England Patriots

All fans will see in this Super Bowl rematch is the depth of both teams.

However, in order for these teams to make a run back to the Super Bowl they'll need all 53 of their players.

Tom Brady and Eli Manning won't be starring for very long in this showdown, but Giants and Pats players vying for roster spots are certainly worth watching.