NFL Preseason Schedule 2017: Week 2 Preview, TV Coverage and Live Stream

It's hard to avoid overreacting to the NFL preseason.

Especially this year. Football is back, which also means the onset of fantasy football and everything else great about the season. The first week of the preseason provided some eye-opening performances by new faces such as Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, whose hype only falls in line with fellow rookie Deshaun Watson's, who put on a show for the Houston Texans. 

Vanilla defenses or not, it's always exciting to see big performances in the preseason in new places. It typically takes a few weeks of exhibitions to unearth them, but this year's slate doesn't seem willing to pull punches.

Here's a look at the Week 2 schedule, which once again gives fans days of notable contests.

NFL Preseason Week 2

Thursday, August 17

Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. ET 

Baltimore at Miami, 7 p.m. ET 

Tampa Bay at Jacksonville, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

Friday, August 18

Minnesota at Seattle, 10 p.m. ET, NFL Network

Saturday, August 19

Carolina at Tennessee, 3 p.m. ET, NFL Network

Kansas City at Cincinnati, 7 p.m. ET 

Indianapolis at Dallas, 7 p.m. ET, NFL Network

N.Y. Jets at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET 

Green Bay at Washington, 7:30 p.m. ET

New England at Houston, 8 p.m. ET 

Denver at San Francisco, 10 p.m. ET, NFL Network

L.A. Rams at Oakland, 10 p.m. ET 

Chicago at Arizona, 10 p.m. ET

Sunday, August 20

Atlanta at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. ET, NFL Network

New Orleans at L.A. Chargers, 8 p.m. ET, NFL Network

Monday, August 21

N.Y. Giants at Cleveland, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN 

Full schedule available at ESPN.com, live streaming at NFL.com. 

Carolina at Tennessee

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

Talk about a good way to start the gameweek off.

Saturday's first game is a showdown between the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers, two teams with major ambitions going into next season and potential superstars ready to push for the playoffs. 

The Titans, boast Marcus Mariota under center and flashy new weapons such as Eric Decker and rookie Corey Davis. Granted, they didn't show much in a Week 1, 7-3 loss to the New York Jets, but the goal is to remain healthy throughout August as much as it is get everyone on the same page and gunning for a playoff berth.

Opposite Mariota is Cam Newton and one of the preseason's most hyped rookies, Christian McCaffrey. In a 27-17 win against the Houston Texans, the Stanford product turned seven carries into 33 yards, matching some of the lofty expectations on his shoulders—and the coaching staff has suggested the offense around him is only beginning to form.

"There [are] some really good things, and there [are] some things a lot of people haven't seen, which is good," head coach Ron Rivera said, according to ESPN.com's David Newton. "We'll just keep developing the offense."

Like always, starters won't see a large swath of action because it's Week 2. But the glimpses and progression fans will see from both sides will provide hints of what is to come for two teams with huge expectations going into the regular season.

New England at Houston

Jason E. Miczek/Associated Press

The following will seem strange but also a typical preseason development—the New England Patriots lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars to start off August. 

Granted, quarterback Tom Brady didn't attempt a pass and Jimmy Garoppolo tossed two touchdowns. And no, the loss isn't anything to read too heavily into given touchdown passes by Chad Henne and Brandon Allen, not to mention the Jaguars rushed for 207 yards and two touchdowns on a 5.6 yards-per-carry average. 

Knowing Bill Belichick, though, he will read into it and demand a better defensive showing—preseason or not—from his team just in time for the encounter with Watson and the Texans.

Watson, as mentioned, looked good in his debut, even if it resulted in a loss against those Panthers. He went 15-of-25 for 179 yards and took off on his own three times, gaining 24 yards and one thrilling score, as his team captured:

That doesn't seem like much, but fans in the Houston area know how long quarterback has been a problem. Watson isn't the Day 1 starter by any means, but more performances like that will have the coaching staff facing a tough decision. The excitement about a playoff hopeful only builds more when realizing someone such as rookie back D'Onta Foreman rushed nine times for 76 yards on an 8.4 yads-per-carry average.

The Patriots, even in the preseason, are a good barometer for where you are at, so Watson and the Texans are one of the top teams to watch during Week 2.

L.A. Rams at Oakland

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Preseason trades don't usually amount to much.

Then there's this preseason.

Friday, the Buffalo Bills announced a shocking move, shipping wide receiver Sammy Watkins to the Los Angeles Rams and immediately making the Jared Goff-led team one to watch the rest of the way. 

Make no mistake—the Oakland Raiders are a strong team to watch on their own. Losing quarterback Derek Carr at the wrong time a year ago hurt, though there's new-found excitement thanks to Marshawn Lynch's arrival in the backfield and rookies like safety Obi Melifonwu. 

But the Rams sit under the spotlight here. Goff led an early touchdown drive in Week 1 before exiting the game, a 13-10 win against the Dallas Cowboys. His offense already received a strong performance from rookie wideout Cooper Kupp, and it still has Todd Gurley in the backfield, so adding a player like Watkins to the mix is quite the interesting development.

The Rams have already hyped Watkins' arrival:

And outside hype has also arrived in abundance, with NFL Network's Ian Rapoport presenting the most interesting observation:

Given the fresh start in Los Angeles and the need to help a potential franchise signal-caller succeed, it's admirable to see the Rams go out and make an aggressive move.

Looking ahead, the remaining three gameweeks before the regular season are all about chemistry building for one of the league's more interesting teams.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com.