Are you excited? The 2015 NFL preseason schedule has been released. As much as we complain about meaningless football and scrubs getting most of the playing time, it’s still football.
Here are some of the headliners from the preseason slate.
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Minnesota Vikings (Hall of Fame Game)
Hall of Fame weekend in Canton is one of the best parts of the football season. Former NFL stars are inducted into the elite class, as the first real or fake football game of the year takes place.
The 2015 Pro Football Hall of Fame class promises to take on even more meaning as the late-great Junior Seau will be inducted. Joining Seau are Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown and Charles Haley, among others. For Bettis, his induction will take place the day before his former team unofficially opens up the year.
St. Louis Rams at Oakland Raiders (Week 1)
Two teams that were former rivals in Southern California potentially playing their final season in their current market before returning to Los Angeles. There should be a decent amount of talk about relocation heading into this one.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings (Week 1)
Jameis Winston vs Teddy Bridgewater? If the Buccaneers do indeed select Winston, his first NFL game will come against a quarterback he’s going to want to mirror as a rookie. Bridgewater, a first-round pick of the Vikings in last year’s draft, played extremely well as a rookie. The Louisville product completed 64 percent of his passes with over 3,100 total yards and 15 touchdowns in 13 games (12 starts) last season. He was also 6-6 as a starter. If Winston can duplicate those numbers, the Buccaneers will be more than happy.
Denver Broncos at Houston Texans (Week 2)
J.J. Watt would like nothing more than to show his former coach what he left behind in Houston. Gary Kubiak, who was fired from the Texans following a disastrous 2013 campaign, returns “home” as the Broncos head coach in this meaningless contest. Watt will have both Kubiak and Peyton Manning on his mind here.
Cleveland Browns at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 3)
We all know teams play their starters the most in their third preseason game. Could this game match up Marcus Mariota against Jameis Winston? If recent rumors of the Browns targeting Mariota are true, then it’s definitely a possibility.
Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys (Week 3)
Adrian Peterson playing against his old team? If Jerry Jones and Peterson have their druthers, this is a real possibility. Then again, Minnesota actually has to trade its future Hall of Fame running back for this to happen.
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