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NFL Preseason Week 1: Ranking 5 best games to watch

By Cody Williams

TEMPE, ARIZONA - MAY 29: Quarterback Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals practices alongside head coach Kliff Kingsbury during team OTA's at the Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center on May 29, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, ARIZONA - MAY 29: Quarterback Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals practices alongside head coach Kliff Kingsbury during team OTA's at the Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center on May 29, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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NFL Preseason Week 1
(Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Hall of Fame Game in the rearview, NFL Preseason Week 1 brings a full slate of games but which are the best for fans to pick out and tune in for?

Last Thursday, the NFL Hall of Fame Game welcomed football back into the lives of fans. That, however, was just a little pallette cleanser after a long offseason. On Thursday, Aug. 8, we get a full slate of NFL preseason action as Week 1 of the exhibition contests throughout the league kick off. That’s right — we get 16 games over three days and football is back in a big way.

Of course, it is the first week of the NFL preseason. That means that there is still a long preseason slate still ahead — four games for each team. Subsequently, teams are going to be cautious with their star players and many of them may not see the field at all in order to protect them from injury, especially if they don’t need the reps.

At the same time, though, there are still many things worth watching throughout the league in regards to new situations, players in big positions and much more. With that in mind, not every NFL Preseason Week 1 matchup is created equal and we’ve ranked the five best that fans should be ready to put on the TV.

5. Texans at Packers – Thursday, Aug. 8, 8:00 p.m. ET

The bulk of the reason that this matchup between the Houston Texans and Green Bay Packers makes this list is the visiting team. After winning the AFC South last season but then faltering in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs (to the division rival Colts, no less), people are hoping that Deshaun Watson and Co. are able to take a big jump in the 2019 season.

While that may be so, the Achilles heel of the Texans last season was, without question, their offensive line. Houston did make moves to address that but in ways that were perplexing to many fans. Taking both Tytus Howard and Max Scharping earlier than they were expected to come off the board in the draft raised eyebrows but those guys will be tasked with stepping up immediately.

Thus, we should see both Howard and Scharping on the field for this matchup as they try to get up to NFL speed. Given how raw Howard is and the level of competition Scharping faced while at Northern Illinois, they likely need work to get ready to adequately protect Watson. We’ll see how far along they are in this process against Green Bay.

Let’s not forget that the Packers also offer some intrigue too. Not only could we see Rashan Gary and Darnell Savage out there but DeShone Kizer has been drawing rave reviews in training camp thus far. With Aaron Rodgers‘ recent injury history, the backup quarterback spot in Green Bay has been critical and we’ll see if Kizer is ready to offer some stability there.

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