Tag: NFL preseason

What to Watch: Week 0 Is Real Football — and It’s Leaving the Country

Week 0 Is Real Football, and It’s Leaving the Country

The actual college football season starts this weekend, and it starts with a flight.

North Carolina vs. TCU, Saturday, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN), Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Year 2 of the Bill Belichick experiment, and it’s opening with the program’s first-ever game outside the country. Make of that what you will.

NC State at Virginia, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). All-ACC, moved from Rio to Charlottesville — still a real conference game with real stakes, just with better travel logistics now.

USC vs. San Jose State, Saturday, 3 p.m. ET (NBC). The only ranked team playing this weekend. No. 14 has no excuse not to look the part.

Memphis at UNLV, Saturday, 10 p.m. ET (FOX). The nightcap. West Coast kickoff for a sport that just spent seven months pretending it wasn’t dead.

Final Word: One Saturday, four time zones, and the whole sport waking back up at once.

Meanwhile, Fake Football Gets One Last Look

NFL Preseason, Week 3. The last dress rehearsal before Tuesday’s cutdown to 53. Whatever you see this weekend is the last audition tape for guys fighting for a locker.

Soccer, Firing on All Cylinders

Bayern Munich vs. VfB Stuttgart, Friday, 2:30 p.m. ET. Bundesliga’s season opener — Kompany defending the title from the jump.

Crystal Palace vs. Man City, Friday, 3 p.m. ET (Peacock). City coming off a win, Palace looking to be the league’s most annoying underdog again.

Real Madrid vs. Málaga, Sunday. Mourinho’s Bernabéu debut. Whatever’s left in the tank from the Espanyol trip gets tested at home.

Milan vs. Venezia, Friday. Reigning champs, home crowd, a newly promoted side that’s already learned this league doesn’t care about your feelings.

Two Ovals, One Playoff Cutoff

NASCAR — Coke Zero Sugar 400, Daytona, Saturday night (NBC). Regular-season finale. Win Saturday and lock into the Chase; lose and start doing math nobody wants to do.

IndyCar — Milwaukee Mile doubleheader, Saturday and Sunday (FOX). The only doubleheader on the calendar. Palou’s chasing a fourth straight title and Milwaukee’s the kind of short oval that turns championships into arguments.

Baseball’s Actual Stakes

Red Sox at Yankees, four games, Friday–Sunday. AL East, both clubs jockeying for playoff position with a month left to sort it out. This is the series that decides who’s playing in October and who’s watching it.

Under the Radar: A Mountain in Italy

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Val di Sole, Italy, streaming on FloBikes. Cross-country and downhill finals land this weekend — the world championship of a sport most of you have never watched a full run of. Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, and Valentina Höll headline; this is the second-biggest event on the mountain biking calendar behind the Olympics, and it airs to almost nobody in this country.

Final Word: Belichick’s in Dublin, Milwaukee’s got a doubleheader, and somewhere in the Dolomites people are throwing bikes down a mountain for a rainbow jersey. Pick your chaos.

What to Watch: August 21–23

Football Owns the Weekend, Even the Fake Games

Preseason football is a lie we all agree to keep telling each other, and this weekend — Week 2 of 3 — is still very much part of the lie.

Packers at Broncos, Friday, 9 p.m. ET (regional). Late window, low stakes, camp bodies auditioning for the practice squad in prime time. Live your dreams, gentlemen.

Falcons at Colts, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET (regional). Full slate of guys who’ll be cut in two weeks playing like it’s the Super Bowl. That’s the whole appeal.

Seahawks at Titans, Sunday, 8 p.m. ET (FOX). One more preseason weekend after this before the roster gets real.

Final Word: Roster-bubble football is inherently absurd — starters resting, camp legends fighting for a locker — and that’s exactly why it’s worth an hour of your weekend.

The World Actually Starts Playing Soccer Again

Arsenal vs. Coventry City, Friday, 3 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock). Premier League, Gameweek 1, the actual season opener. Haji Wright’s on the other bench — the first real test of whether Coventry belongs in the top flight at all.

Newcastle vs. Liverpool, Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET (NBC/Peacock). Defending champs on the road, in a building that’s given them fits before. Season openers lie about a lot of things, but not always this one.

Inter vs. Monza, Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET (Paramount+). Serie A, Opening Day. Reigning champs open at home against a newly promoted side that has no business being on the same pitch and knows it.

PSV vs. FC Groningen, Sunday, 8:30 a.m. ET (ESPN+). Eredivisie, Matchday 3. PSV are three-time defending champions and unbeaten so far — Sergiño Dest and Ricardo Pepi both in the fold for the three-time champs chasing another title with room to spare.

Baseball Goes to Summer Camp

Braves at Brewers, Friday–Sunday, Miller Park / Little League Classic in Williamsport. This one’s not just the novelty broadcast. Milwaukee just took three of four from the Dodgers and is trying to hold ground in the Central; Atlanta’s fighting for a wild card spot. Sunday the whole thing relocates to Historic Bowman Field for the Little League Classic — big leaguers in Little League-sized digs, kids in the stands close enough to touch the dugout.

Giants at Red Sox, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock). Sunday Leadoff window, and the more meaningful game of the day if you actually care about the standings — both clubs jockeying for playoff position with six weeks left to sort it out.

Zandvoort, One Last Time

The Dutch Grand Prix is leaving the calendar, and nobody knows when — or if — it’s coming back. F1’s off its summer break, and this is the reintroduction.

Sprint Qualifying, Friday, 9:30 a.m. ET. Sprint, Saturday, 5 a.m. ET. Qualifying, Saturday, 9 a.m. ET. Race, Sunday, 8 a.m. ET. All sessions on Apple TV.

Antonelli’s up 50 points on Hamilton in the standings, but Norris just won Hungary and McLaren looks like it’s finding another gear at the worst possible time for everyone else.

Remote Plan: Set an alarm for the race Sunday morning. Win or lose, this is the last lap here for a while.

New Pavement: Freedom 250

IndyCar — Freedom 250, Streets of Washington, D.C., Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET (FOX).

Brand new to the calendar, first laps IndyCar has ever run through the District. New street courses are always a little bit chaos theory — nobody’s raced these corners, nobody knows where the walls bite, and the setup sheets are educated guesses at best. Turn 1 on lap 1 is appointment viewing for exactly that reason.

Under the Radar: Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, Round One

The Rugby Championship got shelved this year so New Zealand could do something the sport hasn’t done since 1996 — a full old-school tour of South Africa, provincial matches and all. It builds to this.

Springboks vs. All Blacks, Saturday, 11 a.m. ET, Ellis Park, Johannesburg (free on RugbyPass TV).

First Test of a four-match series between the two best teams on the planet — the world champions defending home turf against the side that just hung 43 points on them the last time they met. This is the biggest rivalry in the sport, round one of four, and most of the country won’t know it’s on.

Final Word: Football and soccer own the headlines this week, but Ellis Park on Saturday might be the best actual game on the board.

From First-Rounders to Forgotten: Breaking Down Backup QB Tiers

Ranking lists are fun, but this time of year—smack in the middle of fantasy football draft weekend—tiers matter just as much as straight rankings. And now that NFL rosters are cut down to 53, it’s the perfect time to sort out the backup quarterback landscape.

So instead of just rattling off names, let’s group these guys into buckets. Some inspire hope, some inspire panic, and some inspire the same feeling you get when you find an old Blockbuster card in your wallet.

I Was a First-Round Pick, Now I’m Not Even QB1

Buffalo – Mitchell Trubisky
Miami – Zach Wilson
Indianapolis – Anthony Richardson
Las Vegas – Kenny Pickett
Los Angeles Chargers – Trey Lance
New York Giants – Jameis Winston & Jaxson Dart
Washington – Marcus Mariota
Minnesota – Carson Wentz
Atlanta – Kirk Cousins
Carolina – Andy Dalton
Tampa Bay – Teddy Bridgewater
San Francisco – Mac Jones

This is the “fallen angels” tier. Some are permanently relegated to backup status, but a few still have life left in the career arc. Cousins is the obvious “could start again” guy, while Richardson just needs health and improved decision making to reclaim his job. Jones, Wilson, and Pickett are still under 30, which in QB years is young enough to dream of resurrection. Dart? He’ll get thrown in at some point since they did just spend a first rounder on him.

You Know I Started a Super Bowl, Right?!?!

Los Angeles Rams – Jimmy Garoppolo

Matthew Stafford’s health is always a headline, but somehow people forget the Rams have one of the most decorated backups in football. Garoppolo is basically the walking, talking version of “break glass in case of emergency.” And for what it’s worth, Stetson Bennett IV looked sharp this preseason too.

Shipping Off Kenny Pickett Cleared Things Up

Cleveland – Dillon Gabriel & Shedeur Sanders

Joe Flacco holds the starter’s seat while Deshaun Watson waits on the PUP, but the depth chart behind him is rookies. Gabriel is technically QB2, but no rookie got more preseason airtime than Shedeur Sanders. ESPN might as well rename their morning block “First Take, Then Shedeur.”

We’re Screwed If He Plays

Baltimore – Cooper Rush
Cincinnati – Jake Browning
Philadelphia – Tanner McKee/Sam Howell

No offense—okay, maybe a little offense—but these guys are ok at best. The problem is they back up Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Jalen Hurts. That’s a Grand Canyon–sized talent gap.

We’re Screwed No Matter Who Starts

New Orleans – Tyler Shough

Kellen Moore handed the starting job to Spencer Rattler, leaving Shough as the backup. Both would be QB3s on half the rosters in the league. Saints fans deserve hazard pay this season.

Haven’t Heard That Name in a Minute

Pittsburgh – Mason Rudolph
Jacksonville – Nick Mullens
Tennessee – Brandon Allen
Denver – Jarrett Stidham
Kansas City – Gardner Minshew
Detroit – Kyle Allen
Seattle – Drew Lock

They’ve all started NFL games. They’ve all been forgotten just as quickly. Minshew at least has a cult following, but the rest? If you walked into a room full of them with prefilled nametags, you’d probably mess up at least three.

At Least It Would Be Interesting

Dallas – Joe Milton III

Nobody knows if Milton can actually play NFL quarterback. But the arm strength is cartoonish and the athleticism is legit. If nothing else, it’d be must-see chaos.

Proper Backup QB Situations

New England – Joshua Dobbs
New York Jets – Tyrod Taylor
Houston – Davis Mills
Chicago – Tyson Bagent
Green Bay – Malik Willis
Arizona – Jacoby Brissett

This is what a team wants in the room: guys who’ve started before, can step in without changing the scheme, and won’t completely sink the ship. They’re not franchise saviors, but they’re professional quarterbacks.

Backup QBs are one of the NFL’s strangest ecosystems—halfway houses for washed starters, landing pads for rookies, and random storage bins for names you forgot were still on payroll. But as history keeps reminding us, you never really appreciate a backup until you’re watching one play in December with your season on the line.

What to Watch This Weekend: August 22-24

Every Friday, we’re cutting through the clutter and telling you what’s actually worth your eyeballs this weekend. Big stage, small stage, and the stuff hiding in the corner that you’ll be glad you found. Let’s roll.

Football

Forget the fake preseason stuff—real football is here. Week 0 drops Saturday with FBS and FCS action, and it’s juicier than usual.

Iowa State vs. Kansas State — Dublin, Ireland (Sat, Noon ET, ESPN)
This isn’t your sleepy Week 0 cupcake. Two ranked Big 12 teams, two future NFL quarterbacks in Rocco Becht (Iowa State) and Avery Johnson (K-State), and playoff stakes already in the air. Add in the novelty of Irish pints before kickoff—this one’s appointment viewing.
Incarnate Word @ Nicholls (Sat, 1 PM ET, ESPN2)
Don’t sleep on the FCS. Southland rivals, a Top-5 squad in UIW, and a Nicholls team trying to bounce back from a flop season. Should be spicy down in Thibodaux.
Stanford @ Hawaii (Sat, 7:30 PM ET, CBS)
Normally, this is perfect midnight-on-the-mainland Rainbow Warrior chaos. Instead, we’re stuck with a standard kickoff. Still, plenty to watch: Andrew Luck is running Stanford’s GM chair, Frank Reich is on the sideline, and transfer QB Ben Gulbranson just beat out freshman Elijah Brown for the starting gig. New era vibes for the Cardinal.

Baseball

Rivalry weekend, full blast.

Red Sox at Yankees (capped by Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN) — two clubs fighting for positioning in the Wild Card standings
Dodgers at Padres — San Diego gets another swing at the reigning champs of the NL West.
Mets at Braves — Braves fans haven’t had a ton to cheer for this season, but they always get up to root against the Mets.

And don’t forget: Little League World Series Championship hits Sunday (1 PM ET, ABC). U.S. vs. International, bragging rights for life.

Golf

The Tour Championship is live from East Lake, with $40M on the line. Scottie Scheffler has the inside track, but there are plenty ready to wreck his repeat bid.

Rugby

The Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off in England. The U.S. opens against the hosts at the Stadium of Light (CBS Sports, late Friday night/early Saturday morning stateside). Pour one more and root for the Eagles.

Soccer

Europe’s back in full swing, and there are some tasty matchups to keep on your radar this weekend:

Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig (Fri, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+)
Bundesliga action from the Allianz Arena. Bayern usually dominates Leipzig, but Leipzig loves a statement game.

West Ham vs. Chelsea (Fri, 3:00 p.m. ET, USA Network/Universo)
West Ham hosts Chelsea at London Stadium in a clash that could set the tone for the rest of the season. Expect drama, late tackles, and maybe a surprise upset.

Manchester City vs. Tottenham (Sat, 7:30 a.m. ET, USA Network/Universo)
Early bird gets the goals. Pep’s squad at home, Spurs looking to prove a point. It’s a Premier League heavyweight bout that kicks off bright and early stateside. Coffee mandatory.

Sure, there’s more. But these are the headliners, the sneaky gems, and the built-in excuses not to mow the lawn. The couch is calling—answer it.