Atlanta Falcons & Denver Broncos Kick Off NFL Preseason In Annual Hall Of Fame Game This Thursday, Aug. 1

Atlanta Falcons & Denver Broncos Kick Off NFL Preseason In Annual Hall Of Fame Game This Thursday, Aug. 1

NBC Sports’ 2019 NFL preseason coverage kicks off this Thursday, Aug. 1, when the Atlanta Falcons face the Denver Broncos in the 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game from Canton, Ohio, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. Denver’s Vic Fangio makes his head coaching debut after 32 years as NFL assistant, including spending the past four seasons as Chicago’s defensive coordinator, and Broncos rookie QB Drew Lock, a second-round draft pick, is expected to make his NFL preseason debut.

Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his record 34^th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth; and three-time Emmy Award-winning sideline reporter Michele Tafoya call Falcons-Broncos from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Three-time Super Bowl referee Terry McAulay returns as Sunday Night Football’s rules analyst and will join Michaels and Collinsworth in the booth.

In addition, Hall of Fame coach and NBC analyst Tony Dungy will join Michaels and Collinsworth during the second half.

Thursday night’s telecast will feature live interviews with select members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019, which includes former Broncos cornerbackChamp Bailey, former Falcons and Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez, cornerback Ty Law, center Kevin Mawae, safeties Ed Reed and Johnny Robinson and contributorsGil Brandt and late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.

NBC’s second preseason game will air on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 8 p.m. ET, and features the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

As the preseason begins, NBC Sports’ Peter King continues his league-wide Training Camp Tour, which began last week when King attended Broncos camp and spoke with Fangio and All-Pro linebacker Von Miller. Over a 37-day span, beginning in Denver last Friday, July 19, King will visit 22 different training camp sites and one preseason game. Throughout King’s cross-country trip, which culminates in Minnesota on Saturday, August 24, when the Cardinals face the Vikings in a preseason matchup, he will observe team practices, interview players and coaches and participate in local attractions.

NBC Sports’ Chris Simms will join King on select training camp visits, including to Browns camp on August 6 and Steelers camp on August 7. More details and coverage of King’s Training Camp Tour can be found here.

Highlights of the 2019 Sunday Night Football schedule:

• All 18 scheduled NBC SNF games feature at least one 2018 playoff team (Week 17 game TBD) – up from 14 such matchups last year. In addition, nine contests feature both clubs from the 2018 postseason, highlighted by a rematch of last year’s AFC Divisional Playoff, as Andrew Luck and the Colts again visit Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs (Oct. 6).

• All 2018 NFL playoff teams are on the NBC SNF schedule, including three games each for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, NFC champion Los Angeles Rams, AFC West champion Kansas City Chiefs, NFC East champion Dallas Cowboys, NFC North champion Chicago Bears, and NFC Wild Card Philadelphia Eagles.

• Matchup milestones: Eagles-Cowboys on Oct. 20 is the 13^th meeting between the clubs on SNF – ranking as the most-played matchup in NBC SNF history (since 2006). In addition, it marks the 11^th consecutive season for the matchup on SNF – the longest streak for any matchup on the broadcast primetime package in NFL history (ABC 1970-2005; NBC 2006-present).

• Other notable games: Roethlisberger and the Steelers battle 2004 Draft classmate Philip Rivers and the Chargers in Los Angeles on Oct. 13; 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs face Aaron Rodgers and the Packers at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 27 in a rematch of the two teams who faced off in Super Bowl I; Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints visit Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving night, after the clubs met in New Orleans last year on the holiday; and NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald and the Rams host the Bears on Nov. 17 as they look to avenge last year’s Week 14 SNFloss in Chicago.

• The SNF slate features multiple appearances by star QBs Russell Wilson of the Seahawks, Jared Goff of the Rams, Dak Prescott of the Cowboys, and Carson Wentz of the Eagles.

• First SNF Game in Cleveland in 11 Years: On Sept. 22, NBC will broadcast its first Browns game in Cleveland since 2008, as Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham, Jr.and Jarvis Landry face the NFC champion Los Angeles Rams. The game also marks the Browns’ 2019 primetime debut at home.

• Celebrating the NFL’s 100^th Season – In addition to the Packers-Bears NFL Kickoff matchup on NBC, and the only two teams to win six Super Bowls (Steelers and Patriots) featured in the SNF opener, the Oct. 27 Rodgers-Mahomes QB showdown highlights Packers vs. Chiefs – the two teams who faced off in Super Bowl I on January 15, 1967.

NBC TO BROADCAST 23 NFL GAMES IN 2019: As part of the agreement NBC signed with the NFL in December 2011, the network will broadcast 19 regular-season games, including 17 regular-season Sunday Night Football games, NFL Kickoff 2019, and the annual Thanksgiving night game. NBC’s original Sunday Night Footballagreement, which began in 2006, included 17 regular-season games. It was increased to 18 games in 2010. NBC will broadcast a Divisional Playoff game and a Wild Card Playoff game. In the preseason, NBC will televise the NFL Hall of Fame Game (Falcons-Broncos) in primetime on Thursday, Aug. 1, and Steelers-Titans on Sunday night, Aug. 25.

NBCSPORTS.COM & NBC SPORTS APP TO LIVE STREAM ALL NBC NFL GAMES: NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream all NBC games to desktops, mobile, tablets, and connected TVs via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcasts. NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox, and Chromecast.

NBC’S “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” IS PRIMETIME TELEVISION’S NO. 1 SHOW FOR UNPRECEDENTED EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR: NBC’s Sunday Night Football finished the 2018-19 TV season as primetime’s #1 TV show in all key metrics for an unprecedented eighth consecutive year – adding to its record for the most consecutive years atop the charts (since 1950), based on official live plus same day data provided by Nielsen. Sunday Night Football also ranked as the No. 1 show in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for the ninth consecutive TV season.

*Flex Week

** Thanksgiving Night Game

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING: Flexible scheduling will be used in Weeks 11-17. Additionally, in Weeks 5-10, flexible scheduling may be used in no more than two weeks. In Weeks 5-16, the schedule lists the games tentatively set for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game would be moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday or Monday nights.

A flexible scheduling move would be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the Sunday night game will be announced no later than six days prior to December 29. The schedule does not list a Sunday night game in Week 17, but an afternoon game with playoff implications will be moved to that time slot. Flexible scheduling ensures quality matchups in all Sunday time slots in those weeks, and gives “surprise” teams a chance to play their way into prime time.

SOURCE: NBC SPORTS

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