When does the NFL season start? Here's what you need to know
On some level, the NFL's 104th season kicks off Thursday night with the Hall of Fame Game between two trendy darkhorse picks, the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets.
That game, and all the games for the rest of August, don't count in any real sense except for the players themselves, who are scrambling to make rosters.
Not counting preseason, the regular season starts with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Sept. 7. That game will air on NBC at 6:20 p.m. Mountain time.
All but two more teams open on Sunday, Sept. 10, including the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas opens on prime time, the Sunday Night game, at the New York Giants at 6:20 p.m. That is a game of two teams who made the playoffs last year.
Also Sunday, Arizona plays at Washington at 11 a.m. and the Las Vegas Raiders host Denver at 2:25 p.m.
More: Complete week-by-week schedule for 18-week, 17-game 2023 NFL regular seasonNFL
NFL Sunday Ticket price
NFL Sunday Ticket is now on YouTube TV and requires a YouTube TV base plan. Plans start at $299.
Click here for more info.
First NFL game 2023
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Detroit Lions, Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6:20 p.m. The game will air on NBC.
How many games in the NFL regular season?
The 17-game, 18-week regular season ends Jan 7.
When do NFL playoffs start?
The playoffs start on Jan. 13.
UTEP players in the NFL
Aaron Jones enters his seventh season with the Green Bay Packers and is considered right on the edge of being a top-10 back in the NFL. Worth noting is that he usually performs better than those rankings on the field, and with Rodgers gone, his role in what is typically a tailback rotation could increase.
Roy Robertson-Harris mans a defensive end spot for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Nik Needham is a cornerback for the Dolphins and Will Hernandez is an offensive lineman for the Arizona Cardinals.
Who are the favorites?
As usual, the preseason favorites are the teams that played each other in the Super Bowl last year: Kansas City, the top favorite, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles. The Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers are the next two favorites.
How about Dallas and Las Vegas?
The Cowboys are the No. 6 favorite — about where they finished last year — given roughly 15-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. The Raiders are not supposed to do as well, as they are 23rd on the Super Bowl futures list.
As for the closest team to El Paso, the Arizona Cardinals, the good news is the odds have them as most likely to be No. 1 at draft time. As for everything before that, at 200-1, they are 32nd out of 32 teams in the preseason odds.
Who else to watch out for?
The Jets have been bad more often than not for years, but they had a defense that was moving toward elite last year and now they have added quarterback Aaron Rodgers. If Rodgers has another good year in him, they could make a run and are indeed a No. 7 favorite.
The saddest sack of all sad sacks, the Detroit Lions, are supposed to make the playoffs this year. There is a bandwagon waiting to happen.
What are Dallas Cowboys' real chances?
There isn't any real question about the Cowboys' talent, as they have Super Bowl-worthy players. The biggest thing they must overcome is a recent history — recent as in the last three decades — of underachieving at postseason time.
More: Ahead of crucial season, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is 'embracing' mounting criticism
The key to fixing that will be a better season from Dak Prescott, who at times looks like an elite quarterback and at times throws the ball to the wrong team. One area where the Cowboys aren't loaded is the receiver, so Prescott will be shouldering a large load.
Do the Raiders have a chance?
Not really. Oddsmakers peg them for a 7-10 season, as they are looking to rebuild one of the worst defenses in the league with a bunch of new faces. They also will have a new quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo, and while that typically hasn't been a great cause for optimism, he has been solid the last two years.
But anybody that is supposed to be a 7-10 team could go 9-8 and slip into the playoffs. The Raiders look to be a few years away, and a step forward here could set them up for better days.
Any hope for the Cardinals?
No, other than getting the No. 1 pick. That's feasible.
Any big rules or format changes this year?
No, there are not. For example, one of the biggest rule changes is that teams no longer have to challenge after a failed fourth down; it's automatic, like all turnovers.
There is still typically going to be one Thursday night game, one Monday night game and the rest on Sunday, with some exceptions. For example, in Weeks 2 and 3, there will be Monday Night doubleheaders, but those are rare.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: NFL kickoff 2023: Details about season including Sunday Ticket price
