ESPN gets the most NFL preseason games between it, CBS, Fox and NBC. ESPN will carry four games and oddly enough, most of them are Thursday nights instead of the usual Monday.
As usual, the Monday Night Football crew of Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Lisa Salters will be at all of the games.
Here’s the ESPN schedule.
2013 Monday Night Football Preseason Schedule
ESPN will televise four NFL games as part of its 2013 Monday Night Football preseason schedule. Play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Jon Gruden will call the games in anticipation of ESPN’s MNF regular-season opener on Monday, Sept. 9. All MNF preseason games will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will be preceded by a one-hour Monday Night Countdown pregame.
The preseason kicks off Thursday, August 8, when Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Atlanta to face Matt Ryan and the Falcons at the Georgia Dome. The Bengals were an AFC Wild Card team in 2012, while the Falcons won the NFC South and reached the Conference Championship game.
The ESPN crew then heads to The Windy City when Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears host Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers at Soldier Field on Thursday, Aug. 15. Both teams will have new offensive-minded head coaches in 2013 in Mike McCoy (Chargers) and Marc Trestman (Bears).
On Monday, Aug. 19, the NFC East champion Washington Redskins host Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers at FedEx Field. The Redskins are hopeful that last year’s rookie quarterback sensation Robert Griffin III will be back in the lineup after he suffered a knee injury in the team’s final playoff game.
Just three days later up Interstate 95, ESPN will conclude its preseason schedule when Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers face Joe Flacco and the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Thursday, August 22.
ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s 24-hour Spanish-language domestic sports network, will once again offer a Spanish-language production of MNF preseason and regular season games in 2013. All games will also be available on tablets and computers via WatchESPN.
The 2013 ESPN MNF regular season schedule is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football 2013 NFL Preseason Schedule:
Date Time (ET) Game Thursday, Aug. 8 8 p.m. Cincinnati Bengals vs. Atlanta Falcons Thursday, Aug. 15 8 p.m. San Diego Chargers vs. Chicago Bears Monday, Aug. 19 8 p.m. Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Washington Redskins Thursday, Aug. 22 8 p.m. Carolina Panthers vs. Baltimore Ravens
That is all. Fox’s schedule is next.
