NFL Week 1 viewing guide: early games, lineup checks and where to watch

Fantasy managers should make their first lineup check before Wednesday, not Sunday morning. Review your league's lock and transaction settings, then confirm any players involved in the opening two games. A television schedule cannot tell you when your particular league locks a lineup, so use it alongside your league dashboard and current player news.

Start with New England at Seattle on Wednesday, September 9, at 8:20 p.m. Eastern on NBC. San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams follow Thursday at 8:35 p.m. Eastern on Netflix. The Melbourne game belongs on Thursday night in a U.S. viewing calendar, even though it is Friday at the venue. Those two entries are worth saving before making weekend plans.

Friday offers a choice before the Saturday marathon. Rutgers visits Boston College at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2, followed half an hour later by Missouri at Kansas on FOX. Saturday's noon window puts Oklahoma at Michigan on FOX against Oregon at Oklahoma State on ESPN and Disney+. Pick a main screen before kickoff; both games start together.

Alabama at Kentucky is the 3:30 p.m. option on ABC and Disney+. Our Saturday evening pick is Ohio State at Texas at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, with Iowa State at Iowa on NBC in the same window. Arkansas at Utah, at 10:15 p.m. on ESPN, is the late-night option if there is still room for another game.

Sunday returns to the familiar NFL viewing windows. Bills-Texans is our early-window choice; Packers-Vikings gets the late-afternoon screen. Those are editorial picks, not predictions. Local CBS and FOX coverage varies, so the network in the schedule does not mean every game is available in every market. Check your local listing before building the day around one matchup.

Dallas at the Giants closes Sunday at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. Denver at Kansas City finishes the week Monday at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN and ABC. All times are Eastern. The companion schedule lists every NFL game and the full FBS/FCS slate. Broadcast listings were checked September 9 and can change.

See the complete football TV schedule: all 147 games, times and channels.

Sources

ESPN NFL schedule and ESPN college football schedule.