The NFL has announced its preseason schedule (though not all of the specific dates are set yet), and NFC East teams will play in three of the 11 nationally televised games. As previously reported, the Dallas Cowboys will begin the preseason on Sunday, Aug. 4 at 8 p.m. ET against the Miami Dolphins in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio. That means the Cowboys (and the Dolphins) will play five preseason games instead of the usual four.
The other two NFC East nationally televised games are the New York Giants' Aug. 18 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium (8 p.m. on Fox) and the Washington Redskins' Aug. 19 home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (8 p.m., ESPN). Hard to imagine Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III being recovered from knee surgery in time to play in that game, but the league wanted every 2012 playoff team to have a nationally televised preseason game, so the Redskins will play on ESPN with or without the star power Griffin brings.
The regular-season schedule is expected to be released April 16. In the meantime, here's the list of each NFC East team's 2013 preseason opponents with the approximate dates:
Dallas Cowboys
vs. Miami (Canton, Ohio), Aug. 4, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
at Oakland, Aug 8-11
at Arizona, Aug. 15-19
vs. Bengals, Aug. 22-25
vs. Texans, Aug. 29-30
New York Giants
at Pittsburgh, Aug. 8-11
vs. Colts, Aug. 18, 8 p.m. ET (FOX)
vs. Jets, Aug. 22-25
at New England, Aug. 29-30
vs. Patriots, Aug. 8-11
vs. Carolina, Aug. 15-19
at Jacksonville, Aug. 22-25
at New York Jets, Aug. 29-30
Washington Redskins
at Tennessee, Aug. 8-11
vs. Steelers, Aug. 19, p.m. ET, ESPN
vs. Bills, Aug. 22-25
at Tampa Bay, Aug. 29-30