(Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Let’s Get Ready For Weekend Sports TV

The third game of the NFL’s quartet of preseason festivities gets a huge amount of attention.

It’s when teams play their starters – to the extent that any starters play any more – for an extended period.

This is so they get some real snaps before enjoying a two-week break before the regular-season opener. No starters play in the fourth preseason game. That’s for rookies and hangers-on to make a final impression, earn a spot on the practice squad, and rack up some good game tape for possible future employers.

So we’re on the bandwagon this weekend. Let’s enjoy what we can while we can.

The NFL Network presents three games Saturday. All are worth a look while the starters are in. And we begin at 1 p.m. ET with Arizona Cardinals-Minnesota Vikings and a chance to see quarterback Kyler Murray, the overall No. 1 pick by the Cards.

Keep your heiner in the recliner. At 7 p.m. we get the Houston Texans-Dallas Cowboys, and that’s followed by Seattle Seahawks-Los Angeles Chargers at 10 p.m.

If you absolutely must see a game that counts for something, the college football opener between No. 8 Florida and Miami should be more than adequate. ESPN shows this long-standing rivalry at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The FedEx Cup championship theoretically caps the PGA Tour’s season (which never seems to end). The competitive field, skimmed to the cream for this event at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia, knows what the big prize is — $15 million. NBC goes live with the third round Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and wraps the package Sunday beginning at 1:30 p.m.

That should keep you fat and happy. Complaints? The line forms to the left.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman