Are you ready for some football? Don’t answer; we know you are. While that’s historically the Monday Night Football opener, tonight’s Thursday Night Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers is a huge NFL Kickoff for the season. Tonight’s Packers / Seahawks game, the Week 1 opener for the entire NFL, is scheduled to kick off at 8:30 EST / 5:30 PST. In a change of pace, it will be broadcast live on NBC.
The Seahawks are coming off their first Super Bowl win with the top-rated defense in the league. Cornerback Richard Sherman, who finished the 2013 season with 58 combined tackles and 8 interceptions, is rearing to go tonight against Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers finished the 2013 season 193-for-290 for 2,536 yards and 17 touchdowns. The stats marked a down year for the All-Pro QB, who sat out several weeks with a broken collarbone and couldn’t get the Packers over the playoff hump. With a full offseason of recovery under his belt, you can see how he performs against Sherman and the rest of the Seahawks defense as you watch Packers vs Seahawks live online free Week 1.
The last time the Seahawks and Packers met, the QB-vs-cornerback storyline was reversed. In what’s been called “Fail Mary,” Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw a last-minute pass into the end zone that was caught by both Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate and Packers safety M.D. Jennings.
With the regular NFL referees on strike, the replacement refs called it a TD for Seattle. The football world virtually exploded, and normal NFL referees returned the following week. Their return was the first and only time referees have received a standing ovation.
Tonight’s Seahawks / Packers game features two teams with a lot to prove in their season opener. On Seattle’s side, the questions mostly revolve around the offense.
Are the Seahawks really as good as their Super Bowl domination of the Denver Broncos implied? Is Russell Wilson and elite QB or just a good game manager? Will running back Marshawn Lynch discover his “Beast Mode” early and often after his temporary holdout, or will opposing defenses stop his march down field?
For Green Bay, tonight’s Packers game is all about testing a now-healthy Rodgers and seeing the defense in live game action. Last season the Packers defense ranked 25th and struggled against both the run and the pass. This season the Packers have pass-rusher Julius Peppers to go with linebacker Clay Matthews, which should help shore things up.
It’s important to note that tonight’s Packers / Seahawks game can be watched online via a live stream on NBC Sports. The rest of the NFL season will have Thursday Night Football games on CBS and NFL Network. NBC will normally just have Sunday Night Football games. The game’s not being broadcast on NFL Network or DirecTV, so the NBC Sports live streaming online version is the way to go.