The NFL is back. After a long, uncertain offseason, the league has pushed through, and the 2020 campaign will kick off on Thursday night with the Houston Texans taking on the Kansas City Chiefs. Fans will be able to watch the game on NBC at 8:20 p.m. ET. The game will also be streaming for free on NBC Sports Online.
The Chiefs come into the game as the defending Super Bowl champions and will celebrate in front of a limited number of fans. Led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs offense has been one of the most dangerous in the league. And when it comes to season openers, they like to put on a show, averaging 40 points per game in the last three openers.
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“Coach [Andy] Reid runs a great training camp,” Mahomes aid when talking about fast starts in season openers, per ESPN. He puts us in situations that are really game-like, which I feel like is a huge advantage, especially with no preseason games. I mean, he’s putting us in these situations every single day. We might not be tackling full, but we’re put in situations where we’re in third-and-long, third-and-short, trying to figure out ways to go throughout a game and situations that you’ll be a part of.”
The Texans are looking for revenge as they lost to the Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs last year. After jumping to a 24-0 lead in the first half, the Texans ended up losing 51-31. Head coach Bill O’Brien spoke to reporters on Monday and is looking forward to the matchup because of everything that’s going on in the world right now, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There was just so much work that had be done in such a short period of time and now you’re here on game week,” O’Brien said, as reported by NFL.com. “It’s an exciting time. I think it’s great for our league that— we have great people in this league. Great players, great coaches, great general managers, ownership – people that have really worked hard to get this off the ground and we’re ready to go.”
The Chiefs will unveil the championship banner a few minutes before the start of the game. The R&B due Chole x Halle will perform the national anthem and Keedron Bryant, the 12-year old singer who was in a viral video singing “I Just Wanna Live,” will make an appearance at halftime.
