WRITTEN BYJACOB CAMENKER
The 2021 NFL season has gifted NFL fans with a couple of great “Thursday Night Football” games to kick off the season.
In Week 1, the Buccaneers beat the Cowboys by two points on a Ryan Succop field goal with two seconds left. A week later, the Washington Football Team defeated the Giants; they earned a one-point victory via a Dustin Hopkins field goal when time expired.
The Week 3 showdown isn’t projected as close as its two predecessors, but given how strange the start of the NFL season has been, anything is possible.
The Texans will host Game 3 of the NFL season on Thursday. Houston is 1-1 and has been more competitive than many expected at this early stage of the season. However, if Houston wants to win Thursday night, it will have to get a good performance from its third quarterback.
Below is everything you need to know about Thursday night’s showdown, plus everything you need to know to watch the first game of Week 3 of the 2021 NFL season.
Who is playing Thursday Night Football tonight?
Matchup: Panthers at Texans
Location: NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas
The Panthers-Texans game may not be a spectacular showdown, but there are certainly a lot of interesting elements to this game.
First and foremost is the situation of the Texans quarterbacks. Tyrod Taylor is suffering from a hamstring injury and it seems unlikely that he will play in a short week. David Culley and the Texans are still keen to start Deshaun Watson, so third-round rookie Davis Mills will make his first career start against a Panthers defense that is allowing 10.5 points per game, the league’s minimum. .
Meanwhile, the Panthers may be the first team to improve to 3-0 if they beat the Texans. That would already exceed starting quarterback Sam Darnold’s win total with the Jets in 12 starts last season; he was 2-10 in his last season in New York.
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What channel is Panthers vs. Texans today?
Game: Panthers at Texans
Date: September 23, 2021
TV Channel: NFL Network
Live broadcast: fuboTV | DAZN (in Canada)
NFL Network will be the exclusive host of “Thursday Night Football” for the second week in a row. They will continue to be the exclusive announcers for the event through week 4 of the 2021 NFL season. Then there will be multiple options to watch the game with.
Fox and NFL Network will simulcast the game beginning Week 5. That will allow those with basic cable packages to watch the action on Fox. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime will begin streaming the games in Week 5. These three services will carry ” Thursday Night Football “for the remainder of the show’s season, ending in Week 17.
Most cable providers in the United States have the NFL network. It is also available through the satellite provider DirecTV (channels 212 and 1212) and the IPTV providers Verizon FiOS (channels 88 and 588) and Google Fiber (channel 2019).
WEEK 3 STANDARD RATINGS:
Field marshal | Running backwards | Wide receiver | Tight end | D / ST | Kicker
Panthers vs. Texans start time
Date: Thursday, September 23
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Panthers vs. Texans will begin at 8:20 p.m. ET, like all Thursday night games during the 2021 NFL season. There will be a pre-game show starting at 7:30 p.m. on NFL Network and lots of other pre-game coverage.
Houston is in the central time zone, so the game will start at 7:20 p.m. in that place.
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NFL Live Stream for Panthers vs. Texans
NFL Network will broadcast the first game of Week 3. As a result, the game will be available to stream live for free on the NFL app and Yahoo! Sports app for those with cable / satellite subscriptions.
In the meantime, cable cutters will have plenty of options to see Panthers vs. Texans. They are as follows.
| Streaming option | Cable subscription needed? | Free? | Cost | Free trial? |
| NFL App | No | Yes | – | – |
| Yahoo! Sports App | No | Yes | – | – |
| fuboTV | No | No | $60/month | Yes |
| Hulu Plus Live TV | No | No | $55/month | Yes |
| Sling TV | No | No | $30/month | Yes |
| YouTube TV | No | No | $65/month | Yes |
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NFL schedule Week 3
The Panthers and Texans will begin Week 3 of the 2021 NFL season, as Carolina and Sam Darnold look to improve to 3-0 over Davis Mills and the Texans. There are seven 2-0 teams standing in the NFL, and two will meet in Week 3: the Buccaneers and the Rams. That will be the best game of the week and it will mark Tom Brady’s first NFL game played in Los Angeles.
The “Sunday Night Football” showdown between the Packers and the 49ers also looks appetizing. The Packers have played poorly against the 49ers in recent years, so Aaron Rodgers and company should be motivated for that.
Below is the full schedule for Week 3 of the 2021 NFL season.
Week 3
- Thursday, Sept. 23
| Game | Kickoff time | TV channel |
| Panthers at Texans | 8:20 p.m. ET | NFLN |
- Sunday, Sept. 26
| Game | Kickoff time | TV channel |
| Colts at Titans | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Falcons at Giants | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Chargers at Chiefs | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Bengals at Steelers | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Bears at Browns | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Ravens at Lions | 1 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Saints at Patriots | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Cardinals at Jaguars | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Washington Football Team at Bills | 1 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Jets at Broncos | 4:05 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Dolphins at Raiders | 4:05 p.m. ET | CBS |
| Seahawks at Vikings | 4:25 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Buccaneers at Rams | 4:25 p.m. ET | Fox |
| Packers at 49ers | 8:20 p.m. ET | NBC |
- Monday, Sept. 27
| Game | Kickoff time | TV channel |
| Eagles at Cowboys | 8:15 p.m. ET | ESPN |
