National Football League

The 10 reasonably fun facts about the NFL's preseason schedule

Published Apr. 9, 2015 11:21 p.m. ET

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FOX Sports South dug deep to unearth 10 fun and interesting facts about the NFL's 2015 preseason schedule.

To clarify here, you won't see the phrase "Super Bowl Preview" attached to any of the 65 exhibition tilts ... even though Green Bay and New England (preseason Week 1) may be prohibitive favorites to claim the NFC and AFC titles, respectively.

1. On Aug. 9, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have played in the most Hall of Fame games (6 -- from 1963-2007), will have a chance to tie the Washington Redskins' mark for most HOF game victories (5).

For what it's worth, only Washington, Pittsburgh and the Chicago Bears have collected at least four Hall of Fame wins. One more thing: The Steelers and Vikings have never faced one another in Canton.

2. For what it's worth, the Chargers, Texans, Jaguars, Dolphins and Ravens have also never claimed victory at the Hall of Fame Game, although the original Cleveland Browns -- who became the Baltimore Ravens in 1996 -- knocked off the Falcons in August 1981.

3. How's this for weird: In the Super Bowl era (1966-2014), the eventual world champion for that season has never played in the Hall of Fame Game.

4. Speaking of Minnesota, if the football gods really want to throw a curveball at NFL Nation, the Vikings and Cowboys will execute a trade involving disgruntled tailback Adrian Peterson (who missed 15 games last year, due to an off-field issue) before their preseason Week 3 clash (Aug. 27-30 in Dallas).

As you may recall, Dallas stealthily cleared nearly $13 million from its salary cap two weeks ago -- fueling speculation it plans to trade for Peterson, who will earn roughly $12.7 million in 2015.

5. The Steelers, Cowboys, Bills, Vikings and Packers are the only NFL teams to schedule multiple intra-conference opponents during the preseason.

Thankfully, none of the five clubs have multiple preseason/regular-season encounters against their respective conference foes.

6. Speaking of Green Bay ... the Packers have a dream preseason slate of high-profile opponents: The Patriots, Steelers, Eagles and Saints. And yet, not a single exhibition outing will be broadcast on national television.

7. For a second consecutive year, the 49ers will notch the most preseason air miles of any NFL team this summer, logging approximately 3,194 miles with trips to Houston (1,926 miles) and Denver (1,268).

For that honor, San Francisco barely trumped Seattle, which will trek approximately 3,146 miles with exhibition trips to Kansas City and San Diego.

8. NFL pundits love to trumpet preseason Week 3 as the ultimate dress rehearsal and perhaps the most revealing weekend -- in terms of projecting the regular season. But is that valid?

a) Of the preseason Week 3 victors from last summer, the 16 winners would combine for a 135-120-1 record during the regular season.

b) That stat, however, is a little skewed, since the Bucs and Titans (the NFL's only 2-14 clubs) both won that weekend -- bringing down the group's overall winning percentage.

c) Six eventual playoff teams claimed victory during preseason Week 3 -- including the NFL's three best franchises (Patriots, Seahawks, Packers).

9. The Patriots and Giants will face-off during the preseason ... and meet once again during the regular season.

Why is this noteworthy?

In the Eli Manning-Tom Coughlin era (2004-14), the Giants have captured a Lombardi Trophy whenever drawing the AFC East during the regular season (2007, 2011); and both times, New York knocked off New England in the Super Bowl.

(The clubs also met during the preseason in 2007 and '11.)

It's also worth noting: Tom Brady has four Super Bowl rings (along with Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana) ... but he's also 0-2 against Eli Manning on Super Sunday.

10. The NFL has no qualms about giving prime-time coverage to bottom-feeder teams.

The Buccaneers (vs. Bengals in preseason Week 2), Titans (vs. Rams in Week 2), Jaguars (vs. Lions in Week 3) and Raiders (vs. Cardinals in Week 3) -- the league's four worst clubs last year, record-wise -- all have nationally televised outings in August.

On the flip side, neither the Cowboys, Patriots, Giants, Packers, Broncos, 49ers, Redskins nor Bears, among others, will get any national love (live action) during the exhibition slate.