Following a 100th season that lived up to all expectations and then some, the NFL is back with even more gravity-defying touchdown catches, bone-crunching hits, and ice-cold Bill Belichick stares than before. Reigning Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs and star QB Pat Mahomes are favorites to repeat this February – and having seen them bulldoze the Texans in their opener, you can understand why. Read on for all the ways to watch an NFL live stream this week as we look forward to even more drama as the 2020/21 season takes off.
NFL 2020/21 dates
The new NFL season kicked off Thursday, September 10 and is expected to conclude with Super Bowl LV on Sunday, February 7 in 2021.
The Chiefs narrowly get the nod as early Super Bowl picks over AFC rivals the Baltimore Ravens, who are led by last year’s league MVP, Lamar Jackson. As you’d expect, they demolished the Cleveland Browns in their first game of the season, but they now face a far more telling test – those same Houston Texans being destined for Baltimore this Sunday.
Over in the NFC, the big pre-season talking was Tom Brady and his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They mostly held their own against NFC South rivals the Saints last weekend, but were ultimately outplayed and TB12 looked less than comfortable at times. Still, can you ever bet against Tom Brady leading a team to an unlikely postseason run? Yeah…
While a 7th Super Bowl ring for Brady would be a fantastic story line for the new NFL season, the Bucs aren’t being tipped for NFC glory this season. Instead, former GOAT understudy Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers are fancied for an immediate return to the big game, just ahead of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.
The other big team to watch, as always, are the New England Patriots. It’s a big season in Foxborough as the modern-day dynasty gets set for its first season since 2000 without TB12 on the roster. Belichick is still running the show, supported by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, with the Pats making a rare splash in the free agent market this year and signing former NFL MVP Cam Newton to compete with 24-year-old Jarrett Stidham to be the team’s next starting QB.
Newton started the opener for the Pats, looking sharp as he led the team to a 21-11 win over AFC East rivals the Miami Dolphins. But New England still have a number of issues to address, with the Evil Empire notching a league-high eight Covid opt-outs to contend – including key players Marcus Cannon (offensive tackle), Dont’a Hightowner (linebacker) and Patrick Chung (safety). For the first time in a long time, they’re not actually among the favorites to represent the AFC in the 2021 Super Bowl.
With so many unexpected twists and turns in the off-season – plus a crop of exciting rookies like Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb, Kansas City running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and of course new Bengals franchise quarterback Joe Burrows to watch – we’re every bit as excited as you are for the start of the 2020/21 NFL season. Follow our guide below as we explain how to watch the NFL online and live stream every game this week as the action continues.
How to watch the NFL from outside your country
If you’ve mismatched a holiday or you’re away on business and you want to watch your country’s coverage from outside your country, then you’ll need to use a VPN. This will help you dial in to a location back in your home country to avoid geo-blocks and regain access to the content and services you already pay for back home.
A VPN is generally perfect for this as it allows you to change your IP address so you appear to be in a completely different location when the big game is on. We’ve tested hundreds of VPNs and can recommend ExpressVPN as the very best VPN currently available.
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We’ve put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate ExpressVPN as our pick of what’s out there, thanks to its ease of use and strong security features. It’s also compatible with just about any streaming device out there, including Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation, as well as Android and Apple mobiles. So to get that home broadcast and stay safer online, ExpressVPN is our recommended option.
This is the #1 rated best VPN in the world right now, with those previously mentioned levels of security, speed and compatibility putting it to the top of the list. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get 3 months absolutely FREE.
Once you’ve chosen and installed your VPN of choice, simply open the service’s corresponding app, hit ‘choose location’, select the appropriate country and you’ll be able to watch the broadcast as if you were back at home.View Deal
NFL live stream 2020/21: How to watch every game online in the US
NFL games in the US are shown by a wide range of broadcasters and under an increasingly confusing number of monikers.
Featured games are those aired Thursday. Sunday and Monday nights as part of the expanded Monday Night Football brand and are shown on TV by NBC, Fox, ESPN and in a very small number of cases, the NFL Network.
Sunday afternoon’s traditional kick-offs get covered by CBS or Fox as before.
The best way to watch NFL games without cable
Therefore, for complete coverage of all nationally televised NFL games in the 2020/21 regular season without cable, you need access to Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN and The NFL Network.
Of the many over-the-top streaming options, some will give you nearly all of the channels you need for complete coverage – but to our knowledge, only fuboTV currently offers them all.
Pricing starts from $64.99 a month, which is a darn sight cheaper than cable, and there’s even a FREE 7-day fuboTV trial you can take advantage of. One of the things we love about fubo is that it makes cancelling easy if you decide it’s not for you – and it’s easy to get started, too, thanks to a slick payment system that accepts internationally recognized payment platform PayPal as well as major credit and debit cards.
Now, read on to see what channels cover what games each week.
How to watch Thursday Night Football
This year’s season-opening Chiefs vs Texan game is being shown by NBC, but thereafter, Fox and the NFL Network have the TV rights to Thursday Night football.
This means you can stream games through the Fox or NFL Network if you’ve got cable – or take advantage of the fact that Amazon Prime has now joined the NFL streaming party and will be the exclusive streaming-only provider of Thursday Night Football games. Try the famous FREE 30-day Prime trial today.
How to watch Sunday afternoon NFL games
CBS and Fox are the broadcasters you need for the traditional 1pm and 4pm (ET) kick-offs every Sunday, and while the exact games and timings will vary by region, those with the channels as part of cable will be able to watch their local coverage online via the CBS and Fox websites.
If you just want CBS, then know that CBS All Access is also available on a streaming-only basis from just $5.99 a month to consider – try it for free today.
How to watch Sunday Night Football
Sunday Night Football is being aired exclusively by NBC throughout the regular season, so if you have it as part of a cable package, you’ll be able to stream games directly through the NBC website.
How to watch Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football can be found on ESPN every week, so anyone with the channel as part of their cable package can watch online at no additional charge through the ESPN website – just log-in with details of your TV provider.
We have also compiled for you below a full list of other TV streaming service options where you can live stream the NFL playoffs.
How to watch NFL games from abroad
Don’t forget, you can take your favorite NFL streaming coverage with you wherever you are with the help of a good VPN – try the best around, ExpressVPN 100% risk-free for 30-days.
How to watch a FREE NFL live stream in Canada
Canadian NFL fans are some of the the luckiest in the world as streaming service DAZN includes coverage of every single 2020/21 regular season game.
It’s an absolute bargain as just CA$20 a month or $150 a year, especially when you consider that you get not only NFL Game Pass access complete with RedZone, but also that DAZN’s the exclusive Canadian streaming home of Premier League and Champions League soccer!
It comes with support for iOS, Android, Apple TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Roku, Xbox One, PS4, and laptop/PC streaming (including Mac devices). And if you’ve never used it before, you can take advantage of a FREE 1-month TRIAL, too.
Payment is a dawdle, too, as DAZN accepts a wide range of credit and debit cards, plus internationally recognized online payment platform PayPal for added convenience.
TV coverage of select games is also available by tuning into TSN, CTV/CTV2.
Don’t forget, you can take your preferred NFL coverage with you no matter where you are in or out of the Great White North – just grab hold of an effective VPN and follow our instructions above.
UK-based American fans can watch up to six NFL games live and in their entirety each week courtesy of Sky Sports, with the network now boasting a new dedicated Sky Sports NFL channel as well as offering access to the live RedZone highlights show each Sunday.
If you don’t already have Sky and aren’t up for subscribing, the best option right now to watch these games in terms of value for money is Now TV , whose Sky Sports Monthly Pass is currently price slashed to just £25 a month – nearly £10 off its regular asking price (£33.99) and as always you can cancel at any time. Now TV also offers a £9.99 24-hour pass if you really only need to watch a game or two.
Lastly, the NFL Game Pass Pro is another good bet, as £143.99 gets you every single game of the 2020/21 season (subject to blackouts) including the playoffs, Super Bowl, RedZone access and more!
Not in the UK but still want to catch the action on your Sky Go app or on Game Pass? Then grabbing a VPN will let you log into a UK IP address so you can live stream NFL as if you were at home.
How to watch the NFL online in Australia
If you live in Australia and want to watch the NFL this season, you have several options to do so. Foxtel will be broadcasting games weekly and you can also stream games to your laptop or mobile devices using the Foxtel Go app but you’ll need your Foxtel ID to access the app.
Just as Foxtel does, Kayo Sports will also show a number of games throughout the season with weekly coverage expected.
The streaming service has a Basic and a Premium plan with the difference being you can watch on two devices with the Basic plan for $25 per month and on three devices with the Premium plan for $35 per month. The best news? Both plans come with a FREE 14-day trial so if you’re looking just to watch a specific game or two you can cancel after the 14 days.
However, for the proper, live-for-it NFL fans, we highly recommend you sign up for an NFL Game Pass as it is also available in Australia, and even though it is marginally more expensive you have a much wider range of features.
Should I buy an NFL Game Pass this season?
Watching NFL online has never been easier thanks to the wide variety of streaming services now available. However, the league also has its own streaming service called the NFL Game Pass which allows die-hard football fans to watch every game.
It’s really geared towards international fans and that’s where it’s a great option. In most of the NFL’s main international markets, a Game Pass Pro subscription will get you access to every single regular season and playoff game live, plus the Super Bowl, and you also get the league’s live highlights show, RedZone. It costs £14.99 a week or £143.99 a year, so if you’re a big fan who watches multiple games every week, it breaks down quite favourably.
As well as the UK and Ireland, the service is available in countries like Mexico, Germany and most of Europe, and Australia – with only ‘domestic markets’ the US and Canada missing out on the full-fat offering.
Instead, there’s a US and Canada-only Game Pass option available for $99 a a year that lets you watch commercial-free full game replays right after they’ve finished. Not the worst offer we’ve ever heard, but don’t get caught out – GamePass does not offer live NFL games in the US or Canada.
Should you decide to give Game Pass a shot, apps for Android and iOS mobile devices as well as on the likes of Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, PS4, and more – plus you can obviously watch on your laptop or desktop computer through a browser.
The only caveat for non-domestic markets (e.g. the UK) are that some games are subject to blackout restrictions due to deals with local pay TV providers (e.g. Sky).