Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals 2017: Start Time, Betting Odds, TV Channel

After a six-month hiatus, the NFL is finally back. The Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals are set to play Thursday night in the 2017 Hall of Fame Game in Canton Ohio, kicking off the 2017 preseason.

The contest will be broadcast on national TV with NBC having the coverage. Fans can also watch the game, which will start at 8 p.m. EDT, with a free live stream online on NBC Sports Live Extra.

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With this being the first exhibition game of 2017 and technically not even Week 1 of the preseason, just about all of the notable names on both teams will be on the bench for the entire game. Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians has said he will rest all of his starters, and don't expect Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett to put any of his most important players on the field.

Cardinals fans, however, can look forward to seeing the team’s first-round draft pick for the first time. Linebacker Haason Reddick will take the field for a few plays in his professional football debut.

“He’s not going to play a ton,” Arians said, via ESPN.com. “He’s going to play, though. Injuries at some positions could cause guys to play more than I want them to play.”

Just because Thursday’s game is meaningless, that doesn’t mean there won’t be people betting on it. Gambling is still a major part of the NFL in the preseason, and there will be odds set for each game. Dallas is a one-point favorite at Las Vegas sportsbooks, via OddsShark.

With players like Carson Palmer, David Johnson, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott almost certainly not playing, there shouldn’t be a lot of points scored. That’s why the over/under is just 35.

Elliott led the NFL with 1,631 rushing yards as a rookie, and Johnson ranked first among all players with 2,218 yards from scrimmage. Prescott had an all-time great season for a rookie quarterback with 23 touchdown passes and four interceptions. Palmer ranked in the top 10 in both passing yards and touchdowns, but he had an uneven season with just an 87.2 passer rating.

Arizona had one of the most disappointing seasons of any NFL team in 2016, going 7-8-1 and missing the playoffs after a trip to the NFC Championship Game the previous year. Dallas exceeded all expectations in the regular season by leading the conference with a 13-3 record, but they weren’t able to win a game in the postseason.

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Dallas is favored to win the NFC East, while Arizona is firmly considered to be the second-best team in the NFC West behind the Seattle Seahawks. It’s been a decade since the Cowboys have made the playoffs in two straight seasons. The Cardinals reached the playoffs in both 2014 and 2015.

The rest of the league won’t see any action for at least another week. Week 1 of the 2017 preseason starts on Thursday, Aug. 10, and Arizona and Dallas both return to the gridiron with games on Aug. 12.