The NFL preseason is almost over, but we still have two more days of football to digest. We have eight games on Saturday, highlighted by a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl as the Los Angeles Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Things kicked off Thursday night as the Kansas City Chiefs picked up a home win over the Green Bay Packers, and the Houston Texans knocked off the San Francisco 49ers.
Each of the NFL’s 32 teams will treat this week differently. Some will play their starters a bit, some will play their starters more and some won’t. This week is actually more about the reserves as the league’s coaching staff figures out who will make their 53-man roster.
Below, we’ll break down the highlights from the 16 preseason games. Keep this post bookmarked as it will be your one stop shop for everything you need to see.
Schedule
Thursday
Chiefs 17, Packers 10 (Recap)Texans 17, 49ers 0 (Recap)
Friday
Panthers 21, Bills 0 (Recap) Cowboys 27, Seahawks 26 (Recap) Saints 27, Chargers 10 (Recap) Raiders 23, Patriots 6 (Takeaways)
Saturday
Falcons 28, Jaguars 12 (Recap)Bengals 16, Rams 7 (Recap)Titans 26, Cardinals 23 (Recap)Bears 21, Browns 20 (Recap)Dolphins 48, Eagles 10 (Takeaways)Ravens 17, Recap 7Colts (Recap 2) , Buccaneers 10 (recap) Broncos 23, Vikings 13 (recap)
sunday
Giants at Jets, 1 p.m. ET, NFLNLions at Steelers, 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS
Tom Brady leads the Buccaneers in preseason solo FGs
Brady was able to participate in a request this preseason, finishing with 11 snaps before calling it a wrap before the regular season opener. After being away from the Buccaneers for 11 days during camp, Brady finished 6-of-8 for 44 yards on a 66-yard drive that ended with a 30-yard Ryan Succop field goal.
Brady was able to find Julio Jones on a 20-yard completion and found expected No. 1 tight end Cameron Brate twice on the drive. The Buccaneers’ offense moved down the field on Brady’s lone series, enough reps to get the quarterback ready for Week 1.
Justin Fields throws three first half TDs
The Bears’ second-year quarterback was strong in the first half of Saturday night’s game against the Browns, going 14-for-16 for 156 yards and three touchdown passes. He also ran for 11 yards as the Bears took a 21-6 halftime lead.
Treylon Burks returns to game, scores TD
The Titans’ first-round pick didn’t make an impact during Tennessee’s first two preseason games, but Saturday night was different. Burks caught a pass on the first play of the game and recorded another reception later in the first quarter. However, he then left the contest with a wrist injury and was considered questionable to return.
Burks ended up returning in the second quarter and caught a 14-yard touchdown for his first NFL score.
Wild pick six
Elijah Campbell shouldn’t have scored on that play, but he did. The defensive back took advantage of a bad throw by Reid Sinnett, and fought tooth and nail to recover the pick for a touchdown.
He was met by Sinnett and an Eagles pack at the 10-yard line, but kept his feet moving and found himself in the end zone.
The Titans’ rookie quarterback is focusing on his pocket presence as he makes the jump to the NFL, but it’s his legs that make him special. Check out this play, where Willis ran up the middle for a 50-yard gain.
The Liberty product is not only quick, but clearly dangerous with the moves he can make in the open field. He has good vision and knows when to slow down or down.
The Ravens have a new wide receiver, and it could be someone who makes an immediate impact on the offense. Former wide receiver Demarcus Robinson absolutely embarrassed Washington cornerback Danny Johnson on that route, resulting in a 67-yard touchdown.
This was also Anthony Brown’s first pass of the game. Are the Ravens a new quarterback factory?
Tua goes out on fire
How Tyreek Hill will fare in Miami’s offense compared to how he fared in Kansas City is a big story heading into this season. There’s a narrative that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t have the most powerful arm, but he and new head coach Mike McDaniel are trying to combat that notion.
On the first play of the Dolphins’ final preseason game, Tagovailoa found Hill streaking down the field for a 51-yard gain.
The Dolphins needed just four plays to score the first touchdown of the game. Tagovailoa completed all three pass attempts for 72 yards and hit River Cracraft for an eight-yard score.
Point block landing
Here’s how you make a case for the 53-man roster. Quinton Bell showed he can be a force on special teams with this punt block touchdown as the Falcons extended their lead before halftime.
Falcons Novice to Novice Connection
Although Ridder threw an interception on the first play of the game Saturday, he rallied to lead a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the Falcons’ next possession. On second and goal, Ridder found another rookie running back Tyler Allgeier for the score.
The Falcons have the versatile Cordarrelle Patterson and Damien Williams at running back, but some expect Allgeier to play a role in his first NFL season.
Interception on the first play of the game!
Rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder started Saturday for Atlanta’s third and final preseason game and unfortunately threw an interception on the first play of the game!
Check out this read from Jaguars safety Daniel Thomas:
Ben DiNucci throws the winning TD for the Cowboys
The Cowboys were able to overcome their preseason finale over the Seahawks thanks to Ben DiNucci throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Peyton Hendershot. The 14-yard pass gave the Cowboys a 27-26 lead with 4:07 left as Dallas overcame 10 penalties to secure the win.
DiNucci is a longshot to make the Cowboys, but he may end up somewhere in the NFL next week.
Brandon Smith has a TD catch for the Cowboys
Brandon Smith is a longshot to make the Cowboys’ 53-man roster, but he’s making an impression on the coaching staff with this outstanding touchdown catch. That 8-yard catch in the back of the end zone by Will Grier tied the game with the Seahawks in the third quarter.
Smith leads Dallas with three catches, making the most of his last chance.
Sam Darnold rushes for TD, leaves with ankle injury
Sam Darnold, now Carolina’s No. 2 quarterback, had his fair share of rushing scores for the Panthers last season. His 1-yard score put Carolina up 21-0 over Buffalo with 7:06 left in the third quarter.
Darnold had five rushing touchdowns last season for the Panthers, or as many as he had in his first three seasons in the league combined with the Jets.
It wasn’t all good news for Darnold, who left the field after suffering an ankle injury and will not return.
Drew Lock connects with a nice TD pass
Drew Lock’s experience is in full effect. After throwing an interception on his first play of the game, Lock earned another chance to show off his arm strength. Fighting for the starting quarterback job in Seattle, Lock hit Penny Hart with a 35-yard touchdown pass. Pitches don’t get much better than this in Week 3 of the preseason.
Lock has a chance to take the job from Geno Smith, who started this game for Seattle. Head coach Pete Carroll says he will name a starter after the third preseason game.
Mark Ingram gets the second TD in the first quarter
Mark Ingram is the NFL’s active leading rusher and is still playing a prominent role with the Saints, adding two touchdowns in the first quarter as New Orleans jumped out to a 14-0 lead over the Los Angeles Chargers, who play the majority of your backups.
That touchdown run was from 2 yards.
Mayfield won the starting quarterback job in Carolina and is putting the exclamation point on this training camp with a 19-yard strike to Shi Smith for the touchdown. Smith has been mentioned as Mayfield’s favorite target by some of the local Carolina writers, emerging as a contender not only for a roster spot, but for regular season games as well.
Mayfield has two touchdown passes in the first quarter. This may be for him.
To the surprise of some, the Texans’ starting quarterback took the field for the start of the second half. After a pedestrian first two quarters in which he threw an interception, Mills led a six-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a touchdown — a 16-yard strike to Chris Moore.
This is a nice bullet pass into the middle of the field. Houston has high hopes for its second-year signal caller.
It’s the Bushman’s world, we just live there
Matt Bushman is having a big night and posted 73 receiving yards on his first three catches. He scored his second touchdown of the game early in the third quarter on a play that looked like a touchdown waiting to happen.
Essential interception
What at first looked like a great touchdown catch by the Texans turned into an interception by the 49ers in the blink of an eye. Credit to both defensive backs on this play for fighting for the ball. Samuel Womack III let him go, and then Tarvarius Moore somehow got him out.
Whose was that man?!
Chiefs tight end Matt Bushman ran a simple corner route and it resulted in a 54-yard touchdown. The safety wasn’t looking his way, and the cornerback thought he was handing off the tight end to his teammate. This play will look ugly when the Chiefs review the film.
The Packers got off to a slow start Thursday night, going three-and-out on their first two possessions. Things started to click on their third drive, however, as Green Bay drove 83 yards down the field in 11 plays to score the game’s first touchdown.
It was Iowa’s undrafted rookie who got into the Packers’ end zone. Check this out…