The NFL preseason is coming to an end, but we still have two days of football to digest. We have eight games on Saturday, and last year’s Super Bowl rematch highlighted the Los Angeles Rams vs. Cincinnati Bengals.
Things started Thursday night when the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Green Bay Packers in front of home fans and the Houston Texans beat the San Francisco 49ers.
Each of the 32 NFL teams will be treated differently this week. Some will play their starter, some will play their starter more, and some will not at all. In fact, this week is more about the reserves, as the league’s coaching staff are figuring out who will be on their 53-man roster.
Below, we break down the highlights of all 16 preseason games. Bookmark this post as it will be your one stop shop for everything you need to see.
schedule
Thursday
Chiefs 17, Packers 10 (review)
Texans 17, 49 0 (review)
Friday
Panthers 21, Bill 0 (review)
Cowboys 27, Seahawks 26 (review)
Saints 27, Chargers 10 (review)
Raiders 23, Patriots 6 (Takeaway)
Saturday
Falcon 28, Jaguar 12 (review)
Tigers’ Rams (Gametracker)
Cardinals of the Titans (Gametracker)
Browns’ Bears (Gametracker)
Eagles at Dolphins (Gametracker)
Commander of the Ravens (Gametracker)
Colts Pirates (Gametracker)
Vikings at Broncos, 9 p.m. (Gametracker)
Sunday
Giants at the Jets, 1 p.m. ET, NFLN
Lions at Steelers, 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS
Trellon Burks returns with touchdown
The Titans’ first-round pick didn’t make a difference in Tennessee’s first two preseason games, but things were different on Saturday night. Burks caught the pass in Game 1 of the game and recorded another late in the first quarter. However, he subsequently left the game with a wrist injury and is considered likely to return.
Burks eventually returned in the second quarter with a 14-yard touchdown for his first NFL score.
Wild selection six
Elijah Campbell shouldn’t have scored in this game, but he did. Defensive backs took advantage of a poor pitch from Reed Sinnett and desperately scrambled back for a touchdown.
He ran into Sinnett and a bunch of Eagles at the 10-yard line, but kept moving his feet and found himself in the end zone.
Titans rookie quarterback focused on his pockets exist When he jumped into the NFL, his legs set him apart. Look at this game, Willis ran for 50 yards in the middle.
Not only is the Liberty product fast, but his moves in the open field are clearly dangerous. He has great vision and knows when to pull back or drop.
The Ravens have a new wide receiver who could make an immediate impact on the offense. Former Chiefs foreigner DeMarcus Robinson absolutely embarrassed Washington cornerback Danny Johnson on the route and led to a 67-yard touchdown.
This was also Anthony Brown’s first pass of the game. Are the Ravens a new quarterback factory?
Tua is on fire
How Tyrek Hill performs in Miami’s offense compared to what he did in Kansas City is a big storyline going into this season. There’s a saying that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t have the strongest arm, but he and new head coach Mike McDaniel are working hard against that notion.
In the first game of the Dolphins’ final preseason game, Tagovailoa found Hill running for 51 yards.
It took the Dolphins just four games to get their first touchdown of the game. Tagovailoa completed all 3 pass attempts for 72 yards, hitting River Cracraft for an 8-yard score.
punt touchdown
That’s how you defend the 53-man roster. Quinton Bell proved he could be a force for special teams with this punt-blocking touchdown as the Falcons extended their lead before halftime.
The connection between Falcons rookies and rookies
While Reed did have an interception in Game 1 of Saturday’s game, he rebounded for a 15-game 75-yard touchdown on the Falcons’ next possession. On the second goal, Reed found another rookie running back Tyler Algair to score.
The Falcons have the versatile Cordarrelle Patterson and Damien Williams as running backs, but some expect Allgeier to make a difference in his first NFL season.
Blocked in the first game!
Rookie quarterback Desmond Reed started Saturday’s third and final preseason game in Atlanta, and unfortunately, he was blocked in the first game of the game!
Check out this article from Jaguars safety Daniel Thomas:
Ben DiNucci wins TD for Cowboys
The Cowboys were able to beat the Seahawks in the preseason finale thanks to Bendinucci’s winning touchdown pass to Peyton Hendershot. A 14-yard pass gave the Cowboys a 27-26 lead with 4:07 left, and Dallas overcame 10 penalties to seal the victory.
Dinucci could well be the Cowboys, but he could be somewhere in the NFL next week.
Brandon Smith gets a TD catch for Cowboys
Brandon Smith was a long shot on the Cowboys’ 53-man roster, but he impressed the coaching staff with a touchdown touchdown. Will Greer’s 8-yard catch in the back of the end zone tied the game with the Seahawks in the third quarter.
Smith led Dallas with three catches, making the most of his last chance.
Sam Darnold rushes to TD, exits with ankle injury
Sam Darnold, now Carolina’s No. 2 quarterback, had a sizable share of the Panthers’ rushing points last season. His 1-yard score gave Carolina a 21-0 lead in Buffalo with 7:06 left in the third quarter.
Darnold finished with a career-high five rushing touchdowns for the Panthers last season — or as many as he had with the Jets in his first three seasons in the league combined.
It’s not all good news for Darnold, who was taken off the court after suffering an ankle injury and won’t be returning.
Drew Lock Connect Beautiful TD Pass
The Drew Lock experience is fully functional. After intercepting in the first play, Locke got another chance to show his arm strength. Rock hit Pennyhart on a 35-yard touchdown pass as Seattle battled for the starting quarterback job. Throwing doesn’t get any better than this in Week 3 of the preseason.
Lock had the opportunity to take over the job from Geno Smith, who started for Seattle. Head coach Pete Carroll said he will name a starter after the third preseason game.
Mark Ingram gets second TD in first quarter
Mark Ingram is an active lead rusher in the NFL and still plays a big part in the Saints, rushing for two touchdowns in the first quarter as New Orleans leads the Los Angeles Chargers 14-0 — — the latter take up most of their backups.
The touchdown run was from 2 yards.
Mayfield earned the starting quarterback spot at Carolina and used a 19-yard strike to give Shismith a touchdown on this camp. Smith, mentioned by some local writers in Carolina as a favorite target for Mayfield, has become not only a roster contender, but a regular-season steal.
Mayfield had two touchdown passes in the first quarter. That might be it for him.
To the surprise of some, the Texans’ starting quarterback came on at the start of the second half. After a pedestrian interception in the first two quarters, Mills led a six-game, 77-yard drive that ended with a touchdown — a 16-yard strike by Chris Moore.
It was a nice bullet pass in the middle of the field. Houston has high hopes for its second-year signal caller.
This is the Bushmen’s world, we just live in it
Matt Bushman had a great night, recording 73 receiving yards on his first three catches. He scored his second touchdown of the game at the start of the third quarter in what looked like a turnover waiting to happen.
must see interception
What at first seemed like a great Texan touchdown turned into a 49ers interception in the blink of an eye. That’s thanks to the game’s two defensive backs fighting for the ball. Samuel Womack III knocked it loose, and then Tarvarius Moore dragged it in for no reason.
whose man is that? !
Chiefs tight end Matt Bushman ran an easy corner line and led to a 54-yard touchdown. The safety wasn’t looking in his direction, and the cornerback thought he was handing the tight end to his teammates. When the Chiefs censors the film, the drama will look ugly.
The Packers got off to a slow start on Thursday night — 3-pointers out of the first two possessions. However, things started to click on their third drive as Green Bay scored the game’s first touchdown for 83 yards in 11 games.
The undrafted rookie from Iowa entered the Packers’ end zone. Take a look at the EXPLOSIVE run by Tyler Goodson, capped by spinning action.
Texans’ Dameon Pierce continues hot start
Houston’s rookie running back has been one of the stars of the preseason. Pierce didn’t play last weekend after an impressive first week of racing. Texans head coach Lowe Smith said he let Pierce out because they saw a lot of him in their first preseason game, Every professional football networkwhich probably means he is RB1.
Pierce, however, played Thursday night, rushing for 37 yards on six occasions in the Texans’ opening game, while Houston rushes for 85 yards and touchdowns in 11 games. Who scores for the Texans? I’ll give you a guess.
‘Chorus Gathering’ Tributes to Ron Dawson
Earlier this week, the legendary Hall of Fame quarterback Ron Dawson dies at 87. The former No. 5 overall pick is a Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl MVP, NFL Person of the Year and Chiefs legend. To kick off the Chiefs’ preseason matchup on Thursday night, Patrick Mahomes took the field and lined up in the famous “choir party” in honor of Dawson.
Mahomes trotted off the field after a game penalty denied by the Packers was delayed.
