NFL Preseason Week 3: Takeaways from Thursday's Action

It's dress rehearsal time.

Thursday night, the third week of the 2016 preseason got underway. It's the week where the starters will see their most extensive action until Week 1—the closest thing we're going to get to real football before the games begin to count.

Thursday's first game featured a pair of southern also-rans, as Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons met the Miami Dolphins in a contest that started with Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill peeling off a 22-yard run.

No, really. He did. Would it make it more plausible if I told you that same drive ended with him tossing a pick?

It was the late game most folks wanted to see. The Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks are both big draws, but toss in the preseason debut of Ezekiel Elliott and the ongoing saga of King Dak the Magnificent, and you have about as much drama as you can reasonably expect from exhibition football.

Who stood out? Who stank? Which teams were ready for Week 1? Who needs to head back to the practice field?

Happy Birthday, Old Man

Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

On Wednesday, Miami Dolphins running back Arian Foster turned 30 years old. It's an age when many running backs are relegated to the scrap heap—especially when that running back has an extensive injury history that includes a torn Achilles tendon the year before.

However, the departure of Lamar Miller in free agency left the Dolphins with more questions than answers in the run game, so the team took a flier on Foster this summer.

Before Thursday night's tilt with the Falcons, head coach Adam Gase told Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald he wanted to see what exactly the Dolphins have in the four-time Pro Bowler.

"We didn't have much to evaluate," Gase said. "Whatever carries he had, there wasn't much there to try to create. He did a couple of things on his own. Hopefully we can take a long look at him this week. I don't want to overdo it with him. Obviously, his resume speaks for itself."

If his showing against Atlanta was any indication, what the Dolphins have is a new starter in the backfield.

Foster clearly outplayed second-year pro Jay Ajayi in every facet of the game. He looked better running the football. Was his usually fluid self on a nifty 16-yard reception. Showed excellent vision in the backfield on a two-yard touchdown scamper.

It's a limited sample size (seven touches, 30 total yards), and given Foster's litany of soft-tissue injuries, the clock may well be ticking until he gets hurt again.

But against the Falcons at least, Foster turned that clock back.

Keanu Neal Banged Up

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn't just the Atlanta defense's pride that took a hit when Foster peeled off that long gain on a screen.

Injury was added to insult when the team lost one of their young defenders as well.

The Falcons are looking at starting a trio of rookies in an effort to add speed to their defense this year, chief among them first-round pick Keanu Neal.

As head coach Dan Quinn told Knox Bardeen of CBS Atlanta, it didn't take long for Neal's physical style of play to become a hit with teammates.

“We thought that [Neal’s physical play] would show up once we got in pads,” Quinn said. “I think that’s certainly his game and he’s got such respect from other members of his team because of his work ethic.”

Unfortunately, Neal's also had some issues staying on the field. He missed the preseason opener with a torso injury, and after Foster stiff-armed the youngster, he had to be helped from the field with an injured right knee.

Neal was able at least to walk to the locker room under his own power, and Quinn told NBC Sports (via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that Neal's injury was “not a significant knee injury at this point."

Matty Ice Cold

Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

After starting the season 5-0 in 2015, the Atlanta Falcons went splat—3-8 the rest of the way.

There were a number of reasons for the swoon, but one contributing factor was quarterback Matt Ryan's alarming propensity for ill-timed turnovers. Not that there's a good time to throw an interception, but many of Ryan's came as the team was in the opponent's kitchen and preparing to eat.

Ryan admitted to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com earlier this month that avoiding those gaffes was a priority for him in 2016.

"I think quarterback play comes down to third-down conversions and you've got to score points," Ryan said. "You don't want to turn the football over, but you have to play aggressive. ... I think where we need to improve the most is the red zone. We have to be more efficient in the red zone. We have to score more touchdowns."

I'm guessing you know where I'm going with this.

On the Falcons' first drive of the second quarter, with the team inside the Miami 10-yard line, Ryan coughed it up yet again, throwing an errant pass that was nabbed by Dolphins safety Reshad Jones.

It was the low point of a shaky first half against Miami. Ryan completed only 55 percent of his 20 attempts in the first 30 minutes and posted a passer rating of less than 50 in a 17-6 loss.

That's hardly the sort of "dress rehearsal" Dan Quinn and the Falcons were looking for from their $100 million (and then some) quarterback.

Texas-Sized Heart Attack

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

If there's one thing NFL teams dread above all others in the preseason, it's an injury to an important player.

Like, say, a star quarterback who missed most of the 2015 season thanks to two broken collarbones.

According to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the main factor that will determine whether the Dallas Cowboys can shake off the stink of a four-win 2015 is the health of Antonio Ramiro Romo.

"There is no bigger factor impacting the Dallas Cowboys season than the health of quarterback Tony Romo," Hill said. "You want to make the Cowboys great again? Keep Romo healthy and on the field."

Given that point (which no one is lining up to argue with), you could audibly hear the gasp from the state of Texas when Romo went down after an awkward tackle by Seattle's Cliff Avril on the game's first series.

When Romo clutched at his balky back, those gasps became screams—the contents of which are not fit for print.

Luckily the injury didn't appear serious, and Romo lobbied to get back in the game. He wasn't allowed back in, of course, with team owner Jerry Jones telling CBS 11 (per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News), "After that little scare ... I guess I got my breath. He's not injured. He was OK on the sidelines."

Dallas fans could start breathing again, only to have that breath taken away once more.

Because Romo on the sidelines could only mean (cue dramatic NFL Films music)...

Dak Attack!

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

...Dak Prescott taking the field.

After Romo went down, given the immense success Prescott has enjoyed under center for the Cowboys this preseason, the assumption by many fans was likely that he would throw eight touchdown passes in a Dallas rout. And play defense. And put on the halftime show, where he would perform the complete works of William Shakespeare.

All the parts. Because he's just...that...good.

It hasn't just been fans, either. Granted, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports didn't call for Prescott to usurp Romo as the starter (as some fans have) while on the Dan Patrick Show (via the Dallas Morning News), but he did throw in comparisons to arguably the two best quarterbacks in the NFC.

"This kid's an athlete," La Canfora said. "He's got some Russell Wilson in him. He's got a little Aaron Rodgers in him. Maybe he turns out to be just a guy. But there is a lot of clay to mold there."

Against Seattle's starters, a measure of order was restored to the universe. Prescott didn't play badly, completing 17 of 23 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown to Jason Witten. But that lone touchdown drive came mostly courtesy of Elliott's legs, not Prescott's arm.

And there was more than one occasion when the Seahawks brought pressure that Prescott looked like a young quarterback seeing something for the first time. The yardage and scores didn't come so easily against a first-rate, first-team NFL defense.

Don't get me wrong. I like Prescott. I was very impressed with those first two outings, and in some ways it was even more impressive Thursday that he didn't push it—didn't make any glaring mistakes with the football against one of the NFL's better defenses.

The Cowboys should thank their lucky star that Prescott fell into their laps on Day 3 of the 2016 draft.

But he's no Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers just yet.

The Book of Ezekiel

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

Everyone figured a Dallas Cowboys rookie would generate a ton of buzz this preseason.

We just whiffed on who it would be.

The spotlight was "supposed" to be on tailback Ezekiel Elliott, the powerful young Ohio State star the Cowboys drafted at No. 4 overall.

Compliments of a balky hamstring, it had been a quiet preseason for Elliott. But Thursday the youngster finally made his NFL debut—against the stingiest run defense in the NFL last year.

Someone apparently forgot to tell Elliott.

It's important not to get too wrapped up in seven carries in a game that doesn't matter, but they were seven very good carries for 48 yards.

Everything that made Elliott a top-five pick was on display. The vision. The quick feet. The power—especially the power.

He ran through a pair of tackles from Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor. The same Kam Chancellor who's been to four Pro Bowls and is considered one of the biggest hitters in the NFL.

Elliott told Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPN.com before his debut that he was going to treat Thursday the same as any other game.

"I try to think of it just like another game," Elliott said. "That's how you want to attack every game. You don't want to attack one game more than another. You can't go out and press. That's when you're going to make mistakes. Just act like you've done it before."

If that's the case, Dallas fans have a lot to look forward to in 2016.

Russell's Ready

Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

There were two teams playing in Thursday's nightcap, so it would only seem fair to at least mention the Seattle Seahawks.

For the most part, it was a businesslike effort from the perennial contenders. Outside the Cowboys' second drive of the game (the one where Elliott rolled), the first-team defense put the clamps on Prescott and the Dallas offense. Defensive end Cliff Avril in particular looked ready for Miami and Week 1, piling up 1.5 sacks.

With the retirement of Marshawn Lynch, there's absolutely no doubt who is the straw that stirs the drink on the other side of the ball for Seattle.

The Seahawks will go as far in 2016 as quarterback Russell Wilson takes them, And if his final play of the evening Thursday is any indication, he'll take them pretty far.

It was vintage Wilson—the sort of play that makes the team's fans cheer and the opponents' fans groan.

On 3rd-and-4 from the Dallas 9-yard line, Wilson escaped pressure, rolled back across the field, bought some time, bought some more time, made a sandwich, ate the sandwich, filled out his taxes, called his wife (because he's sensitive like that) and then found Tyler Lockett in the corner of the end zone for six points.

For the evening, Wilson was 16-of-21 for 192 yards and two touchdowns, with a passer rating of 135.4.

If Matt Ryan's dress rehearsal was the antithesis of what you want from a signal-caller in this last tuneup, Wilson's was a clinic.