5 Things We Learned from NFL Preseason

Another NFL preseason is in the books—which means it’s time, at last, to look ahead to competitive football.

Though the importance of the preseason is regularly questioned (Jordy Nelson probably wants it abolished), those four weeks of exhibition games offer a glimpse into what the upcoming season has in store.

Tyrod Taylor’s performances left Buffalo Bills fans drooling. Jarryd Hayne, the Australian rugby star-turned-NFL running back, looked as if he’d grown up on the gridiron.

Here are five more takeaways from the preseason.

NaVorro Bowman Offers 49ers Hope

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As offseasons go, the San Francisco 49ers’ was a disaster.

Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Chris Borland and Anthony Davis retired, Borland and Davis at the respective ages of 24 and 25.

The team released Aldon Smith was following his fifth arrest. Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree departed in free agency.

But in just two preseason games, NaVorro Bowman made the 49ers forget all about their offseason woes.

Bowman missed the entire 2014 season due to an ACL tear sustained in the 2013 NFC Championship Game, not that you could tell by the way he chased running backs and rushed quarterbacks.

Against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 of the preseason, Bowman recorded three tackles, two of which went for a loss.

What’s most impressive is that Bowman only played three snaps in the entire game.

The three-time All-Pro linebacker was even more dominant a week later against the Denver Broncos. Given an increased workload—the coaches upped his snap count to 42—he recorded seven solo tackles and two sacks via A-gap blitzes.

New head coach Jim Tomsula was full of praise for Bowman after the game, as reported by ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez:

"He was just having a blast and it was right. He would have played all night if we had let him. He had a great look in his eye. It was great for him."

The 49ers are in a state of flux after losing an abundance of key pieces in the offseason, but in Bowman, Tomsula has a reinvigorated leader keen to make up for lost time.

The Eagles Offense Looks Very Exciting

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Chip Kelly’s option-based offense is always fun to watch. Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Eagles head coach has never had the right quarterback to run it during his two years in the NFL.

That problem no longer persists.

Sam Bradford has picked up Kelly’s scheme—which looks complex but, as noted by Andy Benoit of MMQB.com, “has essentially seven or eight total plays”—with the ease at which Marcus Mariota picked it up in Oregon.

Bradford, acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Rams that saw Nick Foles head to Missouri, led the Eagles on four drives in the preseason, all of them ending in touchdowns.

He completed 86.7 percent of his throws and threw three touchdown passes against the Green Bay Packers. NFL.com’s Kevin Patra noted that Bradford’s “precision is a perfect meld with Chip Kelly’s offense.”

In the preseason, the Eagles were No. 1 in average points per game (33.2) and yards per game (404.2). The Kansas City Chiefs were second in points per game, scoring on average 6.7 points less than the Eagles. That’s almost a touchdown and successful PAT behind.

They gained 39 more yards per game than the Packers, their nearest competitor.

Those stats are remarkable considering the Eagles offense was on the field an average 23 minutes and 44 seconds per game, the smallest number of minutes by any offense.

Jeremy Maclin departed in the offseason, but in Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff and 2015 first-round pick Nelson Agholor, who marked his preseason debut with a 34-yard touchdown, Bradford has a trio of young, talented weapons.

The Eagles ranked third in points scored last season with Mark Sanchez as quarterback for half the year. Now that’s Bradford’s running the show, the league’s No. 1 offense is a realistic target.

The Broncos Don’t Need Peyton to Be Spectacular, Their Defense Is Legit

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It’s fair to say Peyton Manning didn’t light things up in the preseason.

In 11 possessions against the Houston Texans and 49ers, he didn’t lead a single touchdown drive and was picked off by 49ers cornerback Kenneth Acker.

The interception was an underthrown pass attempted for Demaryius Thomas, adding further evidence that Manning is playing his 18th season in the league with a significantly weaker arm than in previous years.

Fortunately for Manning, he won’t need to be at his 2013-season best in order to capture a second Super Bowl ring.

The Broncos defense looks set to carry him toward one.

Wade Phillips replaced Oakland-bound Jack Del Rio as the defensive coordinator, and his 3-4 scheme has produced terrific results.

Only the Cowboys and Washington Redskins bettered the Broncos’ 245.5 yards relinquished per game. They also led the league in sacks (20).

The depth at linebacker was clear to see. Behind All-Pro veterans DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller await rookie Shane Ray and second-year player Shaquil Barrett, both of whom stood out.

Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson lauded Ray, the Broncos' first-round pick in the 2015 draft, by giving him a +6.2 grade, the highest of all first-round rookies, after recording 2.5 sacks.

Barrett, an undrafted free agent, was the Broncos’ star of the preseason. He had a league-high four sacks and a team-high 13 solo tackles.

The Broncos defense, which ranked third in the league in yards allowed in 2014, returns nine starters, including Pro Bowl cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr.

At 39 years old, Peyton Manning is beyond his peak but, with an imposing defense and C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman providing the running threat, that doesn’t matter.

Khalil Mack: Defensive Player of the Year Candidate?

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Mack is unlikely to surpass J.J. Watt as the league’s best defensive player in 2015, but the preseason taught us that Mack has the potential to reach elite status.

This is Monson’s assessment of Mack’s performance against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3:

"

The +11.3 grade he produced in that game was higher than we’ve seen from anyone else at his position in the preseason before. He wreaked havoc on the Arizona offensive line in a way we haven’t seen before, notching a pair of sacks, a hit and five additional hurries over his 50 snaps. Mack has been by far the best pass-rusher at his position so far this preseason.

"

High praise indeed, and it didn’t stop there. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Mike Sando named Mack their No. 1 player under the age of 25.

Mack only recorded four sacks in 2014, but if the performance against the Cardinals is anything to go by, then he’s on his way to becoming a destructive pass-rusher akin to Von Miller.

PFF ranked him the top 4-3 linebacker in 2014 (via Raiders.com), one spot ahead of Miller.

The comparison Mack is really chasing, however, is that made by teammate Justin Tuck, who said Mack is “capable of being” as good as Lawrence Taylor and Derrick Thomas, per Michael Wagaman of ESPN.com.

Taylor and Thomas both reached the Pro Football Hall of Fame; Mack is entering his second season in the NFL. Still, it’s easy to see where the hyperbole comes from.

While Pittsburgh's Offense Is Loaded, Their Defense Is in a State of Disarray

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Mike Tomlin will have no concerns over what his offense is capable of this season. Ben Roethlisberger and his supporting cast of Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant will put up scary numbers.

Though things aren’t so promising on defense.

The Steelers ranked 29th in points conceded per game (24.4) and 29th in yards given up per game.

In Week 4 against the Bills, Taylor, Matt Cassel and EJ Manuel and Matt Simms, none of whom have proved to be exceptional quarterbacks, ripped the Steelers defense apart.

They combined to finish 30-of-33 passing for 395 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.

To further mortify the Steelers, the Bills’ best receiving options—Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Percy Harvin and LeSean McCoy—didn’t feature in the contest.

One week later against the Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh conceded 226 rushing yards.

As is custom in the final preseason game, the starters sat out. Still, it didn’t reflect well on the backups, who will be thrust into action if a first-string player gets injured.

There’s a new-look defense in Steel City after Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, Ryan Clark and Jason Worilds retired and long-time defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau left to join the Tennessee Titans in the offseason.

Keith Butler, who replaced LeBeau, must get the best out of his linebackers, the defense’s strongest position group, for the secondary is a mess. As of Sunday, September 6, Butler wasn’t even sure who his starting right cornerback was, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The Super Bowl is the Steelers' target, but the offense may have to score 30 points per game for that to happen.