NFL Preseason Week 3: Takeaways from Friday's Action
There is no more dramatic event in all of sports. No more intense spectacle. It makes the recently completed Olympics look like an episode of Antiques Roadshow.
It is...the NFL preseason, sponsored by Hot Takes Hot Sauce. Hot Takes Hot Sauce...it's Skiptastic!
Kidding aside, this third week of the 2016 preseason is easily the most important. It can also be the most nerve-wracking. Just ask the Dallas Cowboys, who nearly needed a defibrillator after quarterback Tony Romo went down in a heap Thursday.
Relax. He's fine.
The "dress rehearsal" preseason games offer our longest look at the starters in the preseason. The best glimpse we're going to get at NFL teams before the games begin to count in a couple of weeks.
Whether it was a potential Super Bowl preview in Charlotte, North Carolina, or the quarterback nontroversy (you heard me) in San Francisco, there were any number of storylines in play Friday evening.
Here are the biggest takeaways from how those stories played out.
A Whole Lotta Ugly
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Friday night the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers met in a matchup that could very well be a preview of Super Bowl LI. A pair of prolific offenses led by NFL MVPs squaring off against two of the league's best defenses.
It was a potentially thrilling affair rife with subplots, not the least of which was an important measuring stick for New England's Jimmy Garoppolo as he prepares to lead the New England offense while Tom Brady is serving a four-game suspension.
Garoppolo admitted as much earlier while speaking to reporters, per Rich Hill of SB Nation.
“It's a good test,” he said. “Like I said before, it's a very talented defense and all the way across the board they have good players everywhere. It will be a good test, and we're on the road, so it's a pretty close simulation to Week 1. It will be good for us.”
To his credit, Garoppolo played better than either Brady or Carolina's Cam Newton. And by "played better," I mean he completed more than half of his pass attempts.
The same couldn't be said about SuperCam or the Golden Boy.
Brady did manage a long touchdown to newcomer Chris Hogan, but he did so while misfiring on six of his nine attempts. Newton one-upped him on the futility scale, adding a pair of first-half interceptions to a completion percentage of less than 50 percent.
What does it all mean? Probably nothing. When January rolls around, the Pats and Panthers are good bets to still be playing.
But the poor fans who had to sit through that stinker aren't getting those hours of their lives back.
Cousins Sharp vs. Bills
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There may not be a quarterback in the NFL under more pressure in 2016 than Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins.
Again.
After leading the Redskins to a surprising NFC East title last year, Washington slapped the franchise tag on Cousins. Yes, the $20 million he'll make in 2016 is nice work if you can get it.
But the megadeal that could come if Cousins backs up his huge second half last year is so much better.
Cousins told Albert Breer of The MMQB he welcomes the challenge:
"Here I am again. The team says they want to see another year. That’s fine. I’ve been in this same spot twice with a lot on the line—my college decision and my career decision. I’m getting paid a good amount this year, and it’s not like I’m stressing and losing sleep over it each night, over what’s going to happen. I played last year making a lot less in the same situation. I had to prove it.
"
Based on Friday's first half against the Buffalo Bills, the Redskins better get ready to break out their checkbook.
In leading the Redskins to a 21-9 halftime lead, Cousins threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers.
With Washington struggling to run the ball and potentially without starting tailback Matt Jones to begin the season, it may take those kinds of performances if the Redskins are going to repeat in the East.
Jameis Looking Famous
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There's been a great deal of talk this preseason focused on how Jameis Winston can improve in his second season as the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
However, as Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today wrote, after Winston passed for over 4,000 yards as a rookie and led the Buccaneers to their most yardage in franchise history last year, head coach Dirk Koetter bristled a bit at the notion that his quarterback needs to play markedly better for Tampa to have success in 2016.
“You’re making it seem like there’s so much more for him to do in his second year,” Koetter said. “He already did it all. I mean, he’s got to do it better. He’s got to do it more. The playbook is never finished. But right now, there’s nothing that we ask of him that he can’t do.”
It may not matter. If Winston's performance Friday was any indication, he went ahead and improved over the offseason just to do it.
The Buccaneers had no problem moving the ball in the first half against the Cleveland Browns, scoring on their first four drives in a game that was blown open before the first 15 minutes was over.
In the first quarter, Winston was 7-of-11 for 90 yards, including a nice touchdown toss to tailback Charles Sims where Winston used his mobility to extend the play.
By the time he found favorite target Mike Evans from 34 yards out in the second quarter, Winston had buoyed those numbers to 12-of-18 for 232 yards and two scores, with a passer rating of 146.8. He finished 16-of-25 for 259 yards.
Not a bad night at the office.
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The Browns Are Not a Good Football Team
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In the lead-up to Cleveland's tilt with Tampa Bay, new Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton told Matthew Florjancic of WKYC-TV that he has a couple of priorities for his unit in 2016.
“I would say in the NFL, 1 and 1A is stop the run and hit the quarterback,” Horton said. “That is our emphasis all the time. You have got to be good tacklers. You have got to be able to pressure the quarterback. You have got to be gap sound. That’s Fundamental Football 101, things we preach every day."
Apparently pass defense wasn't a priority for the team, because the Browns didn't play any.
The Buccaneers scored on their first four possessions of the night (five, if you count a punt return score). The lapses in coverage weren't entirely the secondary's fault either. No one can cover forever, and the Browns generated next to no pass rush against Tampa's starters.
Tampa's pass rush, however, was another story.
The Buccaneers piled up five sacks in the first half, including a pair by defensive end Jacquies Smith.
If you're a Tampa fan, watching the Buccaneers move up and down the field at will while completely dominating both lines of scrimmage had to be a welcome sight. The sight of a team that looked ready to take on the Atlanta Falcons in a couple of weeks.
The Browns, on the other hand, looked like they would have trouble beating the Boston College Eagles, much less the Philadelphia Eagles.
It was an ugly showing and a painful reminder to fans on the shores of Lake Erie.
Get ready for a ninth straight losing season.
But take heart, Browns fans. Amid the dark clouds there was a ray of sunlight.
Late in the first half, down 27-3, Robert Griffin found Josh Gordon for a 43-yard score, the third straight game in which Griffin has thrown a long touchdown pass.
In that first half, Gordon had two catches...for 87 yards.
Is it Week 5 yet?
Preseason? Who Needs It?
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After an injury-plagued 2015 campaign, the Pittsburgh Steelers have played it cautiously in the preseason with offensive stars Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger.
The quarterback said to the Sports Xchange (via United Press International) that he was looking forward to getting out there for a little while against the New Orleans Saints on Friday.
"It's good for all of us," Roethlisberger said. "For me to understand them and for them to understand me, how I work. For the new guys, to know how I communicate and how I play. Even for the linemen, to get back out there with everybody."
If there was any rust, Roethlisberger didn't let it show. Twice in two drives he led the Steelers the length of the field, quickly piling up 148 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-17 passing, including a 57-yard score to Brown.
This after New Orleans linebacker James Laurinaitis said to Rod Walker of the Advocate that facing Pittsburgh's high-octane offense would be a good litmus test for the Saints' new-look defense—a defense that was 31st in the NFL in 2015.
“It’s a huge test,” Laurinaitis said. “Ben’s a top-five quarterback. … Whenever you play a top-five guy, it’ll be a good gauge. We’ll see where we’re at. So it will be a good challenge for us.”
"Where they were at" looked an awful lot like where they spent last season.
Downtown Sieveville.
Mr. Rodgers' Neighborhood
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Like Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers had yet to play this preseason. And as Jason Wilde of the State Journal wrote, since losing wideout Jordy Nelson to an ACL tear in an exhibition last year, Rodgers hasn't been shy about sharing his distaste for August football.
Rodgers did take the field for two series against the San Francisco 49ers on Friday night, though. And just like Roethlisberger, it didn't take long for Rodgers to find his groove.
Rodgers' stat line (6-of-9, 60 yards, 1 touchdown) wasn't as gaudy as Big Ben's, but as quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt told Wilde, Rodgers dipping his toes in the preseason pool wasn't about the Pro Bowl quarterback anyway.
“Just for those guys to feel the stress of what it’s like to play and the expectations that come from the offense with him, that’s the kind of things [that are important]," Van Pelt said. "He may not get stuff out of it, but other guys definitely will feel it.”
Rodgers, for his part, didn't grumble too much about playing.
“Whatever Mike [McCarthy] wants me to do,” Rodgers said. “I’m not sure how long he wants me to play. But it’ll be good to get out there and get some work with the guys.”
It was no doubt also good for McCarthy to watch a Green Bay offense that had struggled to move the ball in the first two exhibition games march the length of the field in a manner to which the head coach is accustomed.
Throw in Nelson's return to the practice field, and it's been a good week in Titletown.
Nontroversy Rages Anew
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Despite the fact he'd yet to play in the preseason thanks to shoulder soreness, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick told Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News before Friday's game against the Packers he was confident he could still inject himself into the mix to start Week 1.
"I'm going to go out and show everything I can these next two games," Kaepernick said, adding that he'll "make sure I put my best foot forward to show this organization, this team, this coaching staff, what I'm capable of."
Well, Kaepernick did see his first action of 2016 against Green Bay.
And that ship sailed along with it.
It isn't that Blaine Gabbert was a world-beater. Hardly. Gabbert was 2-of-3 for 14 yards in limited work, although he did lead the Niners on a touchdown drive that culminated in what would have been scored a three-yard touchdown pass to Quinton Patton were it not technically a lateral.
The problem is that Kaepernick couldn't do any better. In fact, he did worse, completing only two of his six pass attempts (again for 14 yards).
Kap did pick up another 18 yards with his legs, but the San Francisco offense went nowhere fast when he was at the helm.
If there was any question who would start against the Los Angeles Rams on the first Monday night of the 2016 regular season, that "debate" was put to rest Friday.
Niners fans have my condolences.
The 'Mom Would Be Proud' Play of the Night
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Adam Humphries of the Buccaneers has had a good summer.
It's just a continuation of the improvement Humphries has shown from the moment he arrived in Tampa as an undrafted free agent last year. From there it was the practice squad. Then the active roster. By season's end Humphries had quietly settled into a role in the slot, reeling in 27 passes and scoring once.
As Scott Smith of the team's website reported, Jameis Winston made it clear he has no problems looking to the player head coach Dirk Koetter recently named the team's No. 3 receiver.
"I definitely trust that guy with all my heart, I know Coach Koetter trusts him and this team trusts him," Winston said. "That's a big thing for him. I'm pretty sure when he hears that [he's the third receiver], he's going to work even harder."
But wait, there's more!
Humphries is more than just a feel-good story—a tale of the little guy making it big.
He's also a threat in the return game, as he demonstrated with a 73-yard punt return score in the first quarter of Tampa's win over the Cleveland Browns.
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