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The NFL preseason's win-loss results don't mean much, but the happenings within those games do. 

Seeing as nearly 1,200 players lost jobs this past weekend, the preseason has major implications. Some of those players wound up on practice squads or were claimed by other teams, while others are still looking for employment.

Cutdown day proved beneficial to some teams and players who either filled positions of need or wound up in better situations. However, other teams will enter Week 1 with glaring concerns.

The following players and teams emerged as the biggest winners and losers of the 2019 NFL preseason based on what's unfolded over the past few weeks.

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Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was dangerously close to finishing the preseason as a loser because of his lackluster offensive line. 

After getting sacked a league-high 62 times last season, Watson got sacked twice on the opening drive during the Texans' Week 3 preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys (although one got called back by a penalty). Houston's decision not to radically overhaul its offensive line this offseason looked increasingly questionable.

But on Saturday, the Texans made their move. 

In a trade with the Miami Dolphins, the Texans acquired offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. While it's fair to question how much they gave up, Watson now has a dominant left tackle who should have a positive ripple effect on the entire line and another pass-catching weapon.

Although Watson didn't play much this preseason, he did finish 5-of-7 for 60 yards and a touchdown in the Texans' Week 2 game against the Detroit Lions.

With Tunsil protecting his blind side and Stills set to complement DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller V and Keke Coutee in the passing game, Watson should now be cleared for takeoff in his third NFL season.

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Chronic NFL underachievers are failing Josh Rosen. 

Rosen spent the first year of his career on an abysmal Arizona Cardinals team that ended up firing its entire staff before shipping him to the Miami Dolphins. Those Dolphins turned around and named Ryan Fitzpatrick their starting quarterback before going into full-on tank mode with the aforementioned Tunsil trade. 

Whenever Rosen eventually gets onto the field, he'll do so without one of the team's top targets (Kenny Stills) and a downgraded offensive line. 

This isn't to say Rosen was perfect during preseason action. He finished 28-of-45 for 352 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. But the 22-year-old is learning a new team and system after spending his rookie season with the Cardinals and dealing with multiple offensive coordinators in college. 

With the Dolphins seemingly embracing a ground-up rebuild, they'll likely soon turn their attention to top signal-callers in the 2020 draft. That means Rosen will have one season to convince them that he's their quarterback of the future, but he'll have to do so on a depleted roster.

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Few backup quarterbacks will ever get a chance like this. 

Indianapolis Colts signal-caller Jacoby Brissett entered the preseason firmly as the No. 2 QB behind Andrew Luck. A few weeks later, he's sitting as the unchallenged starter on a roster tailored toward protecting a franchise passer.

Brissett's play earned him a two-year, $30 million extension, per ESPN's Mike Wells, that was finalized Monday. 

The early returns have been encouraging.

In the Colts' second preseason game, Brissett finished 8-of-10 for 100 yards and a score. Otherwise, the Colts mostly kept him out of action in case he would go into Week 1 as the starter. 

Brissett was shaky in place of Luck in 2017, but he had just come over from New England and didn't have much time to learn the offense. Two seasons later, he's the uncontested starter behind a massively upgraded line, has had two more years of development and has offensive mastermind Frank Reich at the controls. 

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The New York Jets spent the No. 68 overall pick on edge-rusher Jachai Polite in April.

On Saturday, they waived him as part of their cut down to a 53-man roster.

Although Polite was a first-round candidate and an All-SEC linebacker, he entered the draft with some questions, as NFL.com's Lance Zierlein wrote: "Polite's frightening speed to the edge on tape was missing in his pre-draft workouts as he showed up much heavier and with purported hamstring issues during all of his testing."

Polite didn't stand out much during the preseason, either. He finished with only five total tackles and zero sacks.

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, "disciplinary issues apparently came into play" as well.

"Polite was fined more than $100,000 for tardiness and other issues regarding doing things he shouldn’t have done or not doing things he should have been doing," Florio reported.

Polite ended up on Seattle's practice squad, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, but he'll be well behind where he needs to be given the preseason developments. 

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At the beginning of August, Duke Johnson Jr. was stuck behind Nick Chubb on the Cleveland Browns. 

A few weeks later, Johnson now looks like the lead running back for a Houston Texans team that sits as the favorite in the AFC South.

In early August, the Texans cut D'Onta Foreman. A few days later, they traded a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick to the Browns for Johnson.

During the Texans' third preseason game, starting running back Lamar Miller went down with a torn ACL. And the biggest free-agent threat to steal the starting role—LeSean McCoy—instead decided to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Johnson missed time during the preseason with a hamstring injury, but he'll head into the regular season as a potential every-down back. He's averaged 4.3 yards per carry to date and caught 235 passes during his four seasons with the Browns.

Johnson is now sliding into a big role on a potent Texans offense, which means his career outlook has never been brighter. 

While the Texans did acquire Carlos Hyde via a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, according to Schefter, he shouldn't cut into Johnson's snap counts too much. The Chiefs were likely to cut Hyde, and he's now on his fifth team in two years. 

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Melvin Gordon III is the latest big-name running back to take a hardline stance about his contract and skip team activities. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, he "does not plan to report for Week 1 as he sorts through potential trade options during his holdout."

However, his holdout may be backfiring. 

The Los Angeles Chargers seem comfortable with his replacements, Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson. Ekeler tallied 60 rushing yards on 12 carries this preseason and added six catches for 57 yards, while Jackson added 68 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.

As a rookie in 2018, Jackson averaged 4.1 yards per carry and caught 15 passes. Ekeler averaged 5.2 yards per carry on 106 attempts, caught 39 passes and totaled six touchdowns.

The two filled in admirably for Gordon when he missed four games last year, which likely gave the Chargers confidence in their ability to handle the full-time rushing workload. 

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Chargers had offered Gordon a long-term deal worth roughly $10 million per year, but Gordon wanted more. On Sunday, Chargers general manager Tom Telesco told reporters that contract negotiations are now tabled until the season ends.

By sitting out, it appears as though Gordon has lost a ton of leverage. If he returns to the Chargers, he'll be behind in the offense and perhaps a step slow physically after going without contact since last year. 

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As far as undrafted players go this preseason, there might not be a better story than Cincinnati Bengals wideout Damion Willis.

The Troy product led the Bengals in receiving with five catches for 59 yards in the second preseason game. He again led the team in receiving in Week 3 with three grabs for 55 yards and a score, which earned him the fourth preseason game off.

Bengals coaches have tabbed Willis as the starter in place of the injured A.J. Green in Week 1 thanks to his summer and preseason performances. 

On Sunday, Willis will take the field with a chance to prove himself in Seattle against a strong Seahawks defense. But based on his preseason momentum and endorsement from his coaches, he'll be ready.

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It's hard not to name the Los Angeles Chargers as the biggest loser of the preseason. 

While the Indianapolis Colts lost Andrew Luck to retirement, the foundation around Jacoby Brissett remains. Meanwhile, the foundation flanking Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is crumbling. 

Running back Melvin Gordon III is a question mark going into the season. The Chargers will roll out rotational backs until Gordon ends his holdout, but it gives Rivers fewer options to work with on offense.

The Chargers are also without starting left tackle Russell Okung, who will miss at least the first six games of the season. He's on the non-football-illness list as he continues to recover from a pulmonary embolism. 

On defense, star safety Derwin James suffered a stress fracture in his foot that's expected to sideline him until at least mid-November, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. Losing James, who tallied 105 total tackles, 13 passes defensed, 3.5 sacks and three interceptions last year, is a huge blow for a Chargers defense that finished ninth in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed.

With Gordon, Okung and James all sidelined at the moment, the Chargers have been hit with a haymaker before the season even begins. Fresh off a 12-win season, the Chargers will have to survive a brutal AFC West with a soon-to-be 38-year-old quarterback and a depleted supporting cast on both sides of the ball.