FRIDAY NIGHT
JETS 17, FALCONS 0
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Sam Darnold jogged
onto the field for his NFL debut and was greeted by butterflies in his stomach
and cheers in the stands.
The anxiety quickly faded. The buzz only got louder.
Darnold sparkled in his NFL debut and made a strong initial
case to win the Jets' starting quarterback job as he helped lead New York to a
17-0 victory over the Atlanta
Falcons on Friday night.
Darnold, the No. 3 overall draft pick in April, was the
Jets' third quarterback of the game, following Josh McCown and Teddy
Bridgewater. The former USC star received a standing ovation as he
jogged onto the field at MetLife Stadium with 8:41 to go in the first half.
Darnold's first series ended in a punt and his non-throwing
left hand was checked out by trainers on the sideline after it was stepped on.
But he was fine and wore a glove in the second half.
He got the crowd on its feet again just before halftime,
throwing a 14-yard touchdown pass to Charles
Johnson that gave New York a 17-0 lead.
RAIDERS 16, LIONS 10
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Jon Gruden jawed at the officials, worked
closely with the quarterbacks and was once again adored by the Oakland
Raiders fans.
Jon Gruden was a winner in his return to the sideline for
Oakland when the Raiders got a touchdown pass from Connor Cook in
a 16-10 victory over the Detroit Lions on
Friday night.
Gruden was welcomed back warmly to the Coliseum for his first
game here as Raiders coach since beating the Jets in a playoff game Jan. 12,
2001. Gruden was traded to Tampa Bay after that season and has spent the past
nine years as an ESPN analyst.
Raiders owner Mark Davis lured Gruden back to the sideline
with a 10-year contract worth a reported $100 million following a disappointing
six-win season under Jack Del Rio.
The Gruden era appeared to get off to a rousing start
when Marshawn
Lynch ran 60 yards for a TD on the third snap, but the score
was called back on a holding penalty by rookie tackle Kolton Miller.
Oakland settled for a punt on the only drive with starting
quarterback Derek Carr,
but scored three times in five drives with Cook at the helm. Cook threw a
7-yard TD pass to Ryan Switzer
in the second quarter and led Oakland to a pair of field goals by rookie Eddy Pineiro.
Cook finished 11 for 19 for 141 yards.
THURSDAY NIGHT
STEELERS 31, EAGLES 14
PHILADELPHIA -- Landry Jones and
Josh Dobbs each tossed touchdown passes and the defending Super Bowl champion
Eagles rested several starters, including quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Nick Foles. Nate Sudfeld threw
a pair of touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Ben
Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown sat
for the Steelers and Le'Veon Bell still
hasn't signed his franchise tender.
Jones completed all four of his passes for 83 yards,
including a 71-yard TD pass to JuJu
Smith-Schuster in the first quarter. Smith-Schuster made a
leaping catch over Rasul Douglas at
the 33 and ran untouched to the end zone.
Fitzgerald
Toussaint had a 3-yard TD run and a 2-point conversion, while
Dobbs threw a 29-yard TD pass to Damoun
Patterson.
Sudfeld threw a perfect strike for a 63-yard TD to Shelton
Gibson and fired a 15-yard TD pass to rookie Dallas
Goedert. He finished 10 of 14 for 140 yards.
Wentz still hasn't been cleared for contact after having
surgery to repair two torn ligaments in his left knee last December. Foles, the
Super Bowl MVP, has missed a few practices with muscle spasms in his neck and
shoulder.
Mason Rudolph,
a third-round pick competing with Jones and Dobbs for the backup job to
Roethlisberger, was 7 of 12 for 101 yards.
BROWNS 20, GIANTS 10
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Baker
Mayfield and Saquon
Barkley lived up to early expectations as the top two picks in
the NFL draft in their first action as the Cleveland
Browns beat the New York
Giants 20-10 on Thursday night.
Replacing starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor late
in the first quarter, Mayfield hit 11 of 20 passes for 212 yards, two
touchdowns, and converted two fourth-down plays with his feet. The Heisman
Trophy winner who was the No. 1 overall pick found tight end David Njoku on
a 10-yard TD pass to cap a 14-play, 72-yard drive on his second series. He
finished his debut with a completion on a 54-yard slant and run to fellow
rookie Antonio
Callaway.
Taylor, expected to be coach Hue Jackson's starter as
Mayfield learns this season, hit all five of his passes in two series,
including a 36-yard touchdown pass to Njoku, a New Jersey native.
Barkley, the No. 2 pick, electrified the fans at MetLife
Stadium, taking a handoff from Eli Manning on
the opening play from scrimmage and turning no apparent hole into a 39-yard run
down the sideline in front of the Giants' bench. It set up a 42-yard field goal
by Aldrick Rosas.
The Penn State running back finished with 43 yards on five
carries.
PANTHERS 28, BILLS 23
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Bills receiver Kelvin
Benjamin's feud with former teammate Panthers quarterback Cam Newton continued
before and during Carolina's preseason-opening win.
First, the two exchanged words on the field about 90 minutes
before kickoff. Then they each played key roles in touchdowns drives in the
first quarter.
Benjamin caught four passes for 59 yards, including a
28-yard touchdown reception from Nathan
Peterman on Buffalo's first possession. Newton responded on the
next possession, completing 4 of 5 attempts for 67 yards as part of an 85-yard
drive capped by Christian
McCaffrey's 2-yard run.
The bad blood between the two emerged last week when
Benjamin criticized Newton's accuracy and questioned why the Panthers used a
first-round pick to draft Benjamin in 2014. It was the latest time Benjamin has
voiced his frustrations since forcing his trade to Buffalo in October.
Before the game, a video posted by The Charlotte Observer
showed Benjamin chatting with Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis when
Newton approached the two and attempted to shake Benjamin's hand. Newton waved
away Davis, and then had a brief discussion with Benjamin before the receiver
began walking away.
Newton followed and the two talked again. The discussion
ended when Benjamin shrugged and turned to walk away, and Newton waved his hand
at the receiver's back.
Newton finished 6 of 9 for 84 yards in two series.
BENGALS 30, BEARS 27
CINCINNATI -- Andy Dalton made
a solid debut in Cincinnati's revamped offense, throwing for a pair of
touchdowns.
The Bengals were last in the league on offense last season,
the worst finish in franchise history. They overhauled their leaky offensive
line, and coordinator Bill Lazor injected more diversity into the playbook. It
showed the first time out.
Dalton went 6 of 8 for 103 yards, completing four passes of
at least 20 yards. He also had an interception that wasn't his fault -- John Ross fell
on his route and Kyle Fuller returned
the pickoff 47 yards to the end zone.
The Bears (0-2) rested most of their starters during a 17-16
loss to the Ravens in the Hall of Fame game, including quarterback Mitchell
Trubisky . His preseason debut didn't go very well.
Trubisky was in for two series that netted minus-1 yard on
eight plays. The Bears' only first down on those series came on Carlos Dunlap's
penalty for roughing the quarterback, a late hit on Trubisky. He missed on a
deep sideline pass to Kevin White on
his opening throw and finished 2 of 4 for 4 yards.
SAINTS 24, JAGUARS 20
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Blake Bortles completed
6 of 9 passes for 53 yards and scored on a short bootleg. Bortles was poised in
the pocket and nearly perfect in one series of work, a significant improvement
from the way his preseason started a year ago. Bortles had a five-interception
performance during a training camp practice in 2017 and continued to struggle
during joint practices with New England. He was benched two weeks into the
preseason and had to earn the starting job.
A year later, his starting spot is as solid as just about
anyone's on the team. It showed against the Saints.
Bortles led the Jaguars on a 15-play, 79-yard drive to open
the game. He converted both third-down passes he faced and finished off the
series by going untouched around the right side.
Saints star Drew Brees got
the night off, allowing backup Tom Savage to
play the first half. Savage completed 10 of 14 passes for 70 yards. Brees only
played in one preseason game in 2017.
Mark Ingram, suspended the first four games of the regular
season for violating NFL policy on performance enhancers, carried seven times
for 23 yards and a touchdown. Ingram scored against Jacksonville's backups and
after a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty kept the drive alive.
BUCCANEERS 26, DOLPHINS 24
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Buccaneers kicker Chandler
Catanzaro made a 26-yard field goal with 23 seconds left to cap
a 67-yard drive and give them the win.
Ryan
Tannehill completed passes on the first four plays in his
return from two serious injuries to his left knee, sparking a 40-yard drive
that ended with a missed field goal in his only series.
Tannehill, seeing his first action since December 2016, was
off-target on his final two throws and finished 4 for 6 for 32 yards.
Tampa Bay's Jameis
Winston played the second quarter against Miami's second team
and led a group of reserves to 10 points on drives of 32 and 40 yards. He went
11 for 13 for 102 yards in four series.
Winston is suspended for the first three games of the
regular season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Dolphins receivers Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson and
defensive end Robert Quinn protested
during the anthem. Stills and Wilson kneeled behind teammates lined up standing
along the sideline. Quinn stood and raised his right fist. There were no apparent
protests by the Buccaneers.
PATRIOTS 26, REDSKINS 17
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Colt McCoy outplayed Brian Hoyer in
a scrimmage of backup quarterbacks, while Tom Brady and Alex Smith stayed
on the sidelines counting their money.
On the day the Patriots reportedly sweetened Brady's
contract with $5 million in incentives, the reigning NFL MVP sat out the team's
exhibition season opener. So did his Washington counterpart, Smith, who was
traded to the nation's capital in the offseason and received a four-year, $94
million extension.
In their place, McCoy completed 13 of 18 passes for 189
yards and two touchdowns as Washington opened 17-0 lead in the first half.
Hoyer struggled against the Washington starters, but drove New England to a
pair of second-half touchdowns, including Ralph Webb's
8-yard run for a score followed by the catch on a 2-point conversion that gave
New England its first lead.
Washington was hit with a slew of injuries, including
second-round draft pick Derrius Guice,
who left with a knee injury after a 34-yard run (which was negated by a
penalty) near the end of the first quarter. Also needing medical attention: TE
Manasseh Gardner (knee), and WR Trey Quinn,
who took a hard shot in the side from Patriots cornerback Ryan Lewis and
took a few minutes to get up before heading to the medical tent.
RAVENS 33, RAMS 7
BALTIMORE -- Joe Flacco threw
a touchdown pass on his only series of the game and rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson ran
for a score.
Baltimore led 17-0 after the first period and cruised to the
finish against the Rams, who rested offensive stars Jared Goff and
Todd Gurley.
After sitting out the Hall of Fame Game last week, Flacco
went 5 for 7 for 71 yards during a 10-play drive. The 11-year veteran overcame
a second-and-25 with a 30-yard pass to newcomer Michael
Crabtree and finished with a 6-yard TD throw to Patrick
Ricard.
Jackson entered the next time Baltimore got the ball and
coolly directed a 73-yard march in which he completed a 36-yard pass to Chris Moore and
broke two tackles running for a 9-yard touchdown.
The Ravens and Rams held joint practices Monday and Tuesday,
and Los Angeles coach Sean McVay indicated the work against outside opposition
would enable him to rest a few of his starters in the preseason opener. He did.
PACKERS 31, TITANS 17
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Marcus
Mariota looked sharp orchestrating yet another new offensive
system for the Tennessee
Titans. Green Bay
Packers receiver Davante Adams needed
just one series to show he was in midseason form.
Mariota was 2 of 3 for 42 yards with a 4-yard scoring pass
to Darius
Jennings on the opening drive of Mike Vrabel's first preseason
game as Titans coach. Mariota also had one carry for 7 yards before leaving
after the nine-play series.
It was a nice, if brief, start for Mariota. He's picking up
a new scheme under his third head coach in four seasons.
Backup Brett Hundley did
his best impression of Aaron Rodgers by
hitting Adams in stride down the left sideline for a 48-yard completion.
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