Round-up of the weekend's NFL preseason action as Zach Wilson starred for the New York Jets, Trey Lance threw two touchdown passes for the San Francisco 49ers, Tua Tagovailoa led the Miami Dolphins to victory and Mitchell Trubisky led the Buffalo Bills past his old team the Chicago Bears
Monday 23 August 2021 09:39, UK
Zach Wilson delivered flashes of his arm talent as he registered a near-faultless display to lead the New York Jets past the Green Bay Packers, while Mitchell Trubisky helped the Buffalo Bills to victory over his former employer Chicago Bears as NFL preseason continued.
The New England Patriots had kicked off the second week of preseason on Thursday night with a 35-0 blowout victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, during which rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson scored two touchdowns while Cam Newton and Mac Jones both saw time under center.
Trey Lance threw for 102 yards and two touchdowns as San Francisco defeated host Los Angeles on the road. Lance, whom the 49ers drafted with the third overall pick in this year's NFL draft, hit Travis Benjamin with a 16-yard scoring toss with 5:01 left in the third quarter to erase a 10-8 deficit.
He had connected with Mohamed Sanu Sr. on a five-yard pass with 12 seconds to play before halftime. San Francisco also scored two points on a safety recorded by defensive end Jordan Willis in the first quarter.
Chargers quarterback Easton Stick threw for 85 yards and a touchdown, a three-yard strike to Joshua Palmer in the second quarter. Michael Badgley kicked a 50-yard field goal, also in the second quarter, for Los Angeles.
Wayne Gallman II of the 49ers rushed for a game-high 72 yards, and team-mate Trent Sherfield had 50 yards receiving. Jalen Guyton had a team-high 39 yards receiving - on one catch - for the Chargers, and no rusher gained more than 15 yards.
The Cleveland Browns edged the visiting New York Giants 17-13 in a fairly even matchup on Sunday afternoon. Both teams rested most of their starters, with the Giants' offensive line the only secure first-team players to play in the game.
The Browns totaled 370 yards and 24 first downs, while the Giants had 308 and 18, respectively.
Cleveland's Kyle Lauletta completed 14 of 23 passes for 152 yards against his former team, while Case Keenum also finished nine of 12 for 74 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Browns.
Brian Lewerke completed 11 of 19 passes for 108 yards, one touchdown and an interception for New York. The Giants had a chance to win on the final play of the game, but Lewerke's pass was intercepted in the end zone.
Mitchell Trubisky torched his former team by throwing for 221 yards and a touchdown to lead the visiting Buffalo Bills to a 41-15 victory over the Chicago Bears on Saturday.
Trubisky completed 20 of 28 passes while receiving a mix of boos and cheers from the fans at Soldier Field. He was selected by the Bears with the second overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, but the team declined to pick up his fifth-year option. Trubisky is expected to back up Pro Bowl quarterback Josh Allen this season.
Chicago's Andy Dalton completed 11 of 17 passes for 146 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields entered in the third quarter and completed nine of 19 passes for 80 yards while rushing for 46 yards.
Fields received a scare to start the fourth quarter after he was drilled by Bills linebacker Andre Smith, who was whistled for roughing the passer. Khalil Herbert scored on a 13-yard touchdown run on the next play.
New York rookie quarterback Zach Wilson had a great showing, passing for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. New Jets wide receiver Corey Davis had four catches for 70 yards while tight end Tyler Kroft caught both scoring strikes from Wilson. Matt Ammendola kicked three field goals for the Jets, including a 54-yarder.
Kurt Benkert played the whole way at quarterback for Green Bay, which was without Jordan Love (shoulder). Benkert finished 18-for-25 for 151 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Packers finished with three turnovers.
Tua Tagovailoa passed for 183 yards and a touchdown and Myles Gaskin scored twice as host Miami cruised past Atlanta. The second-year quarterback found Gaskin for an eight-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to highlight a crisp effort against a Falcons team that rested its starters.
The Dolphins' first unit played the opening half and went into the locker room with a 14-3 lead.
Atlanta's A.J. McCarron, who is competing to be Matt Ryan's backup, was three of six for 43 yards before leaving with a knee injury. Feleipe Franks came on and completed four of nine passes for 46 yards and an interception.
Baltimore posted a victory at Carolina to equal the NFL record by winning its 19th straight preseason game, tying Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1962. The Ravens rested about half of their offensive starters, including quarterback Lamar Jackson as Tyler Huntley threw for 187 yards with an interception in his place.
Nate McCrary and Ty'Son Williams each rushed for a score for Baltimore. Sam Darnold only attempted two passes for Carolina, one of which was a 16-yard completion to Robby Anderson, his former teammate with the Jets.
Christian McCaffrey did not suit up for the Panthers, who totaled only 33 yards on 17 rushing attempts without their star tailback.
Ben Roethlisberger posted a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3, throwing two touchdowns in Pittsburgh's triumph over Detroit.
Roethlisberger completed eight of 10 passes for 137 yards for the host Steelers, while the Lions sat quarterback Jared Goff. Running back Najee Harris, Pittsburgh's first-round pick this year, totaled 10 yards on four carries but caught two passes for 53 yards.
David Blough was 12-for-17 for 143 yards and a touchdown to pace Detroit, while Mason Rudolph went 13-for-18 for 138 yards in relief of Roethlisberger, and Dwayne Haskins came on to pass for 56 yards and run for 10.
Playing without Tom Brady and many other starters, Tampa Bay struggled to find its footing in a lopsided loss to visiting Tennessee. Rookie second-round pick Kyle Trask saw the bulk of the action in Brady's place and went 13-of-26 for 131 yards with two interceptions. He also completed a pass to Tanner Hudson that was fumbled and returned by Briean Boddy-Calhoun 42 yards for a touchdown.
Matt Barkley and Logan Woodside combined for an impressive line for Tennessee (which rested Ryan Tannehill), posting a collective mark of 19-of-24 for 151 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Indianapolis scored a field goal in each quarter, and that proved sufficient to edge host Minnesota in an ugly affair. Neither team reached 300 yards of total offense, as Carson Wentz sat for the Colts and Kirk Cousins only played three series for the Vikings, totaling 23 yards on five of seven passing attempts.
Troy Dye's 33-yard interception return for a touchdown was one of the few highlights for Minnesota. Jacob Eason logged the bulk of the minutes under center for the Colts, finishing with 132 yards on 16-of-27 passing.
The Indianapolis defense held the Vikings to just eight first downs on 13 drives and only 227 total yards.
Continuing to play without Deshaun Watson, visiting Houston mustered enough offense - and got a defensive touchdown - in a victory over Dallas.
Texans rookie quarterback Davis Mills was 10-of-16 for 115 yards without a touchdown or a pick, while veterans Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Driskel combined to throw just seven uneventful passes.
The Cowboys watched Cooper Rush go 10-of-12 for 97 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions before Ben DiNucci threw three interceptions without a touchdown as part of a 14-of-19 performance.
Mark Ingram had 24 yards on seven rushing attempts, including a two-yard TD run for Houston, which got its other touchdown on a 53-yard interception return by Lonnie Johnson Jr. midway through the third.
Las Vegas successfully defended a potential go-ahead two-point conversion try with 15 seconds remaining to hold on and beat host Los Angeles.
The Raiders broke a 10-10 tie on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Peterman (16-for-24, 172 pass yards, one TD and two interceptions) to Marcell Ateman with just under seven minutes left in regulation.
The Rams, who continued their trend of resting nearly every impact starter during the entire preseason, capped a 16-play drive with a two-yard scoring strike from Bryce Perkins to tight end Jacob Harris.
Perkins was 26-for-39 passing for 208 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while also rushing for 41 yards on nine carries.
Teddy Bridgewater continued his push in his effort to win Denver's starting quarterback job in a nearly flawless performance at Seattle, which avoided playing time for most of their regulars.
Bridgewater threw only two incompletions in his 11 attempts, posting 105 passing yards and a first-quarter scoring toss to KJ Hamler.
Bridgewater's main competition, Drew Lock, also recorded solid aerial numbers (nine-for-14, 80 yards), but he took two sacks and fumbled twice - though Denver recovered both. Sean Mannion completed 13 of 23 passes for 118 yards through the air for Seattle.
Patrick Mahomes guided the Chiefs to a field goal and threw an interception during his three-series stint as Kansas City earned a 17-10 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Friday.
Mahomes completed 10 of 18 passes for 78 yards. Backup quarterbacks Chad Henne and Shane Buechele each threw a touchdown pass for Kansas City (2-0).
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray also played three series, and he connected on just one of four passes for two yards. After Colt McCoy (13 of 18, 113 yards, one interception) played the bulk of the game for Arizona, Chris Streveler threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass.
McCoy also led the Cardinals with 20 rushing yards on three carries.
Undrafted rookie running back Jaret Patterson ran one yard for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter as Washington topped Cincinnati.
Patterson logged a game-high 71 rushing yards on 16 carries, and he added three receptions for 25 yards and one kickoff return for 37 yards.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was seven of 13 for 96 yards for Washington (1-1), and Taylor Heinicke connected on 11 of 13 passes for 80 yards. With Joe Burrow sitting out for Cincinnati (1-1), Brandon Allen produced 70 yards on eight-of-17 passing.
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