There's only one jam-packed Thursday of preseason "action" left. After that day of games, Saturday at 3 PM CT is the deadline for teams to cut down to 53-man rosters. Once those 22 last-minute cuts are made, everyone will rush to do their fantasy football drafts. This can mean only one thing: Andy Todd's Official Fantasy Football Rankings are coming up instead of a fourth week of preseason overreactions. Let's not worry about that for now, here are week 3's results with overreactions.
 |
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Navorro Bowman is back! |
Patriots defeat Panthers 17-16
A man named Philly drops everything as Carolina's receiving woes reach critical mass.
Which starter looked the best?: Fantasy-wise? Greg Olsen X 1,000,000 (he got 9 targets, 6 catches and 51 yards in less than a half of football. DRAFT THIS MAN). Football-wise? Last season's Patriot first-round DE Dominique Easley appears to be ready for his breakout. If his three tackles, two for loss and one sack are any indication, Easley will be huge reason for any success New England has if/when Tom Brady is suspended.
Which starter looked the worst?: Corey "Philly" Brown is supposed to be the #1 receiver (#2 once Devin Funchess gets healthy and figures out the offense) but, his one five-yard catch on seven targets was as clear of a red flag as you are going to get from a wide receiver whom you intend on keeping, let alone starting. Not all of Cam Newton's passes to Brown were perfect but, the amount of drops or catch-able passes he ignored were too high to make him anything more than a return man with the occasional deep target.
Back-up of the Game: Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo got rid of his nerves against Green Bay week one and is now ready to start in case Tom Brady's suspension stands as called in the league office. Back-to-back awesome performances have Bostonians feeling cockier than ever as Jimmy G. threw for 126 yards on 13 of 17 passing with a touchdown to preseason-favorite RB Dion Lewis. The GOATroppolo experience is about to take off next year and it might not be in New England if he gets ornery about his playing time (but why would he as long as Brady is winning him rings?).
New England's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: WR Josh Boyce, WR Jonathan Krause, TE Jimmy Mundine, DL Joe Vellano, LB Dekoda Watson
Carolina's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: WR Jarrett Boykin, OT Tony Hills, WR Paul Browning, WR Avius Capers, DE Steve Miller, LB Kevin Reddick, TE Dallas Walker, FB Lee Ward, P Matt Wile, DT Kenneth Horsley, S Robert Lester, WR De'Andre Presley
Biggest Overreaction: Jonathan Stewart looked washed up. Carolina is in for a terrible season, no doubt about it.
Lions defeat Jaguars 22-17
Blake Bortles' shows signs of greatness in a pass-a-thon won by the Lions.
Which starter looked the best?: Lions Linebacker Stephen Tulloch tore his ACL in the
dumbest way possible last season. The good news is, despite his past transgression to Lion football, Tulloch appears to be 100% healthy as he seemed to make a cameo on every single play by Jacksonville's offense. Tulloch's ability to follow the ball-carriers led him to eight tackles and a pass deflection in one half of football. He was a top 100 player in the NFL pre-injury and he should be one again now post-injury.
Which starter looked the worst?: Jacksonville Cornerback Dwayne Gratz could not cover anybody on Friday night and even though I do not believe that many of the defenses we saw this weekend gave even 75% effort, Gratz just looked lost against Golden Tate. Gratz needs to perform quickly or else, he risks losing his job to another young talent.
Back-Up of the Game: Zach Zenner did not catch either of his two targets but, the un-drafted Running Back impressed for a third consecutive week with eight carries for 85 yards. If he does not make Detroit's roster (which is probably George Winn's problem now), he should lock up a spot immediately on another team's RB depth chart (New England?).
Detroit's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: WR Ryan Broyles, DE Erik Williams, RB Desmond Martin, TE Deon Butler, CB Jocquel Skinner, WR Vernon Johnson, DT Roy Philon, QB Garrett Gilbert, CB R.J. Stanford, WR Andrew Peacock, LB Justin Cherocci, TE Jacob Maxwell
Jacksonville's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: WR Greg Jenkins, LB Mister Alexander, DE Camaron Beard, OL Cody Booth, CB Tommie Campbell, S Desmond Cooper, DT Eric Crume, WR Tandon Doss, LB Khairi Fortt, TE Connor Hamlett, P Kasey Redfern, OL Jack Rummells, QB Jeff Tuel
Biggest Overreaction: T.J. Yeldon only got ten yards on eight carries? Here we go again on a wild carousel of terrible Jaguar Running Backs. I miss MJD and Fred Taylor.
Chiefs defeat Titans 34-10
Kansas City establishes a passing game as Maclin's fantasy value continues to mean nothing to him.
Which starter looked the best?: Jeremy Maclin should fit into Kansas City's offense the same way he fit into every pre-2014 Eagles offense. That is, he will catch a ton of passes for a ton of yards but, will not be a WR1 in fantasy the way he was with Chip Kelly. 2014 was a career year for a reason for Maclin and although, he will take a step back, his seven catches on eight targets from Alex Smith for 65 yards and a touchdown prove that he is the focal point of this offense when Jamaal Charles isn't running for another 1,000 yards.
Which starter looked the worst?: Justin Hunter (4 targets, 0 catches) actually had a small chance at winning the #2 receiver role in Ken Whisenhunt's offense but, his reception-less game Friday night sealed his fate on Tennessee's bench for most of the upcoming regular season. This guy still does not appear to know how to run routes and I was really hoping Marcus Mariota might have been able to help Hunter study the playbook but, Hunter appears to just want to leave Tennessee and begin anew elsewhere and I would not be "OMG ULTIMATE SHOCKER" surprised if they released him before the regular season.
Back-up of the Game: Once Jeremy Maclin exited the game for a second-half rest, Chiefs WR Fred Williams took over his role in the offense and excelled in a way Kansas City had yet to see from him this preseason. Five catches on five targets for 62 yards and a touchdown have provided KC with a little bit of confidence in their receiving depth (or at least, what's left of it) and a reliable fixture within their offense in case Maclin goes down at any point when he ultimately gets 200 targets.
Kansas City's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: WR Kenny Cook, OT Anthony Dima, LS Andrew East, WR Junior Hemingway, CB Aaron Hester, DE Vaughn Martin, CB Kenneth Penny, OL Marcus Reed, OT Tavon Rooks, TE Adam Schiltz, WR Jeret Smith, OL Charles Tuaau, WR L'Damian Washington
Tennessee's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: LB Nate Askew, CB Will Brown, LB Dezmond Johnson, WR Tebucky Jones Jr., WR Deon Long, DE Derrick Lott, G Justin McCray, K Mike Meyer, LB Chaz Sutton, C Fernando Velasco, TE Tevin Westbrook, S Josh Aubrey
Bills defeat Steelers 43-19
Pittsburgh rolls over and quits as the Bills' four team captains merge to create a Tom Brady-esque performance.
Which starter looked the best?: Buffalo QB Tyrod Taylor did enough over the preseason and especially in this game (12/13-122-0-0, 20-yard rushing TD) to convince Rex Ryan that he should start over the rest of the Bills' mediocre Quarterbacks.
Back-up of the Game E.J. Manuel looked great as well (7/8-170-2-0) but, for the second week in a row, it appeared as though this Steeler defense gave 10% effort and could not be bothered with giving actual effort in a meaningless game. I'd be worried if I were a Steeler fan and I'd want whomever told Dick Lebeau to leave, to leave themselves. I feel like I know less about the Bills' Quarterback situation than I did previously.
Which starter looked the worst?: Bills' defensive backs (literally all of them) could not have looked worse against Martavis Bryant (3-138-1). Granted, Bryant is super-duper talented and has been known to catch a deep ball or two in the past but, the amount of space he received from the Bills' defense was ridiculous. They are not a playoff team until that defensive backfield catches up to their opposing receivers.
Buffalo's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: RB Fred Jackson, DE Michael Buchanan, CB Ross Cockrell, DT Justin Hamilton, LB Andrew Hudson, OT Terren Jones, CB Ellis Lankster, S Kenny Ladler, S Wesley Miller, G D.J. Morrell, DE Cedric Reed, RB Ricky Seale
Pittsburgh's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: G Miles Dieffenbach, WR Kenzel Doe, WR C.J. Goodwin, RB Braylon Heard, DE Joe Kruger, DT Joe Okafor, OL Collin Rahrig, CB Jordan Sullen, OT Kevin Whimpey, S Ian Wild
Biggest Overreaction: Tyrod Taylor is going to be a revelation in 2015 the way that Colin Kaepernick broke out in 2012.
Dolphins defeat Falcons 13-9
Rishard Matthews scores only TD in a surprising defensive battle.
Which starter looked the best?: Defensive Tackle Earl Mitchell plugged up every hole created by the Falcons' offensive line. Ndamukong Suh's partner-in-defensive-crime did not play a ton but, recorded two tackles for a loss (3 total) and a sack along with forcing Atlanta's run-game to completely collapse among itself with 50 yards on 24 carries. Mitchell, Olivier Vernon and Cameron Wake should see a lot more time in the backfield with o-line's focusing more on Suh.
Which starter looked the worst?: How is Kroy Biermann still a starting NFL Defensive End? He did manage to grab one Dolphin for a loss of yards and that was the extent of his damage Saturday night. He has never been a good pass-rusher (maybe his rookie season), yet he has been on the team's defensive line for nearly a decade. No wonder Atlanta hasn't made the playoffs in three years.
Back-up of the Game: Everybody get ready for Mike Hull. I've been bragging up the Penn State Linebacker for three weeks now and Miami will have to find a way to play him by this time next season because, he will only keep getting better.
Miami's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: DT Calvin Barnett, RB Demitrius Bronson, G Bryant Browning, WR LaRon Byrd, WR Kevin Cone, DE Ray Drew, P Brandon Fields, WR Tyler McDonald, DE Kendall Montgomery, TE Gerell Robinson, CB Sammy Seamster, S Phillip Thomas, C J.D. Walton
Atlanta's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: LB Boris Anyama, LB Jonathon Mincy, WR Marquez Clark, RB Michael Ford, WR John Harris, DT Warren Herring, NT Derrick Hopkins, OT Matt Huffer, CB Mike Lee, G Eric Lefeld, LB Terrell Manning, DE Sam Meredith, C Valerian Ume-Ezeoke
Biggest Overreaction: The offensive line's flaws are too large to overcome for either Tevin Coleman or Devonta Freeman to provide Atlanta with a running game.
Browns defeat Buccaneers 31-7
Cleveland's defense flashes potential in blowout of Tampa Bay.
Which starter looked the best?: Desmond Bryant hit Jameis Winston three times. That is a pretty great performance for any Defensive Tackle. Tampa Bay has had offensive line troubles and Winston does not always know when to release the football but, all the credit in the world goes to Bryant for his two sacks and otherwise strong showing.
Which starter looked the worst?: Jameis Winston (6/15-90-0-1) looked very rookie-ish. I believe we have seen his worst-case scenario now (limping, not sure what he's going to do on 66% of plays, no offensive line to help) and Tampa fans should be prepared for a roller-coaster ride of
a losing season before fully developed Jameis Winston shows up.
Back-up of the Game: Sixth-round corner Charles Gaines is fighting for a roster spot and made a very nice case for himself by shutting down Tampa Bay's back-up receivers. Gaines finished the game with one deflected pass and an interception off the arm of Jameis Winston. The former Louisville corner should be on the Cleveland practice squad at least to start 2015.
Cleveland's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: DT Phil Taylor (Legit shocker), TE Anthony Ezeakunne, WR Shane Wynn, LB Everette Brown, LB Moise Fokou, RB Jalen Parmele, DB Aaron Ross
Tampa Bay's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: RB Dominique Brown, DT Quayshawne Buckley, OL Antoine Everett, LS Brandon Hartson, FB Joey Iosefa, S Kimario McFadden, P Karl Schmitz, CB Al-Hajj Shabazz, DE George Uko, DE Jamal Young, P Michael Koenen, WR Robert Herron, CB Leonard Johnson, C Josh Allen
Biggest Overreaction: Josh McCown looked vastly improved from his week two self. He could make Cleveland a sleeper playoff contender with that defense.
Vikings defeat Cowboys 28-14
Minnesota wins again behind an amazing night of passing.
Which starter looked the best?: Tony Romo is still a second-tier NFL Quarterback. He looked great against Minnesota's improved first-team defense, completing five of eight passes to five different receivers for two touchdowns and 88 yards. He spread the ball around to the likes of Cole Beasley and Lucky Whitehead and appears to be able to succeed even without Dez Bryant (rest) on the field.
Which starter looked the worst?: Byron Jones is now the starting Cornerback opposite Brandon Carr in Dallas's defensive backfield with Orlando Scandrick done for the year on a torn ACL. Jones may have four tackles but, if you are an NFL corner, the last thing you should get excited about in your box score is a bunch of tackles. He gave up four completed passes and luckily for Dallas, wrapped up the receiver on all four plays. He'll need to do a better job at shutting down the opposition if Dallas wants to win back-to-back NFC North championships.
Back-up of the Game: Viking QB Taylor Heinicke had not exactly warmed Viking fans' hearts with his play so far this preseason but, Saturday night he completed all eleven of his passes for 83 yards (he liked 'em short). The un-drafted QB from Old Dominion might not have enough talent to beat out the veteran Shaun Hill but, he at least one nice performance under his belt.
Minnesota's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: RB Joe Banyard, TE Brandon Bostick, OT Carter Bykowski, CB Jalil Carter, CB Justin Coleman, WR DaVaris Daniels, T Stephen Goodin, LB Josh Kaddu, QB Mike Kafka, WR Jordan Leslie, DE Caesar Rayford, DT Chrishon Rose, CB DeMarcus Van Dyke
Dallas's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: TE Brandon Barden, WR Phil Bates, DE Kenneth Boatright, LB Jonathan Brown, T R.J. Dill, WR Antwan Goodley, RB Michael Hill, P Tom Hornsey, LS Casey Kreiter, WR David Porter, CB Robert Steeples, DT Carlif Taylor
Biggest Overreaction: Teddy Bridgewater is on pace to complete 80% of his passes and the Vikings are on pace to go 16-0!
Jets defeat Giants 28-18
The Annual Snoopy Bowl features zombies Zac Stacy and James Jones.
Which starter looked the best?: Odell "More awesome than spiderman, superman, batman and the incredible hulk put together" Beckham Jr. plays football like the most talented Wide Receiver I have ever seen. There was plenty of talk leading up to Saturday's reservation on Revis Island and Eli Manning found ways around it by throwing shorter slant passes to OBJ/ODB/whatever we're calling him now. Five receptions for 31 yards on six targets and
one incredible catch that did not count were all in a day's work for the Giants' new face of Head and Shoulders.
Which starter looked the worst?: The Giants' offensive line as a whole. Ryan Nassib and Eli Manning were hit a total of nine times in this game and not all of that was just Nassib hanging onto the football for too long. Sure, the Giants may have improved at this facet of their game by drafting Ereck Flowers with the ninth overall pick but, can they honestly expect everyone to believe that Flowers is ready to start at Left Tackle immediately? I think Eli Manning is going to be in a lot of trouble with this fragile offensive line and the Giants' below-average defense.
Back-up of the Game: Zac Stacy (14 touches, 84 yards, 1 TD) demanded a trade immediately after the Rams selected Todd Gurley in the first round of this April's draft and rightfully so as Stacy was a viable NFL starting Running Back during the second-half of 2013 before Jeff Fisher pushed him out the door for Tre' Mason (whom Fisher has pushed to the bench most likely for Gurley). If Saturday night is any indication, Stacy could usurp Stevan Ridley from his role of backing up Chris Ivory. Of course, this was one flash of brilliance in an otherwise downward-trending career so, he could also be cut by this time next week.
Jets' Cuts to a 75-man Roster: CB Javier Arenas, OL James Brewer, CB Curtis Brown, C Dalton Freeman, WR T.J. Graham, WR Saalim Hakim, WR Austin Hill, LB Bryan Johnson, TE Matt LaCosse, CB Keith Lewis, WR DeVier Posey, WR Jonathon Rumph
Giants' Cuts to a 75-man Roster: OL Michael Bamiro, WR Juron Criner, G Eric Herman, S Justin Halley, RB Akeem Hunt, WR Derrick Johnson, P Robert Malone, OL Brandon Mosley, DL Jordan Stanton, DL Jimmy Staten, TE Will Tye
Biggest Overreaction: James Jones is going to make Reuben Randle totally irrelevant in this offense.
Now that this post is halfway done, here are my preseason picks for the College Football Playoff this year...
1. Ohio State (duh)
2. TCU (I was captain on the TCU hype train last year and while I doubt they get placed in with any losses on their record, I still think they'll play like the second best team in the nation)
3. Oregon (I'm really uncomfortable choosing an Oregon team coached by someone other than Chip Kelly with a Quarterback other than Mariota but, I love the potential of Vernon Adams and would not be totally stunned to see them succeed through so much change)
4. Oklahoma (My favorite sleeper pick of the year. I had Trevor Knight/Samaje Perine/Eric Striker as the 3 guys I was looking at for winning the Heisman this year. Well, Knight lost his starting role to Baker Mayfield so, that was a miss-fire.)
My Preseason Heisman Pick: Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma
Who wins it all? I'm not even going to pretend to have any confidence in this choice but I'll take Ohio State over Oregon. Again? Again. Kind of lame, I admit it.
Back to the NFL!
Bengals defeat Bears 21-10
Andy Dalton suffers a minor neck injury as A.J. McCarron leads Bengals to a win.
Which starter looked the best?: Martellus "The Black Unicorn" Bennett pulled a Greg Olsen by grabbing a ton of passes in just one half of football. Bennett's 2014 breakout season appears to have been no fluke as he caught all seven of his targets from Jay Cutler for 45 yards. Bennett remains the safety blanket of this offense when Matt Forte doesn't have a ton of blockers in front of him.
Which starter looked the worst?: Matt Forte was weirdly ineffective in this game as he could only muster 16 yards on six carries while also catching zero passes out of his two targets. It was absolutely a fluke as Cincinnati's run defense played quite well and Forte is still a top ten Running Back in the league at minimum. Every great player has their bad games once in a while (2014 Examples: Brady vs. KC, Rodgers vs. BUF).
Back-up of the Game: A.J. McCarron had yet to prove that he belonged in the NFL due to his missing all of 2014 with a shoulder injury. His professional football debut against Tampa last Monday was a tad underwhelming and his play against Chicago (12/17-149-1-0) inspired me to believe that he is a trustworthy backup Quarterback.
Cincinnati's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: WR Denarius Moore, DT Kwame Geathers, LB Nico Johnson, WR Onterio McCalebb, DE Sam Montgomery
Chicago's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: CB Tim Jennings, DB Malcolm Bronson, QB Shane Carden, TE Kevin Greene, T Cameron Jefferson, WR Jeremy Kelley, CB Al Louis-Jean, LS Rick Lovato, G Lucas Nix, WR Levi Norwood, DE Olsen Pierre, TE Chris Pantale, WR John Chiles
Biggest Overreaction: That Bengals defense is going to destroy every Running Back this year.
Washington defeats Ravens 31-13
Kirk Cousins wins his first preseason start over a cold Raven team.
Which starter looked the best?: Steve Smith Sr. sure knows how to get a defense riled up. Smith got involved in a brawl after an illegal tackle on teammate Kamar Aiken. He was ejected pretty quickly into the game as a result and yet, still finished with four catches for 95 yards and a long touchdown catch-and-run. He will be the same player he was last season as long as he keeps his health and stays in games. I also approved of his fighting style (yell a lot and never throw a punch).
Which starter looked the worst?: Alfred Morris (9 touches, 10 yards) is supposed to get a similar workload to that of DeMarco Murray last season but, seems to have shown inconsistency that could get rookie RB Matt Jones (8 touches, 74 yards) around 30-40% of carries instead. Jones is not someone I was very high on coming out of Florida but, he seems to be on the quick road to starting in the NFL with Morris's contract up after this season.
Back-up of the Game: Washington might have one of the four worst Quarterback situations in the NFL (along with the Jets, Texans and Browns) and yet, they are absolutely stacked at Wide Receiver (I'm not kidding, go check out that depth chart). Third-year practice-squad receiver Rashad Ross had one hell of a connection with Colt McCoy. The former Arizona State Sun Devil caught six passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns. He might get cut at the end of the preseason but, he won't be a free agent for very long.
Washington's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: TE Ernst Brun, LB Dyshawn Davis, TE Chase Dixon, CB Tajh Hasson, LB Alonzo Highsmith, CB DreQuan Hoskey, WR Tony Jones, K Ty Long, TE Devin Mahina, G Bryce Quigley, OT Willie Smith, CB Thomas Wolfe, CB Bryan McCann
Baltimore's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: G Leon Brown, WR DeAndre Carter, CB Tramain Jacobs, G Marcel Jones, P Justin Manton, WR Aldrick Robinson, LS Patrick Scales, WR Trent Steelman
Biggest Overreaction: New Ravens Offensive Coordinator Marc Trestman is going to completely erase any running game they re-built with Justin Forsett last season.
Seahawks defeat Chargers 16-15
Former Badgers continue to struggle in a low-scoring game decided by Steven Hauschka.
Which starter looked the best?: Former Bill Stevie Johnson (4-63-0) should fit right into the San Diego offense very well as he's always been pretty on-par talent-wise with Malcom Floyd and now that San Diego has both, Philip Rivers will have his most reliable set of weapons in years. If Ladarius Green plays more like his 2014-self than his 2013-self then, expect Stevie J to get a boatload of targets.
Which starter looked the worst?: Let me tell everyone about something that makes me very nervous, Melvin Gordon's preseason and his sudden lack of vision. I get it, San Diego's offense is nowhere near the NFL's best offensive line whereas Wisconsin's offensive line was one of the best in college (and always has been). Watching Chargers games, it is not all on the offensive line for Gordon to recognize some of the holes that he is missing. His fourteen carries for 34 yards are dramatically underwhelming and part of me (the keeper fantasy owner who wants to draft a Running Back) wants to believe that he just isn't fully healthy yet or of course, it all means nothing because it's the preseason. I don't know but, this feels more indicative of something that could hinder him this season.
Back-up of the Game: LB Nick Dzubnar has been among the tackling leaders for San Diego in each of their three preseason games. This week, he recorded another six tackles (tied for team lead) along with a sack. The Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo Linebacker does not have the greatest odds at making the final roster but, he made the cut of 75 and already beat the odds by coming out of such an irrelevant football school to make a preseason roster so, anything is possible if he keeps doing this.
Seattle's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: T Jesse Davis, CB George Farmer, WR Deshon Foxx, WR Deontay Greenberry, C Lemuel Jeanpierre, CB Keelan Johnson, LB Quayshawn Nealy, DE Greg Scruggs, DT D'Anthony Smith, S Ty Zimmerman
San Diego's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: CB Manny Asprilla, DL Cameron Botticelli, WR Titus Davis, RB Jahwan Edwards, LB Curtis Grant, LB Brock Hekking, T Forrestal Hickman, TE David Paulson, QB Chase Rettig, DL Luther Robinson, TE Logan Stokes, WR Torrence Allen, CB Chris Davis (
The kick-six guy!), S Gordon Hill, G Melvin Meggs
Biggest Overreaction: Why is Russell Wilson so inaccurate all of a sudden? They really shouldn't have traded Max Unger. Their reign of terror is over.
Eagles defeat Packers 39-26
Randall Cobb injured in Eagles blowout win over backup Packers.
Which starter looked the best?: Sam Bradford went nuts. I don't have any clue how much we should read into this game but, Bradford appears to be a football-playing robot configured by Chip Kelly to throw the most accurate passes known to mankind. I started getting suspicious once he literally threw a pass that went through a Packer defender's stomach, out his back and into Jordan Matthews hands (Ok, I made that up). The newest Eagle Quarterback completed all ten of his passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns. I don't think there is any doubt in anybody's mind anymore, the talent is very much there. The health is what will always be a concern.
Which starter looked the worst?: Casey Hayward was supposed to play defense against Bradford. He finished with one tackle. I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory.
Back-up of the Game: Former UCLA QB Brett Hundley of the Packers. Sure, he was playing from 25 down for the most part but, it's always promising when a rookie Quarterback throws for 315 yards.
Philadelphia's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: CB Marc Anthony, S Brandan Bishop, OL Mike Coccia, OL Kevin Graf, DE Alfy Hill, WR Mike Johnson, QB-turned-WR G.J. Kinne, LB Dasman McCullum, RB Kevin Monangai, WR Josh Reese, DE Jeremy Towns, TE Justin Tukes, OL Jared Wheeler
Green Bay's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: QB Matt Blanchard, WR James Butler, LB Tavarus Dantzler, T Fabbians Ebbele, LB Josh Francis, DT Lavon Hooks, LB Adrian Hubbard, T Vince Kowalski, TE Harold Spears
Biggest Overreaction: The Eagles should be Super Bowl favorites with this team, just look at how well they've dominated this preseason!
Colts defeat Rams 24-14
Tre' Mason hurts himself in another preseason loss for St. Louis.
Which starter looked the best?: Hey! Nick Foles is back! It only took two bad performances for Philadelphia Foles to pop back up and luckily for St. Louis, he did see his shadow! The part-time Napoleon Dynamite impersonator threw for 128 yards on ten of eleven passes for one touchdown. He picked apart Vontae Davis and benefited from a banged-up Colts d-line by spending some quality time in the pocket. Mixed results have me believing that Foles will play pretty similarly to David Garrard (only less mobile) on this new team.
Which starter looked the worst?: Darius Butler? It was super hard to find a starter who looked consistently terrible so, feel good about yourselves for now, Rams and Colts! It won't last forever. I chose the Colts corner even though he was never blatantly terrible, he just happened to have a few extra completed passes against him.
Back-up of the Game: Colts Cornerback Chance Casey caught the Quarterback and collapsed collectively to the current Rams field (that's a lot of C's) for his first sack of the preseason. The former Raider/49er has seven career regular season tackles and racked up three in this game while also making Sean Mannion's game incredibly difficult. It was an awesome performance to keep him on the Indianapolis roster for one more week.
Indianapolis's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: G Donald Thomas, G Harland Gunn, LB Nicklas Haag, LB Zack Hodges, OT Tyler Hoover, WR Ryan Lankford, DT Jeris Pendleton, WR Ezell Ruffin, LB Justin Shirk, RB Abou Toure, C Brandon Vitabile
St. Louis's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: T Steven Baker, T Travis Bond, CB Imoan Claiborne, S Jay Hughes, LB Keshaun Malone, LS Tyler Ott, K/P Michael Palardy, WR Tyler Slavin, C David Wang, WR Damian Williams, DT Doug Worthington
Biggest Overreaction: The Rams are 0-3 and St. Louis is just plain terrible. That is all. Maybe they'll contend once they relocate to L.A.
Broncos defeat 49ers 19-12
Saturday's late game bores everyone, including Peyton Manning.
Which starter looked the best?: Colin Kaepernick didn't have the flashiest stats yet, certainly looked the flashiest on the football field Saturday night. The one-time Super Bowl runner-up ran for a wild 34-yard run against Denver's top-ten defense and threw for just 13 yards (on 2/5 passing) compared to his 54 yards on the ground (on 3 carries). Also, Navorro Bowman returned from the dead (or just a torn ACL) and recorded nine tackles, two sacks and the newest #1 album on Billboard (that last one is false).
Which starter looked the worst?: Broncos' Wide Receiver Cody Latimer will be utilized in much of Denver's offense as a third receiver and he showed why he still needs to work on his game before he is fully trusted in that role. Latimer only caught a four-yard pass on five targets and seriously struggled in blocking.
Back-up of the Game: Ronnie Hillman has clinched the role as C.J. Anderson's main backup in Denver with another flashy-yet-quick performance of seven touches for 38 yards. Montee' Ball might be done in Denver and it's another surprising fall from grace for a former Wisconsin Badger.
Denver's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: TE Dan Light, LB Danny Mason, WR Nathan Palmer
San Francisco's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: K Corey Acosta, LB Steve Beauharnais, CB Mylan Hicks, T Sean Hooey, WR Mario Hull, WR Chuck Jacobs, WR Nigel King, LB Shawn Lemon, FB Trey Millard, DL Lawrence Okoye
Biggest Overreaction: Something, something, Peyton Manning's arm is a noodle, something, something, he can't feel his fingers, something, something.
Texans defeat Saints 27-13
Houston's passing game surprises New Orleans in 14-point win.
Which starter looked the best?: Brian Hoyer backed up Bill O'Brien's decision to start him by looking very efficient and comfortable in a new offense. Hoyer completed seven of eleven passes for 82 yards without any turnovers while the run-game was suffocated by the Saints' defense.
Which starter looked the worst?: The Houston offensive line. I recognize that the loss of Arian Foster is too much to bear for Houston right now but, that does not excuse their putrid performance in the backfield this Sunday. The Texans ran for 82 yards on 36 carries for a horrible 2.3 yards per carry along with a short touchdown. The pass-blocking was not anything special but, they only gave up one sack which is considerably better than the results of their run-blocking.
Back-up of the Game: Saints Wide Receiver Willie Snead made his roster status much clearer as he grabbed four out of six targets for 56 yards. Snead was not exactly very high in Sean Payton's depth chart with veterans like Josh Morgan and Marques Colston plus unknowns like Brandin Cooks, Joseph Morgan and Brandon Coleman ahead of him but, Snead did manage to take out Nick Toon (who was released as part of the cut-down from 90 to 75 players). He isn't likely to be relevant in any fantasy leagues and yet, Snead is not a guarantee to just fall back onto the practice squad.
Houston's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: T Aaron Adams, LB Jason Ankrah, WR Alan Bonner, WR Jace Davis, P Will Johnson, WR Travis Labhart, DE Cam McLeod, NT Chris Neild, LB Jeff Tarpinian, G Cody White, T Bryan Witzmann
New Orleans' Cuts to a 75-man Roster: WR Nick Toon, CB Terrence Frederick, WR R.J. Harris, DT David Hunter, OT Antonio Johnson, WR Lance Lewis, G Cole Manhart, CB Travis Manning, DE Markus Pierce-Brewster, LB Chris Young, FB Erik Lorig, LB Ronald Powell, S Vinnie Sunseri
Biggest Overreaction: The Texans will have no problems with Brian Hoyer!
Cardinals defeat Raiders 30-23
While Jake Arrieta was throwing a no-hitter and Miley Cyrus was turning off viewers with her personality, this game happened and I saw none of it.
Starter whose stats looked the best because I could not be bothered to view this game?: Amari Cooper. 4 catches, 62 yards, 0 TD, 9 targets. I do not have any idea why he couldn't catch all nine footballs thrown his way so, I'm just going to assume that Derek Carr is at fault here because everything I've seen from Cooper has me believing he is a Dez Bryant-level talent.
Starter whose stats looked the worst because I could not be bothered to view this game?: Carson Palmer. The Arizona QB threw two interception on 8 of 22 passing as I'm sure he was just confused by the fact that he left the Raiders three years ago. Those darn NFL jerseys never change!
Back-up of the Game: Mario Edwards Jr. recorded two sacks. The former Florida State d-lineman has impressed all preseason long and is the future of this Oakland Raiders defense alongside Khalil Mack. Nice job of drafting, Reggie McKenzie.
Arizona's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: P Dave Zastudil (surprise!), LB Lorenzo Alexander, LB Glenn Carson, T Rob Crisp, G Nate Isles, LB Edwin Jackson, LB Andrae Kirk, S Shaquille Richardson, TE Gannon Sinclair, WR Ryan Spadola, S Darren Woodard
Oakland's Cuts to a 75-man Roster: P Steven Clark, CB Robertson Daniel, CB James Dockery, DB Ras-I Dowling, QB Cody Fajardo, WR Josh Harper, WR Trindon Holliday, G Lamar Mady, RB Trent Richardson, WR Kenbrell Thompkins, WR Milton Williams III
Biggest Overreaction: Miley's career will never recover from this.
