Let’s take a look at some results this weekend’s NFL Preseason games, and look ahead to Week 2 and the regular season. Can we learn anything about these teams from their first exhibition games, or will sportsbooks begin to reevaluate some teams, coaches, and quarterbacks?
We’ll start with the New England Patriots as they lost to the Washington Redskins 23-6. Not surpringly, QB Tom Brady took the night off. For the Redskins their starting QB Robert Griffin III played just one series. Most of the first teamers had plenty of practice during the week, as they Redskins had three days of joint practices with the Patriots at the Washington training camp.
Then, the two Super Bowl teams played as the Broncos beat the Seahawks 21-13. The two teams struggled through lightning delays in the game and a lot of flags as the game saw some 25 penalties, 13 on Seattle and 12 on Denver. Both starting teams scored on long TD drives. THe
The Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers 23-3. In the first drive, Joe Flacco showed the Raven’s Kubiak offensive system and talent as Ravens Coach John Harbaugh got the best of his brother Jim Harbaugh for the third time. Both teams played their starters for one series.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Cincinnati Bengals 41-39 in Missouri as the Chiefs scored two TDs on interception returns and returned a punt for 80 yards for a score. The Bengals also returned an interception for a TD. QB Andy Dalton for the Bengals looked sharp this week after signing a six year extension for $115 million!
The Indianapolis Colts lost to the New York Jets 13-10 in East Rutherford, N.J. With Michael Vick taking over for Geno Smith, the Jets scored on a touchdown drive in the Victory. Colts QB Andrew Luck played in just one series in the game where he completed 4 of 5 for 54 yards that set up a field goal for Indy. Geno Smith, hoping to keep the starting QB slot for the Jets, was 4-6 for 33 yards and he played two series in the game.
Then the struggling Dallas Cowboys lost to the San Diego Chargers 27-7 as the Chargers new backup QB Clemens threw a 70 yard TD pass. Rivers only played in the first series for the Charges. Brandon Weeden, playing in his debut NFL game as a Cowboy, as Tony Romo sat out resting his recently repaired back injury, threw for 107 yards on 13 of 17 passes.
Good games upcoming this week feature the Eagles taking on the Patriots in Foxboro, where the Pats are 2 1/2 point home favoritres. The Broncos take on the 49ers, and San Francisco is a 3 1/2 home favorite in that one. The big game is on Monday night, when the Cleveland Browns face the Washington Redskins in the most anticipated exhibition game in NFL hsitory. The Redskins are listed as 2 point home favorites for that matchup, according to SBG Sportsbook odds.