The NFL preseason is officially underway, and Week 1 of the 2022 exhibition season has been an eventful one thus far. Atlanta Falcons Throws a game-winning touchdown against rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder Detroit Lions With less than two minutes to go, Jordan Love and Trae Lance traded long touchdowns in the Bay Area. Cincinnati Bengals Star kicker Evan McPherson was 3 for 3 on his field goals, including two from at least 56 yards.
There were two injuries, quite significant New York Jets Quarterback Zach Wilson — who Ripped his meniscus. However, he is expected to be fine and likely won’t miss any time during the regular season.
This Saturday, we have a total of eight games to watch Carolina Panthers vs Washington generals And Kansas City Chiefs vs Chicago Bears ET at 1 p.m., and culminates in a battle for LA between the Super Bowl champions Rams And chargers.
Below, we’ll track down all the must-see highlights from Saturday’s action. Get ready for a full day of football.
Schedule
Thursday
Giants 23, Patriots 21 (Takeaways)
Crows 23, Titans 10 (Review)
Friday
Falcons 27, Lions 23 (Review)
Browns 24, Jaguars 13 (Review)
Cardinals 36, Bengals 23 (Review)
Jets 24, Eagles 21 (Takeaways)
49ers 28, Bakers 21 (Review)
Saturday
Bears 19, Chiefs 14 (Review)
Panthers 23, Commanders 21 (Review)
Colts At Bills4 p.m. ET (Game Tracker)
Sea hawks At The Steelers7 p.m. ET (Game Tracker)
Dolphins At Buccaneers7:30 pm ET (Game Tracker)
Saints At Texans8 p.m. ET (Game Tracker)
Cowherd warriors At Broncos9 p.m. ET (Game Tracker)
Rams at Chargers, 10 p.m. ET (Game Tracker)
Sunday
Vikings At testers4:25 pm ET (Game Tracker)
‘Bund God’ boots 82-yarder
He is not called “Punt God” for nothing. In the final minute of the first half of the Bills and Colts’ preseason opener, rookie quarterback Matt Ariza opened the scoring with a thunderous 82-yarder. It bounced deep into Indy territory before rolling into the end zone for a touchback. Araiza’s punt had an unofficial hang time of 4.23 seconds, according to Athletic.
The San Diego State product made a name for himself in college for punts like these, which led to him being a sixth-round pick by Buffalo in the 2022 NFL Draft. If he continues to force teams to travel all over the field against a defense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL in DVOA last year, Buffalo could be more dangerous than initially thought.
Turnover ceremony in Buffalo
The Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts are the current betting favorites to emerge from their respective divisions and are among the most popular contenders to win the AFC in 2022. That said, they didn’t exactly look like juggernauts in the first half of the season. Opener. The exhibition soon became a turnover fest. In the first two quarters, there have been a total of six turnovers, including four straight back and fourth in the second quarter.
After stopping the Colts’ fourth-and-4 attempt, quarterback Case Keenum was stripped near midfield. Six plays later, Indy signal-caller Nick Foles was sacked, and Buffalo’s Terrelle Bernard recovered the loose ball and ran 69 yards for a touchdown.
On the next drive following that score, Foles’ throw was blocked. One play later, the turnover train continued to rumble as Keenum was picked off in the red zone.
Eye-catching late rally by Sam Howell
Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke haven’t done much at quarterback for the Commanders, but their third QB, rookie Sam Howell, has impressed. Washington’s leading passer vs. He completed five passes for his hometown Panthers and then recorded this amazing 17-yard rushing touchdown.
Don’t get caught in Howell’s legs. He ran for 11 scores last year for the Tar Heels.
After Carolina went three-and-out on its next possession, Howell came back down the field — looking to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter. Rook led a 13-play, 67-yard drive that was capped by his second rushing touchdown of the game. Howell hit Alex Erickson on a two-point conversion to take the lead.
Siemian splash plays
Justin Fields’ new mentor is making a comeback in Chicago. After trailing 14-0, the Bears didn’t answer for 16 runs until backup quarterback Trevor Siemian scored. Chicago didn’t act like it was a regular season game as the offense went on fourth-and-2, and Siemian found Dante Pettis on the field.
Three plays later, Siemian pulled Newsome within a point on a nice throw to the corner of the end zone.
Safety Justin Reed kicked the XP for the Chiefs
Harrison Butker isn’t the only top kicker on the Chiefs’ roster, as their defense has a capable leg. Reed made a kick 65-yard field goal Last week in training camp, he got a shot to kick the extra point in Week 1 of the preseason. That’s perfect.
Rookie RB Brian Robinson shines for the Commanders
Looks like the 2022 Alabama freshman is poised to get some things from Antonio Gibson. Robinson rushed for 26 yards on his first six carries and caught two passes for 15 yards early. Robinson also made some Commander history when he scored the first touchdown of the new era at Washington.
Taje Sharp is a ‘Catch of the Season’ candidate
Sharpe is fighting for playing time among the Bears’ wide receivers, and this catch will certainly help him. He used athleticism, concentration and lateral awareness to reel it in. Sharpe, a freshman member of the Bears, spent last year with the Falcons. He caught 25 passes for 230 yards in 15 games played.
Sam Darnold was amazing with TD tosses
The Panthers are all commanding early, and Antonio Gibson fumbled at his own 28-yard line to help his opponent’s cause. Darnold replaced Baker Mayfield at quarterback on Carolina’s second series, and three plays into the drive, he connected with Rashard Higgins for an eight-yard touchdown.
It was a very impressive throw as Montes had sweat on Darnold’s face and perfectly guided his wideout as he threw off his back foot.
The NFL world is a bit nervous about the second-year Fields, as he’s been accused of finding success behind a questionable offensive line, and not many others. Fields still has Mooney, though, who is coming off a career campaign in which he caught 81 passes for 1,055 yards and four touchdowns.
Check out this throw and catch that went 26 yards:
The Chiefs won’t waste any time scoring a TD on Saturday
Well, that’s enough. We can take Patrick Mahomes out of the game. He is still good at football. The former NFL MVP led an 11-play, 72-yard drive that included a pair of highlight-reel plays and was capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to Blake Bell.
Watson is awaiting an increase in punishment from the NFL — he is expected to increase his six-game suspension to a more significant one — but he took the field in the Browns’ first preseason game of the new year against the Jaguars. Watson of course He looked like a man playing his first game in 568 daysHe finished with just seven passing yards on 1-of-5 passing.
In positive news for the Browns, backup QB Joshua Dobbs looked good, completing 10 of 13 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.
From Friday: Raider’s clutch game-winning pass
The Lions-Falcons preseason game was not this entertaining. The new QB in ATL, Marcus Mariota, looked great, as did freshman Desmond Ritter. Down three points on fourth-and-9 with less than two minutes remaining, Ridder found Jared Bernhardt for the game-winning score.
Not only was the play great to see from a rookie quarterback, but the player on the receiving end of the touchdown deserves some credit. Bernhardt is a former Maryland lacrosse star and winner of the 2021 Dewarton Award — given to the top player in college lacrosse. Not only was Bernhardt a loose giant at an elite school, he later transferred to Ferris State to play football and led the program to an undefeated record and their first Division II national championship at quarterback. Now, he’s caught a game-winning touchdown in the NFL. What a story.
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