There aren’t many quarterback competitions left. The Las Vegas Raiders settled theirs. The Denver Broncos probably got an answer too. Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers are the lone team still trying to figure it out.
The second preseason week saw some good quarterback play, and some teams must be a little more nervous about the position as the regular season gets closer. Here are 10 takeaways from the second preseason week:
Denver Broncos
Caleb Williams is probably the most impressive rookie quarterback this preseason, but Bo Nix has a case. Nix was very sharp on Sunday night for the second straight game. He had surprising velocity on some of his throws and looked very good throwing on the move. He completed 8-of-9 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Nix was a pick that was criticized by many when Denver took him 12th in the NFL Draft, but he looks comfortable in Sean Payton’s offense. One of the benefits of drafting Nix was his 61 career college starts. He should have been ready to play right away.
Nix has looked good in both preseason games and it seems inevitable he’s named the starting quarterback for the regular-season opener. That’s something Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr., drafted higher than Nix, won’t be able to say. (J.J. McCarthy was unlikely to start Week 1 too, but his season-ending knee injury made that decision for the Vikings.)
Payton didn’t name a starter after Sunday night’s game, but said he thought Nix played well.
“I thought he was sharp,” Payton said, according to the team’s transcript. “Obviously, I think he was eight for nine [on completions]. He does a good job of distributing the football, understanding the zones, man to man, what coverage concepts we’re getting. Overall, I was pleased.”
Las Vegas Raiders
You have to wonder if Aidan O’Connell’s last pass cost him the Raiders’ starting quarterback job.
O’Connell had a fairly decent night in relief of Gardner Minshew II, who struggled. Then O’Connell threw a pick-6 and his night was over. On Sunday, the Raiders announced Minshew will be their Week 1 starter. Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said what happened Saturday night wasn’t the deciding factor, though it’s fair to wonder.
“A lot of things went into it. It wasn’t based off of last night,” Pierce said, via the team’s site. “There’s a lot of factors. We feel like Gardner gives us the best opportunity to get off to a fast start.”
Everyone knows the situation the Raiders found themselves in isn’t ideal and probably wasn’t expected. They had to scramble when six quarterbacks went in the first 12 picks of the NFL Draft and they held the 13th pick. It wouldn’t be a surprise if there’s a quarterback change during the season.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers offense has been really bad in the preseason. Russell Wilson or Justin Fields have played 13 possessions and the Steelers have three total points in those drives. Wilson did not look good in his first preseason appearance on Saturday night, throwing for 47 yards on five series. Fields at least made some plays running the ball but he is a flawed passer and that hasn’t changed.
Still, Tomlin seems to favor Wilson based on his defense of his struggles after the game. One point Tomlin made was that the offensive line’s play was not good enough.
“Again, it’s somewhat of an incomplete study because you just don’t get a chance to see him operate or us operate or us establish rhythm and personality when you’re not winning possession downs, and we weren’t,” Tomlin said. “The first three or so series of the game, it was three-and-out, and you’re not going to get an opportunity to establish rhythm or play the way that you would like as an individual or a collective.”
We’ll see if the Steelers still have a competition and if both quarterbacks play in the third preseason game. It seems like Wilson will be the starter, but his play on Saturday wasn’t too exciting.
The Cowboys are still evaluating Trey Lance, the third pick of the 2021 NFL Draft who washed out with the 49ers without playing much. He wasn’t great against the Rams in the preseason opener but looked better in the second game. He completed 15-of-23 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. Every positive outing is important for Lance, because he doesn’t have much of an NFL track record.
“I definitely felt more comfortable coming out, just need to start a little bit faster — in the third quarter, for sure,” Lance said, via the team’s site. “I left some plays out there but I learned a lot again from it, and it’s fun to compete with these guys.”
This was interesting: The Dolphins split running back De’Von Achane out wide and threw him the ball for a 26-yard gain. Achane is one of the most interesting players in the NFL after a monster rookie season, in terms of efficiency, and if the Dolphins get creative with him in the passing game he could have a special season.
The second preseason week was another example of how little some coaches care about the games. The Browns had 39 players inactive for Saturday’s game. Considering only 48 players can dress on Sundays in the regular season, the Browns really didn’t use anyone who might be a factor early this season.
It might be good for the Browns to get a look at Deshaun Watson in game action. Watson is coming off a season-ending shoulder surgery and reviews of his play in training camp have been mixed. It sounds like Watson might get some action in the third preseason game, which might calm some nerves.
It’s OK to have an honest discussion about Caleb Williams’ second preseason game. Yes, the highlights were thrilling, and Bears fans should be excited about it. It’s also fine to point out that for plenty of his time on the field, the offense did very little.
In the first quarter, the Bears had three possessions, no first downs and eight total net yards. Not counting a defensive pass interference penalty, the Bears had 17 yards on five plays in their fourth series. That was against Bengals backups on defense. The fifth series was good, and it was the right move to keep Williams and the starters on the field to get some momentum and confidence to end the day.
The slow start should be a reminder that it won’t always come easy for Williams. He is an exciting rookie with a great skill set, but he’s still a rookie learning how to play quarterback in the NFL. He’ll be fine but don’t expect perfection.
The interceptions by Daniel Jones in his first preseason action this year weren’t ideal, but the Giants don’t seem worried. Coach Brian Daboll said the Giants wanted to emphasize play-action passes and deep throws downfield, and Jones executed that well at times, particularly in the second quarter. The interceptions don’t go on his record, and the Giants will live with them in games that don’t count.
“That’s what these games are for too,” Daboll said, via the team’s transcript. “Some evaluation part of it, but, obviously you have a plan going into it. it’s a little bit different than I would say a regular season game where you’re scheming and doing things like that. I wanted to make sure we had enough plays where we were throwing it down the field, giving opportunities to throw it down the field. Again, there was some good things, good to get him out here and then a couple things we’ll learn from and that’s what these things are for.”
The Saints needed a good performance from the starting offense after some struggles in the opener. It wasn’t great, but they did get a touchdown.
Derek Carr his 7-of-9 passes for 47 yards, showing the same checkdown tendencies that frustrated Saints fans last season. Chris Olave caught three passes, running back Jamaal Williams had 32 yards on five carries and Taysom Hill lined up plenty in the backfield and took handoffs, including a touchdown run from the fullback position. At least the Saints’ starters looked sharper than their first preseason game.
There has been some curiosity over how the Texans will divvy up the snaps and targets at receiver, since they have three good ones in Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell. The answer seems to be that Collins is the No. 1, Diggs will be in the two-receiver sets and Dell will play a lot as the No. 3 option. Through two weeks, when Stroud is on the field Collins has played 90% of snaps, Diggs is at 81% and Dell is at 57% via Dave Richard at CBS Sports. That seems like a reasonable prediction for how it will play out when the games count.
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