Week 3 of the NFL preseason is normally used as preparation for the regular year. Unfortunately for teams around the league this week, injury concerns disabled the ability of us to get a good look at how specific first-team units might perform early in the regular season.
With that said, there were a few solid takeaways from this week in the NFL preseason.
From outstanding quarterback play in Philadelphia and Buffalo to incompetent offensive lines in the NFC West, here are the 10 biggest takeaways for the second-to-final week of the 2015 exhibition slate.
Sam Bradford finds rhythm, Philadelphia Eagles offense looks unstoppable
Bradford and the Eagles absolutely dominated an over-matched Green Bay Packers defense on Saturday, racking up 39 points in the first half and a total of over 400 yards. For Bradford’s part, he finished the night a perfect 10-of-10 with 121 yards and three scores.
Coming off a torn ACL in each of the past two seasons, there was some concern about whether Bradford would be ready for the regular season. That concern was magnified when he sat out Philadelphia’s preseason opener against the Indianapolis Colts. In the two games since, the former St. Louis Rams first-round pick has led the Eagles to four touchdowns in as many drives while completing 13-of-15 passes for a perfect quarterback rating. With the likes of DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews, Zach Ertz, Jordan Matthews and Nelson Agholor at his disposal, a healthy Bradford could be primed for a breakout campaign.
Overall, the Eagles are averaging a ridiculous 38.3 points per game. During that very same span, Chip Kelly and Co. are putting up an average of 430 yards and 26 first downs per game. It remains to be seen whether this will translate to regular season success, but it’s safe to say the Eagles offense will be among the most electric in the NFL this year. And in reality, Bradford could be one of the primary reasons for this.
Peyton Manning will have to win in different ways
One thing was readily apparent in Denver’s win against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night. Manning simply doesn’t have the same arm strength as he did in previous seasons. And while we chalked up his late-season struggles last year to a quad injury, this isn’t the same quarterback that has earned five MVP’s.
This doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road for Manning, who threw some dead ducks on simple intermediate routes Saturday night. Instead, it’s all about him understanding his limitations and making up for it in other aspects of the game. With one of highest football IQ’s for a quarterback in the history of the game, there’s little doubt that he will be able to do that. While not yet comfortable in Denver’s new offense, Gary Kubiak’s scheme takes into account Manning’s limitations more than the scheme Denver ran last year under former coordinator Adam Gase.
The idea here has to be a run-first, ball-control attack. With C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman looking like an elite tandem, the Broncos will be just fine. They simply need to remain true to their strengths on offense.
Buffalo Bills quarterback competition takes odd turn
Did anyone expect Buffalo’s quartet of quarterbacks to complete 30-of-33 passes for nearly 400 yards and three scores against the Pittsburgh Steelers? What the likes of EJ Manuel, Matt Cassel and Tyrod Taylor did Saturday afternoon was nothing short of amazing.
The leader in the clubhouse at this point has to be Taylor, who has been downright awesome during the summer. Coming off a performance against Pittsburgh that saw him complete 12-of-13 passes for 122 yards with a rushing touchdown, Taylor has been among the best quarterbacks in the NFL during the preseason. Through three games, the former Virginia Tech standout has completed a ridiculous 77 percent of his passes while displaying tremendous accuracy and escapability. Though, it was Manuel who impressed the most in his first start of the preseason. He led the Bills to touchdowns in four of his five drives, completing 7-of-8 passes for 170 yards and two scores in the process. Overall this preseason, Manuel is completing 67 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and zero picks.
In a sign of just how good Buffalo’s quarterbacks performed against Pittsburgh, Cassel was the only member of the quartet not to throw a touchdown, and he still completed 6-of-7 passes. Heck, even Matt Simms completed all five of his passes for 65 yards and a score.
There’s little reason to believe that this is a sign of things to come for the regular season. However, what we saw Saturday isn’t exactly what the Bills need at quarterback. All they are looking for is above-average quarterback play. If the team gets that, it could very well earn its first playoff appearance since 1999.
Pittsburgh Steelers defense continues to struggle
On the other side of the ledger, Pittsburgh’s defense has been absolutely atrocious this preseason. Under first-year coordinator Keith Butler, this unit hardly resembles the dominant Steelers defenses we have seen over the past couple decades. Giving up 27 first downs and nearly 550 yards of total offense to a Bills offense that didn’t have LeSean McCoy, Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Percy Harvin on the field is what we would call a complete disaster. Doing so in a game where the Bills were switching quarterbacks throughout the afternoon makes it an even larger disaster.
Overall, Pittsburgh’s defense has yielded 21 first quarter points over the past two preseason games. It’s also allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 73 percent of their passes with six touchdowns compared to one interception for a ridiculous 108.5 quarterback rating. While it’s just the preseason, this could be a sign that the Steelers are missing Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu, both of whom retired this past spring.
Kansas City Chiefs offense looks ready
After struggling to an extent in his first two preseason games, Alex Smith looked extremely good against a bad Tennessee Titans defense on Friday night. The veteran completed 16-of-18 passes for 171 yards with two touchdowns and zero picks. He also led the Chiefs offense to scores on all three of his drives, compiling 17 points in the process.
Preseason stats may be meaningless, but it was nice to see Smith look comfortable throwing to his top-two receiving targets, Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce. Maclin, who the team added on a huge free-agent contract back in March, caught seven of the eight passes thrown in his direction for 65 yards and a score. Meanwhile, Kelce added two receptions for 42 yards and a score.
If the Chiefs offense can play anywhere near this level during the regular season, they have to be considered the favorites to win the AFC West. Though, a preseason game against a bad Titans defense might not be a great indicator of regular season success.
Blake Bortles impressive
This second-year Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback looks like a completely different player compared to his rookie campaign. In a sign that Bortles might very well be the Jaguars franchise quarterback, his improvement from year one to this summer has been stunning. It’s pretty much what every NFL team with a young quarterback hopes for. That is to say, marked improvement in a quarterback’s first full offseason.
This weekend saw Bortles complete 20-of-29 passes for 245 yards with a touchdown while adding another 38 yards on four rush attempts. Through three preseason outings, Bortles is completing 65 percent of his passes and averaging a solid 7.7 yards per attempt.
More than basic stats, it’s the tape that tells us the story here. Much more comfortable in the pocket than during his rookie campaign, Bortles is showing entirely new levels of accuracy and field vision. He’s consistently hitting his second and third receivers in stride, which will help the Jaguars’ young receivers make plays after the catch. That’s the improvement most teams hope for when it comes to a quarterback entering his second season.
San Francisco 49ers offensive line is a hot mess
Teams usually attempt to get something going with their first-team offense in the third preseason game. Unfortunately for the 49ers, their offensive line did not give Colin Kaepernick and company an opportunity to do this. Under duress throughout the game, Kaepernick led the 49ers to its initial completed pass during the final drive of the first half. This came on the heels of a game earlier in the preseason that saw the 49ers enter the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys with more points than passing yards. Just think about that for a second.
None of this is on Kaepernick. Instead, the team’s offensive line has been among the worst in the NFL this summer. The likes of Erik Pears at right tackle and rookie guard Ian Silberman have been beyond atrocious, Saturday night against the Broncos included.
If Kaepernick doesn’t get better protection during the regular season, any progress he’s made on the field really won’t matter. It’s also important to note that San Francisco is running a completely new scheme. Without improved offensive line play, that won’t lead to a better overall performance from a unit that has struggled over the past couple years.
Seattle Seahawks offense continues to struggle
Through three preseason games, Russell Wilson has completed 17-of-31 passes for a total of 146 yards. That average of 4.7 yards per attempt is absolutely atrocious. And while Seattle’s offensive line was to blame for the team’s struggles on offense in the first two games, Wilson himself put up a dud against the San Diego Chargers on Saturday. Never finding a rhythm, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback consistently left balls out of position and couldn’t find the timing against a game Chargers defense.
Wilson completed 7-of-15 passes for just 56 yards without a touchdown or an interception against San Diego on Saturday. Overall, the newly extended quarterback has led his offense to a total of nine points this preseason. That’s not necessarily what the team had envisioned when adding Jimmy Graham to a previously talent-stricken pass-catching unit. Even in the preseason, this isn’t a great sign.
Oakland Raiders defense looks vastly improved
Never mind the 20 points that the Arizona Cardinals laid on Oakland in the fourth quarter on Sunday night. Jack Del Rio seems to have instilled a new mentality in Oakland’s defense in his first season as the team’s head coach. From Khalil Mack continuing to make plays to rookie Mario Edwards stepping up big time, the Raiders front seven might be one of the most underrated in the NFL. For his part, Mack is a potential under-the-radar Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
None of this will be enough for Oakland to contend for the AFC West title in 2015, but it could be a great sign for the team down the road. After all, the Raiders have yielded a total of three first quarter points in three games this preseason. That’s a sign that the first-team defense has come to play each and every game, even during the exhibition slate.
In order for the Raiders defense to take that next step, their secondary will have to match the performance of the front seven. If that happens, watch out. In all, Del Rio and first-year defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. have this unit playing well.
Afraid of injuries, teams don’t treat third preseason game as a dress rehearsal
In our top storylines article for Week 3 of the preseason, we indicated that teams around the NFL would use the third preseason game as a dress rehearsal for the regular season. Likely worried about injuries after seeing multiple star players go down earlier this summer, most teams avoided playing their starters into the third quarter. In fact, the Green Bay Packers made the decision to rest Aaron Rodgers completely. And while some squads did treat this week as a prep for the regular year, most just didn’t want to risk further injuries in a meaningless preseason game.
It remains to be seen how this will impact the performance of offenses early in the year. Teams such as the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers should be fine. However, it’s the unknowns that could be impacted the most.
Have we seen enough from Russell Wilson behind a re-tooled offensive line to have confidence in him early in the year? What about Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco after he attempted a total of 13 preseason passes? That has to be the biggest worry for squads with new offensive lines and/or new offensive schemes.