The second day of week 3 in the NFL preseason was about the veteran quarterbacks showing the young ones how it’s done, as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger all looked great in their starts, while the losing Cleveland Browns at least had the big touchdown play between Robert Griffin and Josh Gordon.
New England Patriots (3-0) 19 Carolina Panthers (1-2) 17: Tom Brady made his preseason debut and looked great, throwing a touchdown pass and completing 3-for-9 and 76 yards, as the Patriots led 19-3 before the Panthers got going a little bit. Cam Newton threw a couple of interceptions, completing only 13-of-29 throws. Joe Webb was the more successful of the 3 QBs on the Panthers, throwing a couple of touchdown passes.
Buffalo Bills (1-2) 16 Washington Redskins (2-1) 21: Nothing really happened while the starting defense was on the field, but once the Bills reserve defense came on, Kirk Cousins got going. Kirk Cousins threw for 188 yards, 3 touchdowns and one interception, while Robert Kelley did a good job and ran for 51 yards.
Cleveland Browns (0-3) 13 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30 (2-1): Very little to be pleased about for the Browns as they lost their 3rd preseason game, and fell behind 27-3 before scoring their first touchdown. However, this being a league marketed around stars and star potential, Robert Griffin III throwing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon at the end of the first half to give the Browns something to work with stood out in the game. Jameis Winston had his best game of the preseason, throwing two touchdown passes and for 259 yards overall.
Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2) 27 New Orleans Saints (0-3) 14: The Steelers rolled to a 14-0 lead before Drew Brees threw his one touchdown pass of the game, with the trio of Ben Roethlisberger (two TD throws), Le’Veon Bell (3 carries, 21 yards) and Antonio Brown (4 receptions, 87 yards, one touchdown) clicking just like Pittsburgh want them to do.
Green Bay Packers (3-0) 21 San Francisco 49ers (1-2) 10: The 49ers quartet of quarterbacks completed only 9-of-20 throws for 61 yards and one interception, at least gaining a little bit of offense on the ground with 134 yards and one touchdown by Quintion Patton. Aaron Rodgers did well in his start, completing 6-of-9 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown pass to Randall Cobb, and things worked well with the backups too.