The first day of preseason action was highlighted by bad performances from the New England Patriots quarterbacks (Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo), the San Diego Chargers beating the Tony Romo-less Dallas Cowboys, an impressive looking Detroit Lions against a sad New York Jets and Ryan Tannehill doing very well for the Miami Dolphins in a loss to the Chicago Bears.
Dallas Cowboys 7 San Diego Chargers 17: The Cowboys didn’t play Tony Romo at all while the Chargers used Philip Rivers for a very short time, completing two of two for 20 yards, while getting their points of rushing touchdowns from Branden Oliver and Danny Woodhead. Gus Johnson scored one for the Cowboys, also on the ground.
Green Bay Packers 22 New England Patriots 11: Tom Brady looked bad in his short time on the field (1-of-4) while Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t do much better, sacked 7 times and throwing an interceptions. Aaron Rodgers was on the field for quite some time, but completed just 11-of-19 passes for 117 yards, while his backups threw touchdown passes.
New Orleans Saints 27 Baltimore Ravens 30: Bryn Renner got a taste of preseason glory by running for a touchdown with two seconds left in the game to give the Ravens a win. Before that, Joe Flacco looked sharp by completing 5-of-6 throws, while Drew Brees didn’t even make an appearance.
New York Jets 3 Detroit Lions 23: The Jets looked as bad you’d expect with Bryce Petty and a little bit of Ryan Fitzpatrick, while the Lions saw Matthew Stafford throw one touchdown pass and an impressive outing for Ameer Abdullah with 67 yards on 7 carries for the rookie out of Nebraska, the 54th overall pick in the draft.
Miami Dolphins 10 Chicago Bears 27: The Chicago Bears won the game, but that was after all the important people came off. Jay Cutler did nothing special in his short time on the field, while Ryan Tannehill picked the Bears rebuilt defense apart, completing 6-of-7 passes for a touchdown. Lamar Miller needed just three carries for 32 yards, while Senorise Perry ran for 89 yards and a touchdown for the Bears.
Washington Redskins 20 Cleveland Browns 17: None of the Washington Redskins quarterbacks threw a passing touchdown. Robert Griffin III completed just 50% of his throws while Kirk Cousins did better with 12-of-14. Josh McCown was perfect with 5-for-5 and a touchdown, Johnny Manziel completed 7-of-11 passes in a mixed-bag performance.