The second week of the NFL preseason was concluded with a busy Saturday that included the Buffalo Bills shutting out the New York Giants, Cam Newton looking great in a Carolina Panthers win, Blake Bortles throwing two touchdown pass in a Jacksonville Jaguars loss, and Jared Goff tossing a late winner for the undefeated Los Angeles Rams.
Carolina Panthers (1-1) 26 Tennessee Titans (1-1) 16: No penalties for dancing this time as Cam Newton threw one touchdown pass and led the Panthers on two scoring drives, finishing with 162 passing yards, connecting with Ted Ginn for the 61-yard TD. Marcus Mariota threw a touchdown pass and completed 90% of his throws, but his one incompletion was an interception. Derek Anderson and Joe Webb threw touchdown passes for Carolina too.
New York Giants (0-2) 0 Buffalo Bills (1-1) 21: Eli Manning never does well in preseason, and was just 4-for-9 in his stint as the Giants got shutout by the Bills, held to only 166 yards of offense. Tyrod Taylor threw a touchdown pass to LeSean McCoy, while the running back failed to get any yards on the ground. Cardale Jones looked bad again, EJ Manuel threw a touchdown pass, while Logan Thomas showed his place might not be in the NFL with two interceptions for the Giants.
Baltimore Ravens (2-0) 19 Indianapolis Colts (1-1) 18: Andrew Luck was perfect in his passing but couldn’t lead his team on touchdown scoring drives. The Ravens are still without Joe Flacco, and got Josh Johnson and Ryan Mallett to do the scoring for them, each throwing a touchdown pass. The Ravens actually won as the Colts failed a two-point conversion, leading to Anthony Levine taking the ball back for two points and the win.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) 27 Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1) 21: Blake Bortles looked fantastic with two touchdown passes to T.J. Yeldon and Allen Hurns, while the Bucs struggled with Jameis Winston completing just 3-of-11 passes, throwing one touchdown pass to Mike Evans, but also throwing one interception. The Jags (not Bortles) threw four interceptions, including two for Chad Henne.
New Orleans Saints (0-2) 9 Houston Texans (2-0) 16: Drew Brees had a bad start, throwing for just 29 yards and an interception. Things went better for Brock Osweiler, throwing a touchdown pass to Will Fuller and also one interception, completing 12-of-19 passes for 124 yards. The Saints failed to score any touchdowns, but were able to get the ball moving when Luke McCown was on the field.
San Francisco 49ers (1-1) 31 Denver Broncos (1-1) 24: Both teams combined for 804 yards and 7 turnovers, as Christian Ponder threw a touchdown pass and ran for one in the fourth quarter to win the game for the 49ers, still playing without Colin Kaepernick. Paxton Lynch was the best of the three on the Broncos side of the ball, throwing two touchdown passes to Durron Neal and John Phillips, but also throwing an interception.
Kansas City Chiefs (0-2) 20 Los Angeles Rams (2-0) 21: Todd Gurley ran for a touchdown, Case Keenum threw a touchdown pass to Pharoh Cooper and the game was won by Jared Goff with a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to Malcolm Brown. All in all, not a bad day for the Rams, although the Chiefs wouldn’t complain with Alex Smith looking sharp, and Nick Foles not doing anything stupid (completing 18-of-22 passes).