Tag: Preseason week 1

Seahawks win preseason debut 16-3 against Chargers

Seahawks win preseason debut 16-3 against Chargers

The Seattle Seahawks have started exactly where they left off when they played their last game in 2024: with a victory. On January 7th of this year, the Seahawks outlasted the Arizona Cardinals 21-20. Tonight, they took care of business against the Los Angeles Chargers with a 16-3 victory to open the preseason.

Seattle started the game with a pair of punts, but eventually found their footing by engineering a 12-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Sam Howell found tight end Brady Russell for a 13-yard touchdown to give the Seahawks an early 7-0 lead.

They did not have to wait long for their next points, as Coby Bryant intercepted Chargers’ quarterback Easton Stick on his first pass of the ensuing drive. Four plays later, running back George Holani scampered in for an 11-yard touchdown run. Kicker Jason Myers did miss the ensuing PAT, but a 13-0 lead was established, which proved to be insurmountable for Los Angeles.

The Seahawks ended the first half with three-straight punts, and a kneeldown with only seconds remaining in the second quarter. To start the third, Howell led the Seahawks offense on a 14-play, 84-yard drive which ended at LA’s two-yard line when Holani was stuffed on fourth down. It was the closest the Seahawks would get to the endzone for the rest of the game.

Fortunately, it did not matter. Seattle’s offense ate up plenty of clock with that drive, taking up 8:15. Later, PJ Walker led the offense on another lengthy drive… going 77-yards in 14 plays, lasting over six minutes in the fourth quarter which ended in a 48-yard field goal to go up 16-3.

As for the defense, Seattle kept Los Angeles in check. Any shortcomings from the offense were more than made up for by the defense, which stiffled anything the Chargers were attempting to do. LA was held to only three points, 198 yards, nine total first downs and only 2-of-13 on third down conversions. The Seahawks also dominated time of possession 39:09 to 20:51.

The closest the Chargers got to threatening Seattle was late in the fourth quarter when they made it all the way to the Seahawks’ 17-yard line. However, they turned the ball over on downs, effectively ending the game.

Seattle starts the preseason 1-0. Next up: a trip to the Music City where they will play the Tennessee Titans, next Saturday at 4:00 pm Pacifict time.

Nate Sudfeld struggled vs the Giants and Lions fans weren’t happy

Detroit QB Nate Sudfeld struggled vs the Giants in the preseason opener and Lions fans weren’t happy

Nate Sudfeld was the starting quarterback for the Detroit Lions in their preseason opener against the New York Giants. Most fans, and many of us in the media, expected Hendon Hooker to make his NFL debut instead.

That context probably didn’t help Sudfeld’s cause on a rough, rainy night in New York. Sudfeld played poorly, missing four of his first five pass attempts–all on inaccurate throws. Detroit failed to convert a single first down in its first four drives. The veteran played the entire first half and finished 7-for-15 for 40 yards and an interception, getting sacked three times. His QB Rating was 25.7 after producing four total first downs in eight drives.

It was not pretty for Sudfeld. Nor was the social media reaction to Sudfeld’s subpar performance. Here are some of the choice posts that are safe enough for a family-friendly publication.

Parting shot…

…and chaser:

Packers PFF grades: Best, worst players from preseason opener vs. Bengals

Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst performers from the Packers’ preseason win over the Bengals.

The Green Bay Packers opened preseason play in 2023 with a 36-19 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night at Paycor Stadium. Matt LaFleur’s team got a pair of first-half touchdown passes from Jordan Love and Sean Clifford and two second-half touchdown runs from Emanuel Wilson.

Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst performers from the Packers’ preseason win over the Bengals:

10 Lions to watch closely in the preseason opener vs. the Giants

It’s going to be a big night for several Lions, including these 10 Detroit players

The Detroit Lions host the New York Giants in the 2023 preseason opener for both teams. After two days of joint practices in Allen Park, the teams take their action to Ford Field for the kickoff of exhibition season.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell refused to indicate if the regular, established starters would play. Even if they do, it’s almost certainly on a very limited basis; the preseason isn’t about the starters.

It’s about the reserves and the position battles and the rookies getting their first taste of NFL action. Here are 10 Lions who wear at least one of those hats who will be important players to focus upon against the Giants.

Taylor Decker proud of ‘swagger’ on the Lions offensive line

Decker: “There was like a little swagger about us out there. That was good to feel and good to see.”

One of the universal takeaways from the Detroit Lions’ first preseason game was the sheer dominance of the first-team offensive line. The starting five played just 10 snaps, engineering a 79-yard scoring drive that owed much credit to the outstanding blocking in both the run and pass game.

Left tackle Taylor Decker, the senior member of the bunch, was proud of how his unit played on Friday night. It was the first time the five-man unit had played as one despite being brought together before the 2021 season. Injuries to Decker and Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow kept them from ever seeing the field together last year.

“We knew we were all going to play, and we were all excited to finally be out there together in a game-time situation,” Decker said in his postgame press conference. “We’ve had the scrimmage, but this will be the first time our projected starting five has been out there for a game scenario. The coaches said, ‘Be ready to play a quarter. If you guys go out there and do what you need to do, you might come out, you might not.’

We just took the game mindset really. We just went out there and—we were able to run the ball, get some passes going and move the chains which was nice. I thought the energy was really, really good as a whole team. I’ve been here for a little while now; there was like a little swagger about us out there. That was good to feel and good to see.”

The swagger comes from the players being talented, but also beyond that. It’s something instilled by the coaches, notably head coach Dan Campbell, assistant head coach Duce Staley and OL coach Hank Fraley–all longtime former NFL players.

“I would say—and I’ve said this before, what feels different around the building is just an atmosphere for open communication to where everyone is able to ask questions and feel comfortable, and when you’re comfortable you can go out there and you can play confidently,” Decker explained after the game. “You know that your coach believes in you. You know that your teammates believe in you.”

Decker knows the line can do better and will push for more.

“We just need to maintain that for the entire four quarters because we know there’s going to be ebbs and flows in the game,” he said. “That’s just the NFL, everyone’s got good players. If we can keep that high level of energy and emotion out there, I think it can be really good for us.”

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Watch: Detroit Lions Podcast recaps the preseason opener and Hard Knocks

The Detroit Lions Podcast recaps the team’s preseason opener and Hard Knocks

Lions preseason football is back, and the Detroit Lions Podcast broke down all you needed to know from Friday night’s exhibition matchup with the visiting Atlanta Falcons.

From the glorious opening drive from the starting offense to the consistently inadequate linebacking play, we break it all down. There is a good discussion on containment principles and how the safeties, linebackers and ends need to work better in concert to prevent QB runs. A celebration of rookie Aidan Hutchinson is well-deserved, too.

Hard Knocks also happened last week, and we break down the important parts and highlights of the HBO production.

Note: There was a software glitch in the streaming process, so the YouTube show has a couple of minutes of dead air. Skip ahead to the 8:22 mark to avoid the issue. 

The episode was recorded Saturday morning.

 

Lions stock report after the first preseason game

Breaking down Detroit Lions players who raised their stock in the preseason game against the Falcons and those whose stocks fell

We got our first look at the 2022 Detroit Lions against another opponent in the preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons. The Lions dropped an action-packed game, 27-23, when the deep reserves on both sides of the ball couldn’t come through late in the game.

Over 75 Lions saw action in the game, including most projected starters. It was a great chance to gauge where players are at in positional battles and overall roster chances.

Here are the Lions who saw their stock rise in Friday night’s game at Ford Field, and those whose stock fell in the loss to the Falcons too.

 

Lions stock report after the 1st week of training camp

 

Chiefs snap counts: Defensive rookies get an extended look in preseason Week 1

What can we learn from the #Chiefs’ preseason Week 1 snap counts?

The Kansas City Chiefs opened the 2022 NFL preseason, giving fans a first true look at the 90-man offseason roster in game-day activities.

We can’t glean quite as much from the Chiefs’ preseason snaps counts as we can during the regular season. It’s still a worthy endeavor to dive in and make a few observations about how playing time went in the first week.

Here’s how the snaps came down in preseason Week 1:

*Snap counts via NFL Game Statistics and Information System

Observations

  • The extent of the first team’s play was 16 offensive snaps, with the offensive line getting some extra work blocking for Chad Henne. Patrick Mahomes was out of there after the team’s 11-play scoring drive to open the game.
  • Of the starters, Mecole Hardman played the least snaps on offense (3), while Frank Clark, Chris Jones and Derrick Nnadi played the least on defense (6).
  • The Chiefs got an extended look at several of their defensive rookies. Joshua Williams and Leo Chenal both played over 50% of the defensive snaps. Jaylen Watson, Nazeeh Johnson and Bryan Cook were close behind those two. Even George Karlaftis played over 35% of the team’s defensive snaps. Williams’ 48 total snaps (defense and special teams) were the most of any rookie.
  • Skyy Moore, surprisingly, led all Chiefs offensive rookies in snaps with 27. He played the majority of those snaps in the first and second quarters. He played some special teams in the third quarter.
  • Shane Buechele played the most snaps of any quarterback, showing that Kansas City wanted to get an extensive look at the second-year player. He was the only QB outside of Patrick Mahomes to throw a touchdown.
  • CB Rashad Fenton and TE Jody Fortson were held out of the game as expected. They’d both recently returned to practice from injury. Perhaps a preseason Week 2 debut is in order for both players should they put in a good week of practice.
  • OG Mike Caliendo led offensive undrafted free agents in snaps (he also led all offensive players), while LB Jack Cochrane led defensive undrafted free agents in snaps. Cochrane’s 13 snaps on special teams led all players.
  • DT Kehinde Oginni Hassan (who is improperly listed as a TE by the NFL) played just five defensive snaps, tied with CB Chris Lammons and DE Azur Kamara for the least. He’s a project at this point, so this is terribly surprising.
  • Malik Herring, who sat out the 2021 NFL season with a knee injury, led all defensive players in snaps with 40. He looked a bit rusty at times, but also made some key progress in his first game back.
  • Rookie RB Isiah Pacheco played just eight snaps of offense and only played offense in the first quarter. It tells you that Kansas City has some big plans for the rookie this season.
  • WRs Devin Gray and Aaron Parker played just three offensive snaps each. They’re both still fairly new to the team. It makes me wonder whether either will be among the team’s first wave of cuts.

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4 takeaways from Chiefs’ first preseason game

Our @TheJohnDillon shares his takeaways from the #Chiefs’ preseason Week 1 loss to the #Bears.

A preseason loss wasn’t how the Kansas City Chiefs intended to get their 2022 campaign underway, but the hard-fought game in Chicago was far from a total waste. Several up-and-coming players stood out on both sides of the ball, and with two exhibition games left to continue improving, the team has plenty of time to get into regular season form before the games actually count.

The final score was reflective of just how close the teams played each other, and based on Patrick Mahomes’ first drive, it isn’t a stretch to think Kansas City would’ve come away victorious in a real game scenario. Preseason football is all about preparation and, to that end, the Chiefs looked good enough to keep the faith regarding another potential Super Bowl run.

Here are four key takeaways from the first action they saw this season:

Lions vs. Falcons: Snap count notes and observations

Lions vs. Falcons: Snap count notes and observations from Detroit’s preseason game

Tabulating snap counts in preseason games is a full-time job for the spotters, with so many players getting action on both plays from scrimmage as well as special teams. The Detroit Lions used 76 different players in Friday night’s preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

There were a select few healthy Lions who did not participate in the exhibition: TE T.J. Hockenson, LB Alex Anzalone, S C.J. Moore and rookie TE James Mitchell. All the other players who sat out were idled in practice with minor injuries or remain on the PUP or NFI lists.

Tom Kennedy led all Lions offensive players with 43 snaps. He saw 12 passing targets, making the most of his time with QB David Blough, who played 42 snaps. The reserve offensive linemen dominated the rest of the top snap counts; Kendall Lamm played 42 while Dan Skipper, Evan Brown, Tommy Kraemer and Logan Stenberg all hit 40.

The starters on offense played the opening drive, 10 total plays. D’Andre Swift saw six reps at RB while Jamaal Williams had four.

In the crowd competing for tight end spots behind Hockenson, Brock Wright dominated with 29 snaps. Wright was followed by:

  • Devin Funchess – 21
  • Shane Zylstra – 18
  • Derrick Deese Jr. – 18
  • Nolan Givan – 14
  • Garrett Griffin – 13

It will be extremely interesting to see where those reps fall in the next preseason matchup, presumably with Mitchell entering the mix as he gets healthier from the leg injury he suffered last year at Virginia Tech. Note that Zylstra played the most special teams reps of the group (11) while Deese did not appear on special teams.

Defense

As with the offense, the defensive starters appeared on just one drive and 13 total plays. Cornerback Will Harris played just seven after leaving early with a hand injury. That forced Jeff Okudah onto the field for an extra few plays. Okudah logged 18, the same quantity as CB Bobby Price and one behind Saivion Smith.

Starting LBs Derrick Barnes and Malcolm Rodriguez played beyond the first drive. Rodriguez (21 snaps) and Barnes (19) split reps with Anthony Pittman (22), Chris Board (21), Shaun Dion Hamilton (19) and Josh Woods (14).

Jarrad Davis played primarily at off-ball LB in his 26 reps but also worked in some SAM reps, a pass-rushing role in this defense.

The most reps went to rookie safety Kerby Joseph and running mate JuJu Hughes, who each played 43 snaps. Reserve DT Bruce Hector (34) was the only other defender to top 30 reps.

Rookie CB Chase Lucas was on the field for just seven snaps. Mark Gilbert led all Lions defenders with 16 special teams reps to pair with his 22 plays on D.

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