National Football League

[Alpe d'Huez]

Adams and the new kid Jeanty.

Who would have guessed Jamal Adams looked very comfortable playing linebacker, making some good tackles, and Jeanty would have something like 3 carries for -1 yard.

I thought Seattle's trenches pushed the Raiders around on both sides of the ball. Extremely concerning, the size mismatches. Vegas looked outmanned by an offensive line that didn't look good at all last year.

The first half, especially. But as I posted earlier for some reason the Raiders were playing musical chairs with JPJ, Merideth, and Parham. Each of them played center at one point. Alex Cappa didn't even play, and he should start at G. But whatever the Raiders did with this group, none of it held up well. Chip Kelly had to not like what he saw. The other backups didn't play great either. In fact that impressive double pump slant/go bomb by Miller his feet were in quicksand due to a collapsing pocket.

I do agree that outside of the mistakes and penalties on both teams, this has been the most entertaining and competitive preseason game I've seen so far. Obviously Pete and Geno wanted to win, and obviously the Seahawks didn't want that to happen in their house.

 

[Nomad]

View: https://youtu.be/6bZibmlayts?si=SEy7HKSCFEjrg7fQ

One hell of a leg - looks like it had another 4 or 5 yds on it. Too bad it doesn't go into the record books.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Nearly 20 years ago Sebastian Janikowski attempted a 76 yard FG for the Raiders, into the wind. He used to kick a few from 70 in practice, pre-game, wowing fans. But that was with no defense, plenty of time. Turned out the 76 yard attempt was short, and he later said he pushed it too hard.

 

[Nomad]

Chargers star Rashawn Slater's season-ending injury deals major blow to offensive line

Less than two weeks ago, Los Angeles Chargers star Rashawn Slater signed a record-setting deal. On Friday, he learned he would miss the 2025 season with a knee injury.

www.foxnews.com

Devastating blow to the Chargers: Torn Patellar Tendon. Slater just recently signed a record-breaking contract extension that made him the highest-paid OL. Joe Alt to move to the LT spot.

Injuries are hitting the Chargers so bad they cancelled their joint practices with the Rams.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

To Joe Alt's credit, he has played well, but this is a big loss for the Chargers, piling on top of other injures as you noted. Tack on the Perryman arrest too, and I can see them now finishing in 3rd in that division (KC and Denver above them, Raiders still in last).

Watched a few more preseason games. The most entertaining was probably Pitt-Jax. Cards-Chiefs was fairly good, if only in that the Cardinals did all they could to follow the script and blow the game with turnovers and poor special teams play early, but Brissett looked good for AZ. Mahomes looked like Mahomes in 1 drive.

The team that may have looked the best (as if week 1 of the preseason means much) was possibly the Rams. Solid, consistent play in all phases. "Bazooka" Joe Milton struggled against them. He reminded me of Brett Favre the way he was throwing extremely hard throws, often when he didn't need to. He settled down late, but needs work. Bennett also looked solid for the Rams, best I've seen him play in the NFL so far.

The Jets also looked surprisingly good, with Fields looking quite comfortable both throwing and running the ball in his one drive for a TD. They looked very disciplined, solid play across the board against a Packers team that didn't put up that much resistance. Still, I'll credit Aaron Glenn for getting his team ready.

 

[Nomad]

It'll be interesting to see what kind shuffling Harbaugh does to get best combination of a makeshift OL. One thing is for certain, Herbert is going to have to step up his game & perform much better (even if Slater never got hurt). If he wants to move up to the upper-echelon of the "Tier-1" QB group, he needs to win more games, compete for the division title, make the postseason & win at least one playoff game (Herbert is currently listed as "Tier-2"):

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6514160/2025/08/11/nfl-qb-rankings-tiers-2025-jackson-daniels/

Despite Bazooka Joe's struggles in the game, Schottenheimer is still ridiculously high on him comparing him to Allen of all things. Lol. With that kind of leap of faith, somebody over there in Cowboy land better get him developed & on the field as the starter...immediately. The only similarities I see between the two is size & raw arm strength. No way Milton comes anything close to Allen in accuracy, ball placement, pocket presence, decision-making, running capability, etc. Schottenheimer is making a fool out of himself for saying stuff like that. Lol

Joe Milton gets compared to NFL MVP despite inconsistent Cowboys debut

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton III was put in the same category as NFL MVP Josh Allen by head coach Brian Schottenheimer, despite his lackluster debut.

www.si.com

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

As I posted before, the Cowboys can say what they want, but Dak is their QB for the next two seasons, at least, because of his crazy contract.

I managed to watch more preseason games. For the Saints, I still am 99% certain Tyler Shough is their starting QB. Rattler started the game against the Chargers, but Shough easily outplayed him. Throw after throw he was more impressive, including a beautiful bomb for a TD. Rattler, as well as Haener, look like NFL backup QBs. Rattler looked slightly better than he did last season, but Shough just makes throws those guys can't. For the Chargers Tre Lance also showed he now belongs in the league - as a backup. He did show his legs more in this game. Best thing about the game was hearing legend Dan Fouts on color commentary.

Bears-Fins tied in a relatively entertaining game. Caleb didn't even suit up, and if Ben Johnson has a thick playbook, you didn't see it. Tyson Bagent played well though. Real nice TD pass, with one int off a deflection that dinged his stats. He's someone who at times looks capable of being a starting QB... at times. Zach Wilson played well for Miami, and like Bagent if I were a coach I'd be happy to have him my backup QB. Quinn Ewers looked like he he's going to end up on the practice squad.

 

[movingtarget]

Vikings WR Rondale Moore suffered season-ending knee injury in preseason opener

 

[Nomad]

For the Chargers Tre Lance also showed he now belongs in the league - as a backup. He did show his legs more in this game.

He sure did: 7 carries for 48 yds & a score. I watched some of the highlights and it looks like he's running some RPO schemes out of shotgun - similar to what he ran at NDSU. That's a good thing. Lance is a bonafide dual-threat QB having rushed for 1100 yds on 169 carries in his one lone season at NDSU. However, reports say the competition for QB2 between he & Heinicke is still wide open. So I guess Lance needs to perform even better in these last two preseason games. And if he can't win the backup job in a Harbaugh offensive system (run heavy), then it's probably over for Lance as far as a future in the NFL.

 

[Nomad]

Dolphins RB Alexander Mattison placed on season-ending injured reserve after neck surgery

Miami's running back suffered a season-ending injury in the first preseason game

www.cbssports.com

Basically a broken neck. Mattison has been a solid rotator during his 6 yr career. He was going to be Miami's "big back" in their rotation this season. These njuries that are occurring during preseason is unreal. And not just minor injuries that need a week or so rest but major season-ending injuries.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Yikes!

I can see why Harbaugh said what he did about Heinike, he played fairly well too. Not the dual threat Lance is, but he made very good decisions, and showed mobility.

Watched the Gaints-Bills. I think it's a matter of when, not if, Jaxon Dart is the starting QB for the Giants. He, like Shough for the Saints, looks ready to play in the NFL. I didn't talk about Cam Ward, but he looked comfortable will obviously start week 1. I think James Cook was smart to sign the extension he did, the committee of RBs behind him played fairly well. To his credit, he stayed with the team and worked out, only missing four practices and the 1 preseason game.

Patriots look like they should be a very different team than last year. Not saying they'll win the division, but Mike Vrabel has his team looking drilled and disciplined. Everybody both sides of the ball, plus ST. Quite the opposite of the mess they were under Jerod Mayo.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Patriots just have to show up and out in one game this year, 9/21 at home against the Steelers. But I think they have a good chance to finish second in the division over Miami.

 

[Nomad]

Patriots look like they should be a very different team than last year. Not saying they'll win the division, but Mike Vrabel has his team looking drilled and disciplined. Everybody both sides of the ball, plus ST. Quite the opposite of the mess they were under Jerod Mayo.

Don't you think Vrabel's success this year is solely contingent on Maye's performance? When Vrabel was at Tennessee his glory years were with a good performing & healthy Tannehill. There were 3 straight postseason appearances including one year where they met KC in AFCCG. In the following years, Tannehill starts developing injuries missing chunks of time & the team regresses. In Vrabel's final year, to no avail, he inserts midway through the season a not-ready to start Will Levis to try & save his job. Unsuccessful with that move...Vrabel is run out of town.

Now he's got Maye who last year, IMO, was very disappointing in the 12 games he started (3-9). He didn't throw the ball well with a mediocre passer rating of 88.1 (23rd) & a subpar QBR of 58 (17th). By comparison, Daniels' numbers were 100.1 passer rating (11th) & 77 QBR (4th). He also had way too many turnovers with 16. The only bright spot was Maye's rushing ability where he averaged 32 YPG (6th) - surprisedly ahead of Allen (7th).

Maye is a bonafide dual-threat QB that comes with elite size, good speed & a big time arm that's up there with the top guns in the league. Being #3 OA (highest drafted QB since Drew Bledsoe in 1999), he has to start playing like a true franchise QB if Kraft expects Vrabel to lead the team back to the promised land.

John Kosco of Pro Football Focus thinks Maye could be a bust in the making comparing him to Daniel Jones . That's the last thing Kraft wants to here. Lol

 https://athlonsports.com/nfl/new-en...-maye-daniel-jones-giants-comparison-bust-nfl

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

You wouldn't have been able to learn anything watching this game, as Maye played less than a quarter, and barely threw the ball. What the Pats did look excellent at, was running the ball, and having whoever the QB was (mostly Dobbs) get the ball out of their hands. They had a multi-prong power running attack that looked impressive. 153 yards split among several guys. But more impressive was their defense. Now, Jayden Daniels didn't even play at all for Washington, and their starters barely saw the field. But the Pats defense looked aggressive, stiff, solid tackling and coverage play after play across the board. It reminded me of a Patriot defense when Vrabel played.

Don't you think Vrabel's success this year is solely contingent on Maye's performance?

Not solely. But it will to some degree. But there's another guy whose success will be equally tied to Maye: Josh McDaniels. They can't get Maye going by season's end, they'll both be scrutinized. Especially after the Pats spent freely in FA. I do agree with you they have got to get him out of the pocket, on the move, some designed runs. Even if they do a run-heavy offense, they still need to do this with how much of a dual-threat he is.

When Vrabel was at Tennessee his glory years were with a good performing & healthy Tannehill. There were 3 straight postseason appearances including one year where they met KC in AFCCG. In the following years, Tannehill starts developing injuries missing chunks of time & the team regresses.

I seem to recall the Titans had a pretty good running back too. What was his name? Hank something. No wait, Derrick something.

John Kosco of Pro Football Focus thinks Maye could be a bust in the making comparing him to Daniel Jones .

I think it's far too early to make that claim. In fact. They had a bad coaching staff, bad OL, bad everything last year. It may take several games for the new Pats coaching staff to get Maye fully into the mix, but it's way too early to say that I think.

Is Daniel Jones really a bust? There have been QBs drafted as high in the last decade that are much more deserving of that word. Trubisky, Zach Wilson, Carson Wentz, maybe Sam Darnold still - jury out here. I think the risk is he'll be the next Justin Herbert. Huge amount of hype, all the talk of his potential - enough to get him a gigantic contract. Then he turns out to be maybe above average.

 

[Nomad]

Who's "Derrick?"...Never heard of him. Lol. You're right, Tannehill did have a great running game with Henry. But he also had a great season the year they went to the AFCCG when Tannehill replaced a poor preforming Mariota. In just 10 games as the starter, he threw for 2700 yds, 70% completion & a passer rating of 117.

I think the Giants consider Jones a bust or they wouldn't have released him? In their eyes, he went from "Danny Dimes" to "Danny Done." Lol. And he wasn't all that great in his first 3 yrs, but finally had his breakout season in 2022 when they made the postseason & won a playoff game. That year he threw for 3200 yds, 92 passing rating & rushed for 708 yds (5.9 average) - "Danny Dual-Threat" was looking good.

Then came 2023 with the disastrous neck & ACL injuries & things spiraled out of control. When he came back last year, his performance was so bad - and with the team losing - he was benched in favor of undrafted, unheralded Tommy DeVito (nothing against DeVito). Jones was not only benched but demoted to 3rd string where he ran the scout team. Humiliated beyond belief, he asked to be released.

I suppose to redeem himself he not only needs to win the QB battle with AR, but have a great season leading the Colts to the playoffs. That would probably force a trade with AR & Jones would be designated the franchise guy moving forward. But first Jones has to win the job & Steichen said it's still too close to call:

Camp's over, yet Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones still vie for Colts' QB1 role

The Colts are one of three NFL teams (Browns, Saints) to have not named a starting QB by the end of camp.

www.espn.com

 

[Nomad]

The kid has got some wheels:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/Q1aZi_ubHkw?si=c9NSmLcFizpBgLou

 

[movingtarget]

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice could still be suspended prior to start of regular season

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Almost amusing how many Chiefs players manage to get in trouble.

If Daniels Jones is the Colts starter he has to hope to get to the playoffs, maybe win that division, maybe win a playoff game to resurrect his career. Or else he'll be the next Mason Rudolph (Mitch Trubisky, Tyrod Taylor, etc.). If AR is the starter, and plays well, then Jones is already in that category.

Shedeur wasn't that impressive in the Cleveland game, but he looked okay. He gets credit though because it wasn't until mid week that he knew he'd play, and barely had practice snaps with the first team. The poise he showed in that light was impressive.

Raider Nation thinks the team will keep 3 QBs on the roster: Geno, Aiden O'Connell, and Cam Miller. The thought is they don't want to push Miller to the practice squad and have some team pilfer him away. As much as they love Miller's mobility, they aren't ready to let "Cement Shoes" O'Connell get stolen either. He's actually been the Raiders best QB the last two years, going 7-10.

 

[Nomad]

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice could still be suspended prior to start of regular season

Not a big deal. They still have Worthy, Hollywood & JuJu. And their 4th rd pick & 1st offensive player taken, Jaylen Royal, has been impressive in camp & is the talk of the town. Looks like he's earned his way into the rotation.

 

[Nomad]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1955080697162424596

View: https://x.com/zonerunner331/status/1955080697162424596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1955080697162424596%7Ctwgr%5E2f81118ccdc7b58d0b81ec74cfbf323dea1b532f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2Fcommanders%2Fnews%2Fwhat-nfl-legend-steve-young-said-washington-commanders-jayden-daniels

 

[Nomad]

Class Act:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/0aWyLvkNkkM?si=b4t-0Ihc8yFyuuf4

 

[Oldman]

Watched Chiefs/Seahawks and one team had a good time, the Chiefs not so much except for Garnder Minshew. He pretty much delivered all the offense for the time allotted.
Seattle's defense played the Chiefs passing game tight and could because they minimized KC running attack.
The Hawks seemed to throw endless runs for 6 to 8 yds at KC and then would pass. Between Seattle's 3 QBs, only 4 weren't caught. Seattle will want to keep both Lock and Milroe; they're good.

 

[Nomad]

Almost amusing how many Chiefs
Raider Nation thinks the team will keep 3 QBs on the roster: Geno, Aiden O'Connell, and Cam Miller. The thought is they don't want to push Miller to the practice squad and have some team pilfer him away. As much as they love Miller's mobility, they aren't ready to let "Cement Shoes" O'Connell get stolen either. He's actually been the Raiders best QB the last two years, going 7-10.

Well, if O'Connell is going to be the backup, then Carroll is really stupid. If something happens to Smith, you're left with a one-dementional, immobile, big stiff pocket passer who wears a target for sack happy DEs. Lol. O'Connell is obsolete in this era of mobile/dual-threat QBs.

Further develope Miller & go with him as the backup. If he's absolutely not ready, then they find a mobile/dual-threat QB out there in FA. Then Miller to the practice squad & send O'Connell on his way

 

[movingtarget]

Well, if O'Connell is going to be the backup, then Carroll is really stupid. If something happens to Smith, you're left with a one-dementional, immobile, big stiff pocket passer who wears a target for sack happy DEs. Lol. O'Connell is obsolete in this era of mobile/dual-threat QBs.

Further develope Miller & go with him as the backup. If he's absolutely not ready, then they find a mobile/dual-threat QB out there in FA. Then Miller to the practice squad & send O'Connell on his way

63.3 rating in the preseason game against the 49ers. Even the 49ers third string was over 80, although preseason is never usually a good indicator of what's to come. Usually more about giving the rookies opportunities to flash. Purdy and Pearsall look locked in for what it's worth and the 49ers O line looks as ordinary as ever albeit without some of the starters and their injuries are racking up already as usual but nothing season ending so far. Couple of teams have already been hammered with injuries.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I think Cam Miller is going to end up #2 on the Raiders depth chart.

If the Chiefs starters don't stay healthy, they may be in for some long games, especially on defense. Even the Seattle backup OL and RBs were just gashing them. Sam Darnold looked just as sharp as he did for the Vikings. And the Seattle D looked better than they did against the Raiders. Again, mostly backups for all teams, but Seattle looked good.

Looks like the Bills have the same problem with depth. Maybe worse. They looked shockingly flat, and Caleb looked like an MVP. Heck, Bagent looked like an all pro, with a 103.9 passer rating.

Dillon Gabriel looked terrific for one quarter against the Eagles. Then an ill advised pick-6, but got no help from his receivers on the play either. After that, he looked good.

A week after looking good, Fields went 1/5 against the Jets. But Adrian Martinez looked very good as a backup. He was the UFL MVP 2 seasons ago. Wilson may start at QB for the Giants, but I am certain it's only a matter of games before Jaxon Dart is their QB. Nice to hear Phil Simms do color commentary in this game. Nostalgic.

Another not-so-good game for Milton in Dallas. But their entire team looked just flat. Barely moving the ball after the 1st quarter. Just 170 yards of total offense.

Stetson Bennett played the entire game for the Rams against the Chargers and looked good. No matter who was QB for LA they couldn't get anything consistent going. Game wasn't as close as the score made it seem.