Congratulations, everyone! We made it to the end of the 2018 preseason, which means the regular season is only a week away. It's almost time for real football. But before we could officially move onto Week 1, there were 16 games to be played on Thursday night, as all 32 teams closed out the preseason. Per usual, the vast majority of starters did not play with the regular season a week away. With that being said, that didn't mean all important players didn't play. In Detroit, we had No. 1 overall pick starting for the Browns. In Chicago, AJ McCarron got one final shot to insert his name into the Bills' starting quarterback competition. In Denver, former first-round was given a half to prove that he belongs on the Broncos' roster. Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, played against the team that took him in the second round. Below, you'll find all the updates you need from Thursday night. Scores, schedule Thursday 35, 17 34, 7 10, 9 17, 12 27, 26 30, 20 25, 10 39, 24 28, 0 28, 27 13, 3 14, 6 33, 21 21, 10 23, 21 ) 30, 19 Baker Mayfield, Browns start fast Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, won't start for the Browns when the season begins with locked in as the starter, but he did get the chance
Jason Hammel Jersey to start against the on Thursday. Playing with and against backups, Mayfield immediately proved that he doesn't belong on the field with the type of players who start Week 4 preseason games. On the team's opening series, Mayfield went 3 of 4 for 55 yards. Here he is connecting with "Hard Knocks" star for a 41-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. . to for the 1st down! NFL (@NFL) Speaking of Cajuste, he caught two pa ses for 48 yards on the series. The drive, which went 80 yards on nine plays, ended with a three-yard run by rookie , who rushed for 30 yards on five carries during the series. Hello, .Hello, END ZONE! NFL (@NFL) The Browns' offense, with two highly touted rookies, steamrolled the Lions' defense. That's not an unexpected outcome, but it's still nice for the Browns to see as they try to make the leap from bad to competitive. Mayfield, who played the entire first half before getting yanked, finished 9 of 16 for 138 yards (8.6 YPA) and a 84.9 pa ser rating. He led the Browns to 17 points, with only two of his five drives ending without points
Whit Merrifield Jersey . succe s continues After three lackluster preseason outings to begin his career, Jackson , going 7 of 10 for 98 yards, a touchdown, and a 134.6 pa ser rating. His succe s continued early on during Thursday's game. Getting the start against the , Jackson led the on a 13-play, 81-yard touchdown drive. On that drive, Jackson went 4 of 4 for 33 yards. He capped off the series with a touchdown run from in close. LAMAR NFL (@NFL) Drawing conclusions from anything that happens in the fourth week of the
Jorge Soler Jersey preseason is dangerous, but that touchdown is a perfect example of what Jackson brings to the Ravens offense. Obviously, is a better quarterback right now, but once Jackson adapts to the and learns how to become a better pocket pa ser, his athleticism is going to allow the Ravens to become much more exotic and interesting. Jackson would finish the first half 9 of 15 for 109 yards (7.3 YPA) and an 82.4 pa ser rating. Did he mi s a couple throws? Yep. But did he show improved accuracy, anticipation, and timing? Yep. Consider the outing a succe s. With Jackson showing signs of improvement, the Ravens might decide to trade away instead of keeping three quarterbacks on the roster. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora has more: Nice half of football for Lamar Jackson. Ravens were already open to trading RGIII prior to this outing. They wont give Griffin away, or cut him, but the Rams, Jags, Cowboys, Dolphins, Panthers or whoever else could land him for 5 that moves to a 4 based on PT/performance Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) wins, but struggles When McCarron was signed by the Bills in free agency, he thought he was going to compete for the Bills' starting quarterback job. He certainly got the chance to compete for the starting job, but he appears to have been pa sed by both and after two preseason outings that can be best described as "meh" and that forced him to mi s the team's third . McCarron returned to action on Thursday, starting against all of the ' backups, and he came out firing ... to the wrong team. We are all during Doran Grant's pick six... Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) On the off chance he still has a chance to win the starting job, that pick-six didn't help. On the far more likely chance that the Bills are hoping to be
Brad Boxberger Jersey able to trade McCarron, that pick-six also didn't help. At halftime, McCarron was 5 of 13 for 39 yards (3.0 YPA), no touchdowns, one pick, and a 7.0 pa ser rating, and the Bills trailed 20-0. Entering the fourth quarter, the Bills trailed 27-3. And then, McCarron finally did something about the deficit. In the fourth quarter alone, McCarron threw three touchdowns and ran for another score, leading the Bills to an improbable come-from-behind 28-27 win. QB keeper. Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) What. A. Throw. Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) Comeback complete! Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) And that's how McCarron turned an awful outing into a comeback win. The thing is, it's kinda revealing that McCarron needed a remarkable fourth quarter to beat a Bears team that played their backups. It wasn't a great sign that McCarron played an entire game that is usually reserved for players trying to make the roster. And it really wasn't a great sign that McCarron, who some think is a starting-caliber quarterback, was trailing those backups by multiple scores in the fourth quarter. By the end of the game, even after his furious rally, McCarron improved his stat line only marginally. In all, he went 13 of 34 (38 percent) for 156 yards (4.6 YPA), three touchdowns, two picks, five sacks, and a 58.0 pa ser rating. Those aren't starting quarterback numbers. Those are cuttable numbers.Rather
Drew Butera Jersey , those should be cuttable numbers. Instead, the Bills are considering giving McCarron the starting job. Coach McDermott: We havent decided on a starting QB for Week 1, but AJ McCarron is absolutely in the race said. Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) Reminder: Sean McDermott once benched Tyrod Taylor for Nathan Peterman in the middle of a playoff race. Paxton Lynch might've saved his roster spot2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch didn't expect to be here: fighting for his roster spot before his third regular season in the NFL. But that's where Paxton Lynch found himself on Thursday night in the Broncos' final preseason game, stuck behind Chad Kelly on the depth chart, not taking snaps until the second
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