The 1st week of the NFL preseason is underway with just two games left to go. Thursday was the kickoff of the preseason, I understand that the Hall of Fame game was last Sunday, and for the most part the starters didn't play long. There were a few exceptions - Locker played the entire first half and Josh Freeman saw some extended time as well.
On Thursday the Ravens beat the Buccaneers 44-16. One of the big questions enter the season for the Ravens was who will step up as the #2 WR and how will the defense respond with all the changes and loss of key leaders. Veteran Jones didn't do much to separate himself from the rest of the crowd. Ravens did get a little scare when Pierce struggled to get off the field after scoring a TD but appears to be okay. The Buccaneers played without Revis, precautionary move, but for the most part - despite the score - the Buc's D played pretty well. Special team mistakes put the Buc's D in some bad positions. The Buc's got a little scare as well when Hillis looked to re-injure his knee but it is not reported that nothing serious happened. The bright spot for the Buc's was the play of rookie cornerback Banks - while it has little fantasy football impact it could mean the Buc's D won't give up 400 yards a game through the air this year.
Cincinnati Bengals beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-10. The Falcons saw a number of defensive defections from last year, probably the biggest loss was John Abraham but they did sign Osi Umenyiora. Trouble with the D-line is that Osi can't do it alone and they saw some sign of life as with the play of Johnathan Massaquoi. Other than that the Falcons didn't produce much. Stephen Jackson did little carrying the rock and the only big play for the first team was a bubble scream to Douglass for 40 or so yards. Under Dalton's leadership the Bengals have made the playoffs in both his first two years but will they be able to make it further this year. While the Law Firm will be the starter at RB, the Bengals saw rookie Giovani Bernard bang out some hard yards. Why is this important? Because if Bernard can prove he can get that tough two yards, he will become a TD poacher.
The Cleveland Browns beat the St. Louis Rams 27-19. Trent Richardson didn't see action and that gave Dion Lewis, and others, a chance to show their abilities. Lewis could be interesting this year as he was used a lot in the passing game along with a few carries. Brandon Weeden played well and answered a lot of the local media critics as they are singing the praise in the papers on Friday. With Stephen Jackson going to the Atlanta Falcons it opens the door for Daryl Richardson and Ishiah Pead to become the starter. Pead didn't help his cause by coughing up the football on his first carry. The biggest note from the game, outside the lack luster O performance by the Rams, is the dislocated shoulder of OL Saffold who protects Bradford's blind side.
Well I know there are more games left to look into for Thursday, I will tackle them tomorrow as well as the rest of the games. For the serious Fantasy Football owners, do your best to read the local rag's as they give great insight into the players and the games.
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