The NFL preseason continues into the third week after two solid weeks of play from a number of teams and now the important Week 3 matchups are upon the schedule and many teams are using the games this week as a test for how they will look later in the regular season.
Many teams play their starters for longer in the third game and then use the fourth game for mostly backup players and others battling for roster spots. The third game can be used as a template for how teams will start the regular season and if they can make it through that game without any major injuries, coaches are usually thrilled because that means the main players should make it to at least Week 1 of the regular season. The Thursday night games had the Detroit Lions hosting the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens hosting the Carolina Panthers.
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Friday's schedule has some great games as well, as the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers will have a rematch of their controversial replacement referee game that saw Golden Tate make the winning catch as time expired..or did he? No one really knows and while the ref contends that he made the right call, he is literally the only one that believes that. The Packers are hoping to get a little bit of revenge in the game and even though it didn't end up factoring into the playoff race since both made it, the team was very bitter about it.
The Chicago Bears and the Oakland Raiders are playing on Friday night in the second game and the two teams are coming in with 1-1 records and the game will be in the Bay Area. The Raiders are looing to be one of the most improved teams in the league, as they went just 4-12 last season and general manager Reggie McKenzie has made some sweeping changes to the roster, adding a number of draft picks and free agents.
The team went after corner DJ Hayden in the draft with their first round pick and they took Menelik Watson second while also adding Tyler Wilson, Brice Butler, Latavius Murray, Nick Kasa and Mychal Rivera on the offensive side. The team knows it will be tough after getting a new quarterback in Matt Flynn, but they also added Charles Woodson as well as Mike Jenkins and Tracy Porter in the secondary along with Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett at linebacker.
The defense should be much improved and as long as the offense can play better and more consistently, the record should improve as well. Dennis Allen is putting in a new running scheme that should play to Darren McFadden's strengths and after ranking 28th in the league in rush yards per game while dealing with injuries, the raiders should be much more consistent now. The team traded away Carson Palmer and brought in Matt Flynn and while that is a bit of a downgrade, McKenzie felt it was the only way to move the franchise forward and out of his contract.