The NFL preseason had another full night of action on Friday night with a number of exciting games and the one game left to play on Saturday before Sunday's matchup with the Bills and Colts are the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Giants aren't expected to play starting quarterback Eli Manning long, but the team has a number of positions where players still need to step up, including at cornerback and linebacker as well as wide receiver, where the third spot is up for grabs behind Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks with Rueben Randle and Louis Murphy the likely options. The Giants and Steelers both have a very successful Super Bowl history and the teams will be dueling with quarterbacks from the 2004 draft in Manning and Ben Roethlisberger.
Friday results included the Jets losing to the Lions 26-17 and the Dolphins totally dominating the Jaguars 27-3 in Jacksonville. Mark Sanchez looked good in spots, but he also threw a pick six to Ziggy Ansah before adding a touchdown to Jeff Cumberland. Greg McElroy finished with 145 yards and one touchdown while Sanchez had 125 yards and one touchdown and the pick six. Geno Smith looked okay as well, going six of seven for 47 yards, but it wasn't enough to win the first preseason game and now the team will have to evaluate the quarterbacks to see who really should be starting the season. The Lions had some solid performances, although Matthew Stafford barely played.
All the Dolphins quarterbacks completed five of nine passes apart from one, who had eight and Ryan Tannehill looked solid as he passed for a touchdown to former Jet Dustin Keller. The Saints defeated the Chiefs and the Panthers defeated the Bears after Jay Cutler threw one interception and Cam Newton was solid as well with one pick and one touchdown. The Cowboys lost to the Raiders in a close game 19-17 and now the Raiders have a choice to make behind Matt Flynn, as Tyler Wilson, Matt McGloin and Terrelle Pryor all played solid at quarterback and the team also has a number of players at running back.
The rest of the preseason will continue through next week for the second full week of games and the next matchup on Sunday of Week 1 is the Indianapolis Colts and the Buffalo Bills. The Colts are coming off of a playoff appearance with Andrew Luck and the Bills are hoping for a similar result with their quarterback EJ Manuel.
Check here for updated scores, stats and box scores from NFL games in Week 1 and the full schedule for Saturday night.
