Here's what happened Thursday night in Week 1 of the 2018 NFL preseason

If you missed any of the action from Thursday’s 12 game-slate, let’s get you caught up:

Indianapolis Colts 19, Seattle Seahawks 17

Whoa, the Seahawks lost a preseason game for the first time since 2016.

There’s nothing like preseason follies

The Colts wrapped up a 19-17 victory over the Seahawks, snapping a six-game preseason win streak for Seattle, but not before hilariously handing over seven points with a Bennie Hill-level blooper.

The center must’ve had preseason jitters because the ball flew about 15 yards in the air before it bounced another 8 or 9 yards. It squirted another 5 or so yards after about five different players couldn’t manage to grab it.

Hooray preseason!

Shaquem Griffin saw early action and took advantage

The Seahawks didn’t wait long to sub everybody’s favorite fifth-round pick into the game. Griffin entered on the Colts’ second drive of the game and got right to business with four tackles on his first defensive drive.

He didn’t stop there, either, adding this tackle for loss later in the game:

Griffin finished with a game-high nine tackles. On a defense with a lot of new faces, Griffin already looks like he belongs.

Andrew Luck looked like a functional quarterback again

Indianapolis has been extremely patient and cautious with the recovery of Luck, but let him throw a lot on his first drive back on the field. While he didn’t throw deep at all, Luck completed five of his seven passes for 55 yards on the Colts’ opening drive that went for a total of 12 plays and ended with a field goal.

He finished the night with six completions on nine attempts for 64 yards.

There’s still more steps for Luck to take, but there’s reason to for the Colts to feel really optimistic after his first preseason action.

Recap for Seahawks fans: Field Gulls

Houston Texans 17, Kansas City Chiefs 10

As excited as we were for Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, neither quarterback played much or did much. The preseason, ladies and gentlemen!

Patrick Mahomes was efficient early, but there were no fireworks

You get the feeling watching Mahomes that you’re always about two or three plays away from him throwing it 80 yards downfield. That didn’t happen in the first two drives against the Texans though, as the Chiefs offensive line struggled to keep the Houston pass rush — sans J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus, and Jadeveon Clowney — off of the second-year quarterback.

Still, Mahomes completed five of his seven passes on the first two drives for 33 yards with a couple completions each to Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.

Deshaun Watson’s return was just a dip of his toes in the water

The preseason debut for the Texans was Watson’s first game back from an ACL tear that ended his spectacular 2017 season. Houston played it really safe, though.

Watson played in just one drive and threw just one pass before he was replaced by Brandon Weeden on the second drive of the game for the Texans. His only pass was a short dump to Bruce Ellington that totaled 4 yards.

Houston is taking things real slow with their young star.

Recap for Texans fans: Battle Red Blog

Recap for Chiefs fans: Arrowhead Pride

Cleveland Browns 20, New York Giants 10

Here’s what jumped out at us while we watched the Browns beat the Giants Thursday night.

Baker Mayfield and Antonio Callaway continued to create chemistry

Mayfield and Callaway got into a groove in the second half. Mayfield hit him once for a big gain while he was falling off his back foot, and the two connected for a 54-yard touchdown.

Callaway made up for his two drops earlier in the game. Those are plays coaches can live with as long as the explosive plays are being produced.

That was the last throw of the night for Baker Mayfield. He finished the game going 11 of 20, for 212 yards and two touchdowns.

Baker Mayfield had a very encouraging first half

The raw stats didn’t look great (4 of 11, 70 yards, one touchdown), but Mayfield played really well in his first NFL action. He had a command of the pocket, picked up first downs with his legs, and looked comfortable extending plays against and NFL defense.

Tyrod Taylor’s performance today will continue to entrench him as the starting quarterback, but Mayfield showed promise.

Antonio Callaway had a case of the drops

At the midway point for the Browns game against the Giants, Antonio Callaway struggled to catch the ball. He has two drops trying to catch passes from Mayfield; not the game he needed to have coming off his marijuana citation over the weekend.

Baker Mayfield started heating up

The No. 1 overall pick didn’t do much of anything on the first drive, but he was back with a vengeance now. Mayfield marched the Browns down the field for a touchdown, converting third and fourth downs along the way.

His touchdown throw to David Njoku was pretty solid, too.

Rashard Higgins had a strong game

Mayfield to Hollywood Higgins could be the preseason’s Montana to Rice. The timing was perfect between the two on this comeback route.

Baker Mayfield had an uneventful first drive

Handoff for negative gain on first down. Missed deep on the second down throw. Another run for a negative gain on third down. Yes, the Browns ran it up the middle on third-and-11 in a preseason game.

Weak play-calling on Mayfield's first drive. Everyone on the planet knew the handoff was coming on first down and didn't even try on 3rd & 11
— Kevin Cole (@Cole_Kev) August 9, 2018

The Browns’ offense settled in on their second drive

Tyrod Taylor looked right at home in the Browns’ second drive of the game. He hit Rashard Higgins for two completions including a deep comeback along the sideline before throwing a strike to David Njoku for a touchdown.

Through two drives, Tyrod Taylor is 5/5, 99 yards, and the aforementioned touchdown.

Saquon Barkley looked like Saquon Barkley on his first NFL carry

This kid makes it look so easy. His patience at the line of scrimmage and ability to burst through it will hopefully allow him to create more of these big runs into the regular season.

Recap for Browns fans: Dawgs By Nature

Recap for Giants fans: Big Blue View

Here’s a quick rundown of the other nine games:

San Francisco 49ers 24, Dallas Cowboys 21

Dak Prescott didn’t play much, but he connected with rookie Michael Gallup for a beauty of a TD early in the game:

The 49ers’ backup backups ended up scoring against the game-winning touchdown with 18 seconds left against the Cowboys’s backup backups.

Recap for Cowboys fans: Blogging the Boys

Recap for 49ers fans: Niners Nation

Carolina Panthers 28, Buffalo Bills 23

Look, Josh Allen had some good throws. We’re not trying to be haters, but lawd, this play:

Recap for Panthers fans: Cat Scratch Reader

Recap for Bills fans: Buffalo Rumblings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26, Miami Dolphins 24

The Bucs got the win, but their kicker curse struck again:

Bucs kicker Chandler Catanzaro misses a 53-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. It sailed wide right. He missed an extra point attempt in the first quarter as well.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) August 10, 2018

Luckily, Catanzaro ended up making the game-winning kick.

Recap for Bucs fans: Bucs Nation

Recap for Dolphins fans: The Phinsider

Cincinnati Bengals 30, Chicago Bears 27

Andy Dalton only had one bad throw, but we also can’t blame him much here:

Andy Dalton throws a pick six. He started running down the field to make a tackle, then came to the sudden realization that it's a preseason game and stopped trying.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) August 9, 2018

Recap for Bears fans: Windy City Gridiron

Recap for Bengals fans: Cincy Jungle

Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Philadelphia Eagles 14

Neither team’s Super Bowl-winning quarterback was out on the field Thursday night (Carson Wentz isn’t quite ready for game action either). Instead, it ended up being the JuJu Smith-Schuster show:

Recap for Steelers fans: Behind the Steel Curtain

Recap for Eagles fans: Bleeding Green Nation

New Orleans Saints 24, Jacksonville Jaguars 20

Not many starters played for the Saints, but they still managed to put together a comeback win. And although the Jags took the L, they got to see a glimpse of what a weapon rookie D.J. Chark can be:

Recap for Saints fans: Canal Street Chronicles

Recap for Jags fans: Big Cat Country

Baltimore Ravens 33, Los Angeles Rams 7

Joe Flacco, Lamar Jackson, and RG3 all played well against a Rams team that phoned in their first preseason game. However, the play of the game belonged to Jackson:

Recap for Rams fans: Turf Show Times

Recap for Ravens fans: Baltimore Beatdown

New England Patriots 26, Washington 17

Tom Brady wasn’t out there, but the Patriots mounted a big comeback in the second half anyway. Worse news for Washington: rookie running back Derrius Guice left with a knee injury.

Recap for Washington fans: Hogs Haven

Recap Patriots fans: Pats Pulpit

Green Bay Packers 31, Tennessee Titans 17

Aaron Rodgers sat out, and in the battle to be his backup, Brett Hundley still has the edge over DeShone Kizer.

Recap for Titans fans: Music City Miracles

Recap for Packers fans: Acme Packing Company

News

Player protests continue

Malcolm Jenkins, and other members of the Eagles, wore pregame shirts to bring attention to social justice issues, including the mass incarceration of people of color.

Before we enjoy this game lets take some time to ponder that more than 60% of the prison population are people of color. The NFL is made up of 70% African Americans. What you witness on the field does not represent the reality of everyday
America. We are the anomalies... pic.twitter.com/gCeNKuTl1d
— Malcolm Jenkins (@MalcolmJenkins) August 9, 2018

Jenkins continued to raise a fist during the national anthem.

Kenny Stills also wore a message on his pregame shirt:

Stills and teammate Albert Wilson kneeled during the anthem while another Dolphins player, Robert Quinn, raised his fist.

Elsewhere, several Jags and Seahawks players chose to remain in the locker room during the playing of the anthem.

The NFL said its policy still prohibits demonstrations during the anthem, though the league will not enforce any discipline while its discussions with the NFLPA continue.

Cam Newton vs. Kelvin Benjamin

After Benjamin took a shot at his former quarterback last week, Newton confronted him before the Bills-Panthers game. It did not appear to go well:

Following the game, both players didn’t have much to say, at least not publicly.

Pregame

The first full week of NFL preseason is set to kick off on Thursday evening with 12 games scheduled.

We will get our first look at the first overall draft pick Baker Mayfield and second overall pick Saquon Barkley as the Cleveland Browns will face the New York Giants. The reigning Super Bowl champions Philadelphia Eagles will take on Antonio Brown and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Washington will get its first look a newly acquired quarterback Alex Smith when the team plays the New England Patriots on the road. Houston Texans’ second-year quarterback Deshaun Watson, who suffered a season ending ACL injury in 2017, is expected to play in the preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck will be making his return to football after missing the entire 2017 season due to a shoulder injury.