The big winners and losers from Week 1 of the 2018 NFL preseason

The first night of league-wide preseason action is in the books, which included the debuts of Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, and much of the rest of the 2018 NFL rookie class.

There were a total of 12 games Thursday night, leaving four games left on the schedule for Friday and Saturday. On Thursday, the Browns extended their preseason winning streak to five with a 20-10 win over the Giants, and the Patriots overcame a 17-0 deficit to beat Washington, 26-17.

But scores don’t really matter in preseason. The real focus is on the players who made the most of their opportunities to impress and those who didn’t. Here’s who stood out to us — good and bad. We’ll keep the list updated throughout the weekend:

Winner: Andrew Luck is playing football again

Just stepping out on the football field was a win for Luck. But surprisingly, the Colts didn’t play it ultra conservative with the quarterback.

He didn’t throw deep or do anything reckless, but he played two drives and got plenty of reps, finishing his preseason debut against the Seahawks with six completions on nine attempts for 64 yards.

We’ll need to see more before it’s safe to consider Luck an MVP candidate any time soon, but Thursday was a good sign that he’s on the right track. — Adam Stites

Winner: The Browns quarterback situation looks ... good?

Since the Browns have been reintroduced to the NFL, they’ve struggled mightily to find any semblance of competent quarterback play. If the first half of their preseason opener against the Giants is any indication, the Browns look to have two starting-caliber quarterbacks on their roster.

Tyrod Taylor, the incumbent starter, was flawless in his debut with the Browns. He played two drives and went 5 of 5 for 99 yards and a perfect touchdown throw to David Njoku.

Taylor also had a dime on a comeback route to Jarvis Landry for a big gain. All in all, a perfect start for the former Bills quarterback.

Baker Mayfield had a fantastic debut for the Browns. He showed poise, accuracy, and good decision-making. Mayfield didn’t have the efficiency of Taylor, but he had a productive evening (11 of 20, 212 yards, two touchdowns) — including this strike to Antonio Callaway along the sideline.

This is the best quarterback situation the Browns have had in very, very long time. If these two can continue their play into the regular season, it just might be the Browns’ year after all. — Charles McDonald

It was pretty obvious the Rams didn’t see Sean Mannion as their quarterback of the future considering they spent the first overall pick on Jared Goff the year after selecting Mannion. Still, it’s hard to imagine a worse performance than the one Mannion just delivered, especially in a preseason game.

Mannion completed 3 of 13 passes for 16 yards, tossed one interception, and took two sacks for 13 lost yards. Yikes!

A deeper breakdown of Mannion’s numbers showed how hilariously bad he was in the preseason opener.

(If you don’t know what some of these abbreviations stand for, check out the Pro Football Reference glossary.)

With Brandon Allen playing solid in limited action, Mannion’s roster spot legitimately might be up for grabs.— Charles McDonald

Winner: Lamar Jackson’s ankle-breaking ability

His Hall of Fame Game debut was pretty forgettable, but on Thursday night Jackson looked more like the Heisman Trophy winner the Ravens expected to get when they drafted him in the first round.

He completed just seven of his 18 passes, but looked deep a few times and showed his unique skill set when he broke the ankles of two Rams defenders on his way into the end zone.

The path to supplant Joe Flacco is still a long one for Jackson, but more plays like that and his 36-yard pass to Chris Moore is a good start. — Adam Stites

Loser: The 49ers’ injury report

There’s really just two goals of preseason:

Get ready for the regular season
Don’t get hurt

The 49ers really didn’t have much luck with the latter, racking up several injuries early in their game against the Cowboys:

#49rs injury roundup:
Possible concussions: Solomon Thomas, Garry Gilliam
Shoulder injuries: George Kittle, Matt Breida (Breida's does not appear to be serious)
Hamstring: Malcolm Smith.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 10, 2018

Add a sixth player — and fourth starter — to the 49ers’ injury list. Shanahan said Eli Harold suffered a lower leg injury and had to come out of the game.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) August 10, 2018

That’s not ideal. — Adam Stites

Winner: The Steelers’ celebrations are back

Antonio Brown stayed on the sideline all night, but the Steelers’ celebration game didn’t miss a beat.

Juju Smith-Schuster — no stranger to creative celebrations — put on a show, first by Mossing Eagles corner Rasul Douglas and then punctuating it in the end zone by ... eating the ball? (idk, please don’t own me, youths):

But another receiver managed to upstage Smith-Schuster. Damoun Patterson made a terrific snag, topped only by his freakin’ backflip after:

Patterson’s battling for a roster spot, but he certainly looked like he belonged on the Steelers Thursday night — and not just because he led the team in receiving with six catches for 77 yards. — Sarah Hardy

Loser: Josh Allen’s blooper

The Bills’ first-round pick wasn’t that bad Thursday night. He showed some wheels and his big arm on a couple plays in his preseason debut.

The problem is that there’s a three-way battle for the starting job in Buffalo and the rookie was clearly the third best against the Panthers. Nathan Peterman finished his night with nine completions on 10 attempts for 119 yards with a touchdown, and AJ McCarron completed seven of his 10 throws for 116 yards.

Allen completed just nine of his 19 passes and had the blooper of the night when he ran backward 18 yards and hurled the ball like a grenade into traffic.

That’s not the best first impression. — Adam Stites

Winner: Cowboys receivers post-Dez Bryant

Dallas didn’t do much to help Dak Prescott following the retirement of Jason Witten and release of Dez Bryant, but the Cowboys’ young group of unheralded receivers got off to a good start Thursday.

Rookie third-round pick Michael Gallup took just a few minutes to show how he fits, hauling in a 30-yard touchdown from Prescott in the first quarter:

Among those impressed with Gallup’s debut was the man who wore the shoes he’s trying to fill:

Later in the game, second-year receiver Lance Lenoir who spent most of 2017 on the Cowboys’ practice squad showed what he’s got too:

The Cowboys will likely heavily lean on Ezekiel Elliott and the run game in 2018, but it’s a good sign that the young receivers are shining early in preseason. — Adam Stites

The fifth-round rookie linebacker has taken some first-team reps in practice for the Seahawks while K.J. Wright deals with a nagging hamstring injury. While he didn’t get the start Thursday, Griffin looked good when he stepped into action.

On his first drive of the game, Griffin made tackles on four consecutive snaps and ended up as the game’s leading tackler, with nine tackles including a TFL.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was among those who came away impressed.

Pete Carroll “yeah, really fired up” about rookie LB Shaquem Griffin’s debut. “This is what he looks like in practice....he’s a weapon (with his speed). We are really fired up.” #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/JGkeJlXuvL
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) August 10, 2018

Early in the second half, Griffin knifed through the Colts offensive line to stuff a run play for a loss. It was the first game in a long time that Griffin played as a teammate of his twin brother, Shaquill Griffin, and he looked like he definitely belonged as a member of the Seahawks defense. — Adam Stites

Loser: The Bucs’ kicker curse makes an appearance

The Buccaneers — the same team that traded UP to draft a kicker in the second round, only to cut him a year later, never forget— have not had good kicking luck lately, to put it mildly. They cycled through eight different kickers in nine seasons and then hoped they had solved their kicking woes this offseason when they signed former Cardinals and Jets kicker Chandler Catanzaro.

On Tuesday, they waived Catanzaro’s only competition, Trevor Moore. On Thursday, the curse struck:

Chandler Catanzaro did not miss an extra point in all of 2017, going 29-for-29. Misses on first attempt with Bucs. Just preseason, but ...
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 9, 2018

And it 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

BUT, Catanzaro got one more chance: a 26-yarder with 23 seconds left and the Bucs down by one. He nailed the attempt, which ended up being the game-winning score.

Maybe, just maybe, that killed the curse once and for all ... but probably not. — Sarah Hardy

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