The final week of the NFL preseason is already in the book, which means the next NFL game we watch will be the regular season opener between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys on September 4. From disappointing performances to surprising quarterback games, let’s shrink the list of the most compelling headlines from the last week of the preseason.
Browns do shedeur Sanders dirty
The Cleveland Browns set up rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ failure, which didn’t give him a chance to prove that he belonged to the league in Saturday’s pre-season final against the Los Angeles Rams. The Browns coach and front desk made some dubious choices in Sanders’ last preseason game.
First, Cleveland asked Shedeur Sanders to make a chicken salad with a temporary offensive line that wasn’t as talented as the NFL. It turns out that the Browns cut four of five offensive wingers in the third and fourth quarters of Saturday’s game. Although some of Sanders’ sacks were his fault, he had no chance of success with the guy in front of Cleveland.
The Browns also have the chance to see how Sanders deal with the pressure after he retook the ball back for 2 points with 2:03 left. Then what did they do? They released Snoop Huntley a day later and the bench was on Snoop Huntley! Instead of seeing how their rookie quarterback performs in a two-minute drill, they handed the ball over to a player who had no intention of keeping the roster, a questionable decision, to say the least.
The front desk of the Cleveland Browns expects that this type of player is mismanaged. But that’s all new things for Kevin Stefanski, two-time NFL Coach of the Year winner Kevin Stefanski. Not surprisingly, Brown completely groped the preseason for Shedeur Sanders.
The Bears won the last second
A two-year contract was signed last week, with Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent throwing three three-quarter touchdown passes to complete Chicago’s 17-point comeback against the Kansas City Chiefs. Bagent is very efficient in the game, completing 20 of 28 passes for a total of 212 yards and 3 TDs, including the game winner.
The Chiefs led 17-3 in the second quarter, with quarterback Patrick Mahomes being replaced by alternate Gardner Minshew. Bears quarterback and former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams were able to curate a 78-yard touchdown at the end of the half to reduce the KC lead to ten.
From the break, the Bears struggled to throw points on the board despite the first drive of 44 yards in the third quarter. On top of that, Kansas City made another touchdown, extending its lead to 27-10.
Despite a 17-point drop on the road to the defending AFC champion, Tyson Bagent and the Bears did not retreat. Chicago put together two touchdown drives and brought the ball to Kansas City’s six-yard line for a chance to win the game. Thankfully for Big Wind, Bagent threw a six-yard touchdown pass to answer the call with three seconds left, giving the Bears a third preseason win.
Amazing QB performance
There are several quarterbacks who can make the most of the game time they got last weekend. Although they weren’t the gate mates who were taken away in the first round of the NFL draft, Max Brosmer, Riley Leonard and Graham Mertz had great outings in the final week of the preseason.
We will start with unsigned rookie free agent Max Brosmer who showed the Minnesota Vikings that he might be a reliable backup or third place. The 24-year-old former Minnesota Golden Gopher completed 15 of 23 passes for a total of 161 yards and touchdowns. The Vikings’ performance was clearly impressive as they released quarterback Brett Rypien and traded another QB Sam Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles. Brosmer is likely to be Minnesota’s 53-man lineup.
Graham Mertz, a Houston Texan, is also very effective. The sixth-round draft pick may have completed a 53-man lineup for 145 yards, touchdowns and another 20 yards in 145 yards.
Finally, there was sixth-round draft pick Riley Leonard, who finished 15 of 20 passes as the Indianapolis Colts starter finished with 189 yards of passes and touchdowns. Daniel Jones is the starter and Anthony Richardson is kicked into the team’s second-string quarterback, and it’s very likely that Riley Leonard will open as a QB3 on Indy’s 53-man roster.
Saints’ quarterback decision
After a disappointing outing against the Denver Broncos, New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore said he made a “challenging” decision over the next few days about who will be the big easy QB1.
“I know I have to make a decision, and it’s a challenging decision,” he said in a press conference after the game. “They’ve been very, very close. We love this room. We want this room together and we know that good things happen to all these guys as the journey goes on.”
Moore added that the team will decide to start quarterback “sometimes” this week.
