NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Dolphins vs Falcons.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  No Reggie Bush and Brandon Marshall.

QBs

• Matt Ryan – Threw into double coverage once when he wasn’t under pressure.  After the 1st 5 incomplete passes, got into a rhythm and made some excellent passes all over the field.
• Chad Henne – Looked awful, threw INT right to defender

RBs

• Michael Turner – Runs: 4 – On TD run, was almost stuffed but got extra push from O-Line…nice!  Turner looked fantastic.
• Jason Snelling – Runs: 3, Targets: 1
• Daniel Thomas (MIA) – Runs: 3, Targets: 1 – Sweet run down the sideline after his only catch.  All the run plays were simple up the middle runs, all of which were stuffed due to terrible O-Line run blocking.
• Dartrell Johnson (ATL) – Runs: 1

WRs

• Julio Jones – Runs: 1, Targets: 4 – Rookie, caught a short one and bolted for another 15 yards in the blink of an eye.  Ran an end around for 11 yards with ease.
• Davone Bess – Targets: 4 – Henne looked his way a lot
• Brian Hartline – Targets: 2 – Caught long TD
• Eric Weems (ATL) – Targets: 1
• Harry Douglas (ATL) – Targets: 1 – Caught 20+ yd TD
• Clyde Gates (MIA) – Rookie – Had some nice grabs

TEs

• Anthony Fasano – Targets: 1 – Botched a catch that went into defender’s hands
• Tony Gonzalez – Targets: 1
• Justin Peele (ATL) – Targets: 1

Def/ST (1st string)

• Falcons – Pass: Good, Run: Excellent
• Dolphins – Pass: Average, Run: Average

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Falcons – 3 Drives, Runs: 9, Passes: 9
• Dolphins – 4 Drives, Runs: 4*, Passes: 8 – Pass play turned QB run because of great Falcons coverage

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Falcons – Pass Blocking: Excellent, Run Blocking: Excellent
• Dolphins – Pass Blocking: Average, Run Blocking: Below Average

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Bengals vs Lions.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.

QBs

• Matthew Stafford – Beast!  Every pass was perfect.
• Andy Dalton (CIN) – Starter, Rookie, Had first pass thrown intercepted.  Since the first pass, the rest were short and mid-range except for one other that was almost picked.  His short and mid range passes were pretty accurate!
• Bruce Gradkowski (CIN) – Under no pressure, made perfect passes.  With some pressure though, he was usually inaccurate.

RBs

• Jahvid Best – Runs: 4, Targets: 3 – Center piece of offense, still super fast, had an easy pass bounce off his hands
• Cedric Benson – Runs: 6 – Looked like his 2009 form hitting the holes hard and dragging defenders for extra yardarge
• Brian Leonard (CIN) – Runs: 3, Targets: 1 – 2nd string RB with 1st string offense
• Chris Pressley (CIN) (FB) – Targets: 1
• Jay Finley (CIN) – Targets: 1
• Aaron Brown (DET) – Blazing speed and great open field moves off screen/short passes.  Looked better than Jerome Harrison.

WRs

• Megatron – Targets: 2 – Caught TD – Looks like a Giant against little people
• Nate Burleson (DET) – Targets: 2 – Caught TD
• A.J. Green (CIN) – Targets: 5 – Rookie – Fast – Looked like the #1 WR
• Jerome Simpson (CIN) – Targets: 3 – End Zone Target – Great hands
• Jordan Shipley – Targets: 1
• John Standeford (CIN) – Targets: 1

TEs

• Jermaine Gresham – Targets: 1
• Bo Scaife (CIN) – Targets: 1
• Chase Coffman (CIN) – Targets: 1

Def/ST (1st string)

• Lions – Pass: Good, Run: Below Average – Sacked Dalton twice
• Bengals – Pass: Awful, Run: Average

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Lions – 2 Drives, Runs: 4, Passes: 6
• Bengals – 4 Drives, Runs: 9, Passes: 16

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Lions – Pass Blocking: Excellent, Run Blocking: Great
• Bengals – Pass Blocking: Average, Run Blocking: Excellent

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Jets vs Texans.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  No Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, and Steve Slaton.

QBs

• Matt Schaub – threw a little too high to Daniels, too wide  to Walter and too high to Jones
• Matt Sanchez – Quick passes

RBs

• Derrick Ward – Runs: 2, Targets: 1 – left with injury
• Chris Ogbunaya – Runs: 5 – Not flashy, with a little speed and power, but ran well between/around blockers
• Shonn Greene – Runs: 4, Targets: 1 – ran really well with power…and great blocking gave him plenty of space
• LT – Runs: 1

WRs

• Santonio Holmes – Targets: 2
• Jacoby Jones – Targets: 1
• Derrick Mason (NYJ) – Targets: 3 – Caught all 3
• Kevin Walter – Targets: 2
• Patrick Turner (NYJ) – Big Target

TEs

• Owen Daniels – Targets: 1
• Matthew Mulligan – Targets: 1 – dropped easy one

Def/ST (1st string)

• Texans – Pass: Average, Run: Below Average – Sanchez sacked twice
• Jets – Pass: Good, Run: Good – Schaub sack

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Texans – 3 Drives, Runs: 7, Passes: 6
• Jets – 2 Drives, Runs: 5, Passes: 8

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Texans – Pass Blocking: Good, Run Blocking: Great
• Jets – Pass Blocking: Good, Run Blocking: Excellent

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Cardinals vs Raiders.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  No Darren McFadden.

QBs

• Kevin Kolb – Looked okay in the passing game, knows when to use legs and has good speed
• Jason Campbell – Short on the long passes, Players catching the balls made him look good
• Trent Edwards (OAK) – Surprisingly accurate on short, medium and even long passes.  Looked better than Campbell.

RBs

• Marcel Reece (FB) (OAK) – Runs: 1, Targets: 2 – nice one hand catch
• Beanie Wells – Runs: 5, Targets: – Sweet 15 yd run stiff arming CB
• Michael Bush – Runs: 5, Targets: 1 – Pure Power Back hit holes hard
• Ryan Williams (ARI) – Rookie, Little fast dude actually looked better than Stephens-Howling and Stephens-Howling looked great.  Most impressive backup RB thus far.

WRs

• Larry Fitzgerald – Targets: 4 – Awesome one hand “against the helmet” catch
• Early Doucet (ARI) – Targets: 1
• Darius Heyward-Bey  – Targets: 3
• Nick Miller (OAK) – Targets: 1
• Denarius Moore (OAK) – Targets: 1 – Blazing fast
• Chaz Schilens – Runs: 1, Targets: 1

TEs

• Kevin Boss (OAK) – Targets: 1
• Todd Heap (ARI) – Targets: 1

Def/ST (1st string)

• Cardinals – Pass: Good, Run: Good
• Raiders – Pass: Good, Run: Great – Great Pass Coverage

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Cardinals – 2 Drives, Runs: 7*, Passes: 7 – * Two Pass plays but Kolb ran due to good pass coverage
• Raiders – 2 Drives, Runs: 7, Passes: 10 – 1st pass was a 50 yard long bomb attempt to the Fullback!

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Cardinals – Pass Blocking: Good, Run Blocking: Average – Beanie got stuffed at goal line on 2nd, 3rd, and 4th down rush attempts at goal line because O-Line couldn’t open hole against Raiders 2nd string D-Line.
• Raiders – Pass Blocking: Average, Run Blocking: Average

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – Broncos vs Cowboys.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  A ton of Cowboys not playing due to injury including Tashard Choice.

QBs

• Kyle Orton – Only completed one pass to a WR, but the incomplete passes were because of excellent coverage
• Tony Romo
• Tim Tebow – Great Runner and Good Passer
• Stephen McGee (DAL) – 3rd String QB – Looked great against backup Broncos Defense.  Under pressure, rolled out and hit receivers in stride.  Very impressive.

RBs

• Chris Gronkowski (FB) (DAL) – Targets: 1
• Felix Jones – Runs: 3, Targets: 1 – Fast as ever
• Lonyae Miller (DAL) – Runs: 1
• Knoshon Moreno – Runs: 3, Targets: 1 – Hit the holes hard.  Looked great.
• Willis McGahee – Runs: 4  – Looked like he found the fountain of youth running faster than he did last year

WRs

• Dez Bryant – Targets: 1
• Eric Decker (DEN) – Targets: 1
• Dwayne Harris (DAL) – Insane speed and great hands.
• Brandon Lloyd – Targets: 3 – Two End Zone Targets on 1st drive
• Britt Davis (DEN) – Targets: 1

TEs

• Jason Witten – Targets: 2

Def/ST (1st string)

• Broncos – Pass: Good, Run: Average
• Cowboys – Pass: Good, Run: Below Average

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Broncos – 1 Drives, Runs: 7, Passes: 5
• Cowboys – 1 Drives, Runs: 4, Passes: 5

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Broncos – Pass Blocking: Good, Run Blocking: Excellent
• Cowboys – Pass Blocking: Good, Run Blocking: Great

NFL Preseason Week 1 Notes – ? vs ?.  Statistics below are for when both full/partial 1st string offenses.  No Benn and Kellen Winslow.  Jamaal Charles was out there, but just as a decoy.

QBs

• Matt Cassel – Never passed the ball
• Josh Freeman – Excellent Pass Blocking let Freeman walk in for a TD.  Freeman was somewhat inaccurate on half the passes…barely ahead/behind or too early/late.

RBs

• Shane Bannon (FB) (KC) – Runs: 1
• Jackie Battle (KC) – Runs: 2 – Lost fumble
• LeGarette Blount – Runs: 5, Targets: 1 – Definitely the focal point of the offense, running hard and gaining yards with raw power.  Even caught one out of the backfield.
• Earnest Graham – Targets: 1
• Thomas Jones – Runs: 2 – Not really fast, but ran through the blockers and defenders extremely well
• Kregg Lumpkin (TB) – Runs: 4, Targets: 2 – Has some speed but could never get space between defenders
• Dexter McCluster – Runs: 2 – Still super fast and elusive
• Redrick Taylor (FB) (TB) – Targets: 1, Rookie

WRs

• Dezmon Briscoe (TB) – Targets: 3 – Great hands, consistently got open
• Sammie Straughter – Targets: 1
• Mike Williams – Targets: 3 – Targeted for a long end zone pass
• Jonathan Baldwin (KC) – Rookie, Big WR, almost tipped ball to himself in what would have been a highlight catch

TEs

• Ryan Purvis (TB) – Targets: 1

Def/ST (1st string)

• Chiefs – Pass: Good, Run: Good
• Buccaneers – Pass: N/A, Run: Average – Recovered fumble from botched hike to Cassel.

Offensive Play Calling (1st string)

• Chiefs – 3 Drives, Runs: 6, Passes:
• Buccaneers – 4 Drives, Runs: 10*, Passes: 11 – * Pass play that Freeman ran in

Offensive Lines (1st String)

• Chiefs – Pass Blocking: N/A, Run Blocking: Good
• Buccaneers – Pass Blocking: Great, Run Blocking: Good – RBs never got hit in backfield