With the third week of the preseason bringing us our longest look at the starters, the NFL action was excellent on Friday night with five games being played. Highlights included a trio of top-tier quarterbacks, the defending Super Bowl champs and a bevy of intriguing rookies with Blake Bortles highlighting the group.
NFL preseason results and scores: Tom Brady shines vs. Carolina, Seahawks roll over Bears
This just in: Tom Brady is pretty good and stuff.
Tom Brady was seeing only his second action in the preseason on Friday night, but appeared to be in midseason form against the vaunted Panthers defense.
Brady was sublime, completing 17-of-21 passes for 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The three-time Super Bowl champion spread the ball around, hitting Julian Edelman for eight catches and 99 yards, while finding Shane Vereen out of the backfield for both touchdowns. Second-round pick Jimmy Garoppolo played well in lieu of Brady, going 9-of-12 for 105 yards and a score.
On the other side, Cam Newton was sacked three times behind a leaky offensive line. The Heisman Trophy winner hit on 8-of-12 passes for 88 yards but was mostly running for his life, with Chandler Jones leading the chase with two sacks. Rookie Kelvin Benjamin led Carolina in receiving with 47 yards on five catches.
Detroit Lions 13, Jacksonville Jaguars 12
Jaguars rookie quarterback Blake Bortles has been a main headline of the preseason, and he showed why against Detroit. Bortles completed 10-of-16 for 158 yards and a touchdown after replacing Chad Henne, who is still the starter per head coach Gus Bradley.
Henne threw for 70 yards during his action, and took a vicious, late hit from Ndamukong Suh.
Reggie Bush provided much of the Lions' offense, scoring on an 86-yard rushing touchdown. Matthew Stafford was mostly quiet on the evening, hitting on 10-of-16 passes for 98 yards and an interception.
New York Giants 35, New York Jets 24
The Jets were able to establish the running game against their co-tenants, gaining 146 yards on 4.6 per carry. Chris Ivory led the team with 50 yards, and Chris Johnson added 42 yards on nine carries. Rookie tight end Jace Amaro caught a touchdown pass from Geno Smith, who completed 9-of-14 for 137 yards. Michael Vick saw limited time, coming in during the third quarter and hitting on 4-of-5 for 34 yards and a score.
Eli Manning was inconsistent, but improved, going 12-of-21 and 139 yards with a touchdown pass to Rueben Randle. Free-agent acquisition Rashad Jennings was effective, gaining 67 yards on 13 carries.
Green Bay Packers 31, Oakland Raiders 21
Lambeau Field was not a good place to be for quarterbacks, as both Aaron Rodgers and Matt Schaub struggled. Rodgers was 9-of-20 for 139 yards although with two touchdowns, while Schaub had an ugly line of 13-of-27 for 110 yards. Schaub got an extended look on Friday as rookie Derek Carr sat out with a rib injury; he did not inspire confidence.
Maurice Jones-Drew had one of the biggest plays of the game for Oakland, running for a 40-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Jones-Drew will be half of a tandem including Darren McFadden, who picked up five yards on three attempts. Jordy Nelson caught a touchdown for Green Bay, one of his two receptions.
Seattle Seahawks 34, Chicago Bears 6
Russell Wilson completed 15-of-20 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns as the Seahawks destroyed the Bears in Seattle. The game was over by halftime, with Seattle up 31-0 at the break.
Wilson also ran for a score in addition to throwing touchdown passes to Christine Michael and Jermaine Kearse. Percy Harvin caught three passes for 61 yards for Seattle, and also returned a kickoff 46 yards.
Chicago didn't score until garbage time in the fourth quarter. Jay Cutler was 12-of-20 for 157 yards with an interception for the Bears in defeat.
Injuries
No team took more hits in the injury department than the Oakland Raiders. Both linebacker Nick Roach and corner Tarell Brown left against the Green Bay Packers and were diagnosed with concussions, per Scott Bair of Comcast SportsNet. Linebacker Sio Moore suffered a neck injury that forced him to be carted off on a stretcher during a scary moment at Lambeau Field.
Elsewhere, New York Giants left guard Geoff Schwartz was carted off the field during the second quarter against the New York Jets with a dislocated toe. He did not return. Jason Pierre-Paul also left the game briefly with a right leg injury but returned after missing only a few snaps while being tended to on the sideline.
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