The second preseason games are usually a little bit better than the first ones. This week, we will get to see a few more stars suit up than we did in Week 1, we will get our second look at some of the more tantalizing rookies and we also now have more storylines to follow.
On Thursday, we got a better look at some of the rookie quarterbacks. Kyler Murray struggled while Dwayne Haskins put together a solid showing after struggling last week. Clayton Thorson also stepped up after the Philadelphia Eagles lost yet another quarterback.
Below, we highlight the best plays and moments from Thursday night’s action. While these five games have concluded, we still have 11 games to look forward to in the coming days — including seven nationally televised games (NFL Network, ESPN, CBS and FOX). Check your local listings for local games. The rest of the games will be available for streaming on fuboTV (try for free) or NFL Game Pass (out of market). Here is the complete schedule for Week 2 of the preseason:
Scores and schedule
Thursday
Eagles 24 at Jaguars 10 – (Box score)
Jets 22 at Falcons 10 – (Box score)
Packers 13 at Ravens 26 – (Box score)
Bengals 23 at Redskins 13 – (Box score)
Raiders 33 at Cardinals 26 – (Box score)
Friday
Bills at Panthers, 7 p.m
Bears at Giants, 7:30 p.m., NFL Network
Dolphins at Buccaneers, 7:30 p.m
Saturday
Browns at Colts, 4 p.m., NFL Network
Patriots at Titans, 7 p.m.
Chiefs at Steelers, 7:30 p.m., NFL Network
Lions at Texans, 8 p.m.
Cowboys at Rams, 10 p.m., NFL Network
Sunday
Saints at Chargers, 4 p.m., CBS
Seahawks at Vikings, 8 p.m., FOX
Monday
49ers at Broncos, 8 p.m., ESPN
Kyler Murray, Cardinals have disaster-level half vs. Raiders
Four drives. Fifteen total plays. Twelve yards.
While the Arizona Cardinals and No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray acquitted themselves just fine in their preseason opener, Thursday night’s encore did not go so well. The Cards got precisely nothing going on any of their four drives — three of which ended in a punt and the last of which ended in a safety.
Murray completed just 3 of 8 passes for 12 yards, taking his lone carry for a four-yard gain. He was running for his life more often than not, getting sacked twice and narrowly escaping several other takedowns. And if the overall performance wasn’t bad enough (it was), the Cardinals continually undermined themselves with repeated penalties, committing three on their first drive, two on their second, and one more on the third.
Naturally, Brett Hundley came in and immediately led the second-team offense on a 55-yard touchdown drive, hitting Trent Sherfield with a deep ball down the left sideline for a score.
Rookie Andy Isabella bursts onto the scene with a 59-yard touchdown
Coming out of UMass, wide receiver Andy Isabella wasn’t the most heralded wideout in the 2019 draft class. Still, the Cardinals saw his potential, and selected him in the second round with the No. 62 overall pick. He didn’t record a catch in the preseason opener against the Chargers, but this week was a different story.
Late in the fourth quarter, quarterback Chad Kanoff unloaded a deep ball to Isabella, who beat cornerback Joshua Holsey, and reeled in a 59-yard touchdown.
That one play made Isabella the game’s leading receiver, and someone who could provide a viable target for Murray in the future. While Murray struggled tonight, his fellow quarterbacks did not. Brett Hundley completed 10 of 15 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Kanoff also went for 100-plus yards and two touchdowns.
Dwayne Haskins notches first NFL touchdown with a 55-yard bomb
Dwayne Haskins may have struggled a bit in his first NFL action against the Browns last week, but he’s looked impressive Thursday night so far against the Bengals. On his first drive of the night, the former Ohio State star led a six-play drive that was capped off by a 55-yard touchdown pass to Robert Davis.
Other than the beautiful toss itself, it was nice to see Haskins throw this kind of ball while being hit. That’s something that’s hard to teach at the professional level. Davis was also on the receiving end of the Redskins’ first touchdown of the preseason last week, and has been the most impressive wideout so far for Washington.
Cody Kessler knocked out early
Seven plays into the Eagles-Jaguars game, Philadelphia saw backup quarterback Cody Kessler get leveled by a blindside hit from an unblocked defensive end (Datone Jones).
As noted by Chiefs tackle Mitchell Schwartz, the protection appears to have called for left tackle Andre Dillard to slide inside, which means the Eagles likely should have audibled the protection or hit the hot receiver. Instead, they kept things as is; Jones crunched Kessler on the play, causing the quarterback’s head to whip backward while he was being driven to the ground. It was not long before the team announced that he is being evaluated for a head injury.
This is obviously a concern for the Eagles, who have turned to Kessler as their primary backup after seeing Nate Sudfeld break his wrist. Given that the Eagles’ starter is Carson Wentz, who is excellent but has ended each of the last two seasons on injured reserve, they need some stability at the backup QB spot, and things are not exactly off to a great start on that front.
Redskins pull off 96-yard pick six on opening drive
The Washington Redskins acquired star safety Landon Collins this offseason, but it was the defensive back starting alongside him that stole the show early in their Week 2 matchup wit the Cincinnati Bengals. With the Bengals nearing the end zone, Montae Nicholson was able to intercept a tipped pass and take it 96 yards to the house.
The Redskins saved themselves from what was an overall disastrous first drive. As Les Carpenter points out, Washington’s starting defense gave up 45 yards in personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Dustin Hopkins missed the extra point however, which served as a buzzkill after the big score. Still, it was a big play for the Redskins.
Mike Glennon airs it out for a 53-yard touchdown
Jon Gruden seems set on having Derek Carr as his starting quarterback, but it still remains to be seen who he will choose to serve as his backup. Mike Glennon and Nathan Peterman will battle it out this preseason for that spot, and the former may have gotten a leg up (or arm up) on the competition with this throw.
Glennon stepped up in the pocket and unleashed a 53-yard bomb to a streaking Rico Gafford for the second touchdown of the game. He has completed three of his first four throws for 95 yards now and a touchdown. This backup quarterback battle will continue to be a major storyline for the Raiders moving forward, and the HBO “Hard Knocks” cameras won’t hurt in garnering it attention either. Glennon has four years of experience on Peterman, but Gruden is seemingly always interested when it comes to grooming young talent. With Antonio Brown on the team, however, it may just come down to who can throw the best deep ball.
Aaron Rodgers ruled out with back issue
We were supposed to get our first look at Aaron Rodgers in Matt LaFleur’s system for about a quarter of action, but the Packers announced just before kickoff that Rodgers was being held out with a back injury.
This Ravens defense looked dominant in their 29-0 blowout win over the Jaguars last week, and you know Don “Wink” Martindale was going to send his pass-rushers was ready to send pass rushers at Rodgers whenever he got the chance. The Packers aren’t even going to risk exposing their franchise quarterback to any punishment due to the back issue, so we’ll have to wait one more week before potentially seeing Rodgers in action.