Control: NFL Preseason Notes Week One…

Teen Slasher Zero

I, Dalton Lewis, have started to watch preseason football. Here is a numbered list of my observations — just some musings from a mentally-ill fan.

1. Carolina and New England struggled to make any positive offensive plays — especially pass plays down the field. This is a common problem for the bottom half of the league’s teams.
2. Drake Maye played half a dozen plays for New England. He handed the ball off several times and threw a couple screens. He got the experience of getting into a pro preseason game and was able to dump the ball off and hand it off. He threw downfield once but didn’t get a completion down the field. Will he become an amazing superstar? We will see. I don’t know if he will become the guy to succeed Tom Brady. That is a big legacy to follow. It must be scary to be that guy.
3. Chicago played against Houston last week in the Hall of Fame game. They won because the game got rained out in the third quarter. Brett Rypien played well, giving the Bears about three touchdowns. The Texans scored on their first two possessions — meaning the top players who played for the Texans beat the top players who played for the Bears. That is significant.
4. Jerod Mayo was a player for New England and Bill Belichick. Now he is the head coach for the Patriots. I hope that he turns the team around. He led the defense for the Patriots as a player; now he is the head coach. More players should continue to make this transition.
5. Chicago played Buffalo in game two of the preseason for them — week one of the preseason because the Bears played the Hall of Fame game the week before. Chicago won the game against Buffalo 33–6. Caleb Williams played very well, making 4 of 7 throws and managing the ball well on two drives — both field goals. Caleb mostly impressed me that he didn’t need to throw a screen because it was easy. He didn’t need to throw at half the field because that’s easier. He can handle the entirety of the offense. He can try to make it on third and long.
6. Austin Booker, a rookie defensive end, had two-and-a-half sacks yesterday in the game against Buffalo. It was mostly against backups, but I’m still impressed by the hard work and impressive effort. He showed a variety of pass-rush moves and a high motor. He gives an enormous effort on every play. The Bears may have a rotational pass rusher there. They may be able to spend their $20 million somewhere else.
7. The Bears defense played well. The first team, second team, and the people down the line all played very well, giving up two field goals. In fact, the defense had a pick-six so the defense scored six points and gave up six points. That’s excellent work.
8. Justin Jefferson and Davante Adams have secured their roster spots for the year on the Vikings and Raiders, respectively. Yes, I made that old joke five or six times. Yes, that’s it. I’ve beaten the joke to death and buried it out west somewhere. It’s done.
9. Bo Nix, JJ McCarthy, and Jayden Daniels all played pretty well. They have a chance to become effective rookie quarterbacks. This year’s class of quarterbacks played effectively in the first preseason game. We’ll see what happens in the regular season. Most quarterbacks fail. Not all six of these quarterbacks will win the Super Bowl or even make the Pro Bowl. We’ll see which make it and which don’t.
10. More on this point: Trevor Lawrence is the only quarterback left from four years ago still starting for his original team. Mac Jones left the Patriots, Trey Lance left the 49ers, Justin Fields left the Bears, and Zach Wilson left the Jets. All of them failed except Trevor Lawrence. Will the same thing happen to this year’s quarterback class? They all seem so fantastic. They can’t all succeed. Who will collapse and fail? It is hard to tell.
11. I think people have forgotten that the Rams won the Super Bowl not too long ago. Aaron Donald may have retired but the Rams still have an excellent coach and a good team with ten draft picks and a great quarterback and two great wide receivers. I think that the team will impress this year.
12. Dallas drafts too well and then doesn’t have enough money to pay everyone. It’s a good problem to have. I hope the Bears have that problem in a couple of years. We will see who plays better and who regresses as the season starts in just under a month.

These are the ramblings of a mentally-ill football fan watching the first week’s slate of preseason games. I appreciate you for listening.

Thanks, and take care, friends.