Preseason Week 2 - Review
The NFL spotlight this weekend was in New York, where Brett Favre made his return to NFL action but for the first time ever in a jersey other than the green/yellow of the Green Bay Packers...now he was suited up as a New York Jet, and they faced my Washington Redskins in a preseason match that usually would fall way off the radar.
Favre did ok - he threw his first, and the Jets only, TD pass - a 4 yard dump to TE Dustin Keller, but ultimately the rough n ready Washington defence got to him plenty and he soon gave way to the backup QB - nothing much to be read into that, as NFL coaches chop and change around alot, but Favre made a decent start. In the end, the Redskins won the game 13-10, and have now won all three of their preseason games - the standout record so far.
Elsewhere, and concern at preseason favourites and last seasons nigh-on untouchables the New England Patriots, as they lost their second consecutive preseason game 27-10 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Patriots star QB, Tom Brady, didnt play, but alot of their main string and much vaunted offense did make starts and play series - but to little effect, as they seemed stuck in first gear and the Buccs beat them comfortably. A few injuries here for the Patriots and no real cohesion as yet...im not sure if this alone will start to make them drift in the market, but definitely something to keep an eye on.
Another well fancied team that have lost both pre season games so far are the Dallas Cowboys (ha). They went down to the Denver Broncos 23-13 and whilst there are no alarm bells ringing just yet, already there are murmurs of discontent.
Biggest concern result of the week at Favre's old club, Green Bay, where they got hammered by the lowly ranked San Francisco 49ers 34-6. The scoreline bad enough, but of most concern was the Pack's inability to stop the San Fran defence from getting to and hitting their rookie QB. When you consider the 49ers defence is no great shakes, it will be of a huge concern to the Packers with only two weeks left to go before the start of the regular season.
Full scores from week 2 of the preseason
Buffalo Bills 24 - 21 Pittsburgh Steelers
Philadelphia Eagles 24 - 13 Carolina Panthers
Tennessee Titans 17 - 16 Oakland Raiders
NY Jets 10 - 13 Washington Redskins
Atlanta Falcons 9 - 16 Indianapolis Colts
Baltimore Ravens 15 - 23 Minnesota Vikings
Jacksonville Jaguars 14 - 19 Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints 27 - 31 Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs 17 - 27 Arizona Cardinals
St Louis Rams 7 - 6 San Diego Chargers
Denver Broncos 23 - 13 Dallas Cowboys
Seattle Seahawks 29 - 26 Chicago Bears
San Francisco 49ers 34 - 6 Green Bay Packers
Cincinatti Bengals 10 - 27 Detroit Lions
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 - 10 New England Patriots
playing tonight
New York Giants v Cleveland Browns
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