Young Players Impress on First Night of NFL Football

Eagles 13, Ravens 6

This was a defensive battle, as well as a battle of two kickers, but Mike Vick’s touchdown pass to tight end Brent Celek turned out to be the difference as the Philadelphia Eagles topped the Baltimore Ravens to kick off the NFL’s pre-season.

In a battle of kickers, you have to look at rookie Alex Henery from Nebraska, the Eagles kicker who nailed both of his first two NFL field goal attempts as well as the extra point from the Vick-Celek touchdown. His running mate in the Philly special teams is fellow rookie and former Florida Gator Chas Henry, who had four punts and two touchbacks on the night.

Perhaps the most encouraging performance of the night, at least for Ravens fans, was the play of second year tight end Dennis Pitta, who was targeted five times and caught four passes for 47 yards. On the other side, Riley Cooper showed some playmaking skills, catching a 42 yard pass.

NFL fans also got their first look at Tyrod Taylor, who was really just so-so in his NFL debut, at least statistically. He showed what he can do on the ground, leading the team with 59 yards rushing. His passing performance was a little iffy, though, and he completed 19-of-28 passes for 179 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. One of those interceptions went to rookie Jaiquawn Jarrett, a second round pick for the Eagles whom they are counting on to make an impact.

The Eagles had six sacks last night, two of which came from Daryll Tapp. They could really use that kind of production from him in a rotation this regular season. It was also really encouraging to see Sergio Kindle on the field after missing all of last season. He finished the game with two tackles.

Seahawks 24, Chargers 17

The Seahawks were led by a solid performance from their rookie quarterback Josh Portis, who led a touchdown drive that was capped off with a pass across his body to tight end Anthony McCoy. Fellow USC tight end Dominique Byrd also showed some of the talent that made him a high draft pick of the St. Louis Rams a few years back, catching two passes for 52 yards, showing that big play ability.

San Diego’s Jordan Todman showed he has some skills, averaging five yards per carry on the night and catching four passes, but the star of the show offensively for the Chargers was still Philip Rivers and it wasn’t close. Rivers connected of five of his six passes, two for big gains to his favorite target Vincent Jackson, and he finished off the first drive with a touchdown pass to Mike Tolbert.

Rookie linebacker K.J. Wright of the Seahawks led the team with nine tackles on the night, and rookie defensive end Pierre Allen from Nebraska had his first NFL sack.

On the other side, San Diego was led in tackles by cornerback Ramon Broadway with nine, but young linebacker Darryl Gamble had the best night of any defender on either team, as he finished with eight tackles, a sack, and two tackles for loss. If Gamble can keep this pace, he may just earn himself a roster spot.

Patriots 47, Jaguars 12

The Patriots just absolutely blow out

the Jaguars on a night when Jacksonville thought it was looking pretty good early with a 6-0 lead. Tom Brady did not play, but the Pats showed they have some talent in the second and third units.

Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett combined to go 27 of 40 for 335 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie running back Stevan Ridley stole the show tonight with two rushing touchdowns on 16 carries, proving that he can make an impact this year for the Patriots. Not only was he solid in the running game, he also caught seven passes and another touchdown through the air. An all-around dominant night for the rookie out of LSU.

Second year speedster Taylor Price out of Ohio caught five passes for 105 yards on the night as well as a touchdown, and he showed the Patriots why he thinks he should crack the team’s receiver rotation this year.

Blaine Gabbert had a solid night for the Jaguars, completing 9 of 16 passes for 85 yards. His YPC and YPA are not staggering by any means, but he didn’t throw any picks, if that’s an indication of his play.

It was a night to forget defensively for the Jaguars, but Darryl Richard had two sacks for the Patriots, who had four total on the night.

Cowboys 24, Broncos 23

The Cowboys turned a seven point deficit into a one-point lead with 15 seconds remaining after a touchdown and subsequent two-point conversion

to win the game.

The big story from this game was obviously Tim Tebow, who had a solid outing, completing six of his seven passes for 91 yards and a 118.8 rating, the best of the night for either team. Tebow also had a touchdown pass called back because of holding, and had 15 yards on the ground on only two carries.

Second year quarterback Stephen McGee had three touchdown passes on the night, including the game winner, and really the only down part of his night was a near pick-six he threw at the end of the first half to Perrish Cox.

The star of the night was rookie wide receiver Dwayne Harris from East Carolina, the speedster who caught all five passes thrown his way, two for touchdowns (again, including the game winner). Harris’ biggest play came on a 76 yard connection from McGee which he took to the house. A huge disappointment for the Cowboys tonight though was running back Lonyae Miller who had been making waves in camp. He had nine carries for just 11 yards.

Brady Quinn had a good game for the Broncos, and he was really spreading the ball around in the third and fourth quarter to a variety of young receivers. Former Duke receiver and Ravens pre-season star Eron Riley had three catches, and the go-ahead touchdown catch in the fourth quarterback put the Broncos ahead 23-16.

Jason Hunter, a defensive end whom the Broncos claimed in last year’s pre-season, finished the game with two sacks.

Cardinals 24, Raiders 18

The Cardinals had another late drive to seal the victory, this one led by Max Hall who was seeing his first action of the game. Hall finished the game with four completions on four passing attempts, including the game winning touchdown to former Cowboys wide receiver Isaiah Williams.

The Raiders’ lone touchdown for the day came when Trent Edwards connected with rookie David Ausberry in the third quarter, otherwise it was the Sebastian Janikowski show for Oakland.

Rookie tight end Rob Housler had his first career touchdown catch, and fifth overall pick Patrick Peterson had four tackles on the night, but no passes defensed.