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S: Donte Whitner (SS), Tashaun Gipson (FS), Ibraheim Campbell (SS), Jordan Poyer (FS), Johnson Bademosi (SS/KR) Dallas Cowboys QB: Tony Romo played sparingly versus the Vikings, but did enough to give Cowboys fans and fantasy owners reason to smile ear-to-year. Romo completed 5-of-8 passes for 88 yards (11.0 per attempt) and two touchdowns; good enough for a 139.6 passer rating. Brandon Weeden didn’t play, leaving plenty of time for Jameil Showers and Dustin Vaughan to stake their claim for the QB3 role. Vaughan was ineffective – again – completing just 5-of-13 passes for 38 yards (2.9 per attempt) while taking two sacks. Showers mopped up with 5 yards on two completions. RB: Fantasy owners hoping to see Joseph Randle do damage early to lock in his role as the starter were left disappointed. Randle ran six times for just 15 yards (2.5 per carry) and had an 8-yard catch. Meanwhile, Darren McFadden ran four times for 37 yards (9.2 per carry) and looked explosive for the first time this preseason. Team owner Jerry Jones, a long-time McFadden fan, was gushing after the game. "I think that what you saw was vintage McFadden," Jones said. "You saw that acceleration. You saw his abilities." There’s no indication Randle has lost his hold on the lead role, but many beat writers believe the team will ride the hot hand and use a true committee unless (until?) someone steps to the forefront. Ben Malena (14 yards on 3 carries), Gus Johnson (5 carries on 12 yards) and Lance Dunbar (1 carry for 1 yard) finished out the game. WR: Another week without Dez Bryant in the lineup, but fantasy owners shouldn’t worry. Dallas is simply protecting one of their premier assets for when the games actually matter. "We just didn't think it was worth him playing eight, 10 plays in this ballgame," said Head Coach Jason Garrett. Terrance Williams has been a forgotten man this offseason, but that’s a mistake. He had a great training camp and remains entrenched in the starting lineup. Williams grabbed an early 60-yard touchdown versus the Vikings and was given the rest of the night off. Lucky Whitehead – vying for a roster spot – was the recipient of Tony Romo’s other touchdown pass. The rest of the receiving corps was quiet. Although Cole Beasley was quite versus the Vikings, he had a phenomenal preseason and is a player to watch. The DallasCowboys.com staff writers voted Beasley the #1 camp standout: “He just couldn’t be covered. Didn’t matter if it was the first-team defense before slot cornerback Orlando Scandrick got hurt, or when the Rams came in for a couple of days, Beasley just made plays. He stayed healthy for most of camp, just missing one practice with a sore Achilles. But this mismatch nightmare just torched the defense and coverage on a consistent basis. Not only did he excel at receiver, proving that he could be a huge part of the offense this year, he might be the Cowboys’ primary punt returner as well. It’s certainly rare, but on this team, this year, the smallest guy had the biggest contribution.” TE: Jason Witten didn’t figure into the box score, but he was thrilled with the first team’s fast start against the Vikings. "It was good," Witten said. "We knew coming into tonight that we were going to get to play more and really wanted to set our identity of what our football team offensively. I thought we didn't play fast, but we picked it up and put two good drives together." The tight ends were quiet on the night, with both Gavin Escobar (5 yards) and Geoff Swaim (5 yards) catching one pass. Defense: The Cowboys defense had its ups and downs versus Minnesota, but the first team unit held a 14-10 lead when it came off the field. Sean Lee made his long-awaited return to the field versus the Vikings. The talented linebacker made three tackles in 17 snaps, and vows to be ready to make an impact in Week One. “Two weeks from now I’ll be ready to go. I still have a lot of work to do. I still have room to improve. I still have to get better conditioning wise but I think I’m on track to be ready.” It’s hard not to be encouraged by rookie Randy Gregory’s showing. He sacked Teddy Bridgewater; giving the talented pass rusher a sack in three consecutive preseason games. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli hopes to use an 8-man defensive rotation this season. Jeremy Mincey – one of those linemen –is thrilled at the disruptive nature of different DL combinations. “It’s the matchups,” Mincey said. “You’ve got bigger defensive ends that are a little quicker than guards and can get around guards. Then you’ve got speed guys like (Lawrence), Gregory, then you’ve got guys with a little bit of speed and power like me and Greg. Well, Greg has got a lot of it. Greg is a freak. We’ve just got a lot of talent.” Brandon Carr, who looked like a shell of his former self in 2014, continues to rebuild his confidence; exemplified by an interception against the Vikings. “With the pass rush we have this year with the guys getting after the quarterback and allowing us to play a little looser on the back end, it allowed me to have some vision on the ball,” Carr said. “Our pass rush makes the ball come out pretty fast. It was a jump ball and I had to go get it. That’s what I’m supposed to do.” OL: The first team offensive line had a good night against the Vikings on Saturday night. They looked good opening holes for Darren McFadden in the running game. In addition, the line gave quarterback Tony Romo tons of time as he found Terrance Williams for a big play touchdown pass. Romo also had a clean pocket for another touchdown strike. La’el Collins looked solid in place of the injured Ron Leary, and it should only be a matter of time before he claims a starting job. The line did commit several holding penalties but overall it was an extremely solid showing from the #1 ranked offensive line in our latest rankings. Cowboys Depth Chart QB: Tony Romo, Brandon Weeden (inj), Dustin Vaughan, Jameill Showers RB: Joseph Randle (inj), Darren McFadden, Lance Dunbar (inj), Gus Johnson (inj), Ben Malena FB: Tyler Clutts, Ray Agnew WR: Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, Devin Street, Lucky Whitehead (PR), A.J. Jenkins, Reggie Dunn, Nick Harwell TE: Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar (inj), James Hanna, Geoff Swaim LT: Tyron Smith, Darrion Weems, Ryan Miller, Laurence Gibson LG: Ronald Leary, Lael Collins, Mackenzy Bernadeau C: Travis Frederick RG: Zack Martin, Donald Hawkins RT: Doug Free, Chaz Green, John Wetzel K: Dan Bailey DT: Tyrone Crawford, Davon Coleman, Terrell McClain, Nick Hayden, Ken Bishop (NT), Chris Whaley DE: Greg Hardy (susp), Demarcus Lawrence, Jeremy Mincey, Randy Gregory, Jack Crawford, Ryan Russell, Lavar Edwards, Ben Gardner, Efe Obada MLB: Rolando McClain (susp), Anthony Hitchens, Jasper Brinkley OLB: Sean Lee (W), Kyle Wilber (S), Damien Wilson (S), Andrew Gachkar (W), Justin Anderson (S), Keith Smith (W), Mark Nzeocha, Donnie Baggs, Ka′Lial Glaud CB: Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne, Tyler Patmon, Byron Jones,Corey White, Brandon Smith, Joel Ross, Orlando Scandrick (IR) S: Barry Church (FS), J.J. Wilcox (SS), Jeff Heath (FS), Danny McCray, Tim Scott Denver Broncos QB: In his most extended action of the preseason, Peyton Manning and the Denver offense looked scattered and harried. Ordinarily one of the toughest quarterbacks in history to sack, Manning was repeatedly swarmed by San Francisco’s defense and taken down three times. The Broncos still managed to move the ball well, but stalled out repeatedly in the red zone. In three trips inside the 20, Denver walked away with just two field goals. Manning also underthrew Demaryius Thomas in the end zone for an interception, and lost another touchdown after a miscommunication with Cody Latimer on 3rd down. After the game, Manning spoke about where the team was at on offense and where they would like to be, saying: “Would we like to be a finely tuned machine going into Week 1? Sure. With some newness, some new players and some different things that we're doing, that's what we're working toward. But the key is for us to improve through the season.” In the meantime, the offense looks like it can’t get starting receiver Emmanuel Sanders and newly signed guard Evan Mathis back on the field soon enough. Operating more of a short passing game than in weeks past, backup Brock Osweiler didn’t have as many standout plays against the San Francisco 49ers, but he did lead the team to its only touchdown of the day. Osweiler converted four 3rd downs, including drawing a defensive pass interference penalty on one of his rare shots downfield to set up the game-winning score, a 1-yard plunge by Juwan Thompson. Overall, Osweiler looked calm and in control.
With his fantastic play during the preseason, Ronnie Hillman has earned a stranglehold on the 2nd-string tailback position in Denver. Hillman was the only back other than Anderson to play with the first team, earning 12 out of 42 snaps. For the second consecutive week, Hillman gained at least three yards on every carry and added another conversion on 3rd-and-short, finishing with a 7-yard per carry average despite a long run of just 11 yards. Hillman should see extensive work during the regular season as a change of pace back. After continued uninspired play, Montee Ball finds his role on the team in jeopardy, as Juwan Thompson was actually the first back in with the second-team offense against San Francisco. Ball did have a nice catch-and-run to convert 3rd-and-7 for Denver, but it is likely too little, too late, as Ball will battle Juwan Thompson in the fourth preseason game for the #3 spot on the depth chart.
As expected, Emmanuel Sanders continued to sit out last week with a nagging hamstring injury. Peyton Manning and the first string offense seem to miss his reliability and ability to make contested catches. Thankfully, Sanders returned to practice Monday and, barring a setback, should be ready to go for the season opener. While Cody Latimer has developed good chemistry with backup Brock Osweiler, he’s failed to take advantage of Emmanuel Sanders’ absence to stand out with the first string offense. Latimer received five targets from Peyton Manning against the 49ers, but caught just one of them for four yards. He also dropped an easy touchdown and ran the wrong route, leaving Manning visibly upset. Earlier this week, head coach Gary Kubiak said of Latimer, “You just want to see him making plays. He's a hard worker. He does the right thing. He's in the right place, but it's time for him to start making plays on the ball, coming up with big plays.” TE: Starting and serving as Denver’s primary receiving option at tight end, Owen Daniels nonetheless was not a featured part of the game plan against San Francisco. Daniels was able to get open in the short-to-intermediate area, but drew only two targets. Both came on third down, and one converted for a new set of downs. Despite playing 30 snaps, Virgil Green earned only one target with the second-team offense against San Francisco, which he caught for six yards. Green is Denver’s best blocking tight end and will see plenty of playing time in the regular season, but does not figure to be heavily involved in the passing game. Defense: With the offense sputtering and struggling to find a groove, Denver’s suffocating defense stepped up against the San Francisco 49ers to keep the Broncos in the game. While they repeatedly gave up long runs to the 49ers, the first-team defense held San Francisco’s first-team offense to negative 5 net passing yards, including a pair of sacks from book-end pass rushers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, (the latter for a safety). With the starters unlikely to play in Week Four, Denver’s first-team defense closes the preseason having allowed just six points on eleven drives. PK: The Broncos made a surprising move when they released Connor Barth to make room for new starting guard Evan Mathis. That means Brandon McManus will be the kicker this year. He should be considered a top target in drafts because of the Broncos offense and the thin mile high air. Barth went on to re-sign with Tampa later in the week. PK: The Broncos made a surprising move when they released Connor Barth to make room for new starting guard Evan Mathis. That means Brandon McManus will be the kicker this year. He should be considered a top target in drafts because of the Broncos offense and the thin mile high air. Barth went on to sign with his old Tampa team later in the week. OL: The Broncos made headlines on Monday when they traded backup tackle Chris Clark to Houston for a 2016 7th round draft pick. Despite the season ending injury to Ryan Clady, Clark was never really in the discussion to substitute at left tackle; a job he once held in 2013, the last time Clady saw serious injury. If anything this reinforces the team’s faith in rookie left tackle Ty Sambrailo. If Sambrailo gets hurt, the team would likely turn to Michael Schofield. The team is also rumored to have free agent Jake Long on speed dial, should injury strike. Without free agent signing Evan Mathis against the 49ers’ on Saturday night, the line gave Peyton Manning a clean pocket in which to operate. Rookie Max Garcia continues to have a good attitude despite automatically losing his job to Mathis, and Garcia could even work his way back into the center conversation, should Matt Paradis struggle or get hurt. Overall this line looks solid, and grade out about average, as a mid-tier unit Broncos Depth Chart QB: Peyton Manning, Brock Osweiler, Trevor Siemian RB: C.J. Anderson, Ronnie Hillman, Juwan Thompson, Montee Ball, Kapri Bibbs FB: James Casey WR: Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Cody Latimer, Andre Caldwell (KR), Isaiah Burse, Bennie Fowler, Jordan Taylor, Jordan Norwood, Corbin Louks, Kyle Williams (IR) TE: Owen Daniels, Virgil Green, Dominique Jones, Marcel Jensen, Jeff Heuerman (IR) LT: Ty Sambrailo, Michael Schofield, Ryan Clady (IR) LG: Evan Mathis, Max Garcia, Ben Garland C: Matt Paradis, Gino Gradkowski RG: Louis Vasquez, Shelley Smith RT: Ryan Harris K: Brandon McManus NT: Sylvester Williams, Marvin Austin, Darius Kilgo DE: Malik Jackson, Derek Wolfe (susp) (inj), Vance Walker, Antonio Smith, Kenny Anunike ILB: Brandon Marshall, Danny Trevathan, Lamin Barrow, Steven Johnson, Corey Nelson, Josh Furman, Todd Davis OLB: Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Lerentee McCray, Shane Ray, Shaq Barrett, Danny Mason CB: Aqib Talib, Chris Harris, Bradley Roby, Kayvon Webster, Tony Carter, Lorenzo Doss, Taurean Nixon S: T.J. Ward (SS), Darian Stewart (FS), David Bruton (FS), Josh Bush (SS) Detroit Lions QB: Matthew Stafford did exactly what he was supposed to do in the Lions tune up for the regular season completing 11-of-15 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. After falling behind 14-0 to the Jaguars, Stafford made a perfect throw to Golden Tate down the left sidelines for a 62-yard touchdown. He came right back with a 4-yard touchdown to Corey Fuller to tie the game at halftime. Through three preseason games, Stafford has three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 156.3 passer rating. Dan Orlovsky has overtaken Kellen Moore for the backup job even though Moore opened camp with the second-team. Orlovsky is a combined 23-of-38 with three touchdowns and no picks during the preseason. RB: Even though rookies Ameer Abdullah and Zach Zenner performed exceptionally throughout the preseason, the Lions backfield is still led by veteran Joique Bell, who was activated from the PUP list on Monday. Head Coach Jim Caldwell said that Bell is moving along really well in his recovery, noting that he’s made good progress. The backfield has a committee written all over it. Bell will open the season as the team’s primary back with Abdullah being his “1B”, and Riddick also working into the mix on passing downs and key situations. Zenner could still be sprinkled in as well, but he figures to cut his teeth on special teams initially. Zenner certainly made the most of his opportunities this summer. He led all rushers in the game with 85 yards on eight carries, including a 41-yard scamper down the right sideline and a 3-yard touchdown that proved to be the game winner in the fourth quarter. Zenner even made a tackle playing in punt coverage. By all accounts, he’s earned a spot on the team’s 53-man roster, likely getting the nod over special team holdover George Winn. Zenner now has 222 total yards and a rushing and receiving touchdown apiece through three games. WR: Calvin Johnson didn’t play against Jacksonville and he’s not expected to suit up in the team’s final preseason game either. Fully healthy, the team is simply giving him a rest to make sure he’s good to go when the real games begin. Moreover, the Lions have no plans to manage his snaps this season, despite turning 30 years old in a month and missing five games over the last two years. With Johnson out, Golden Tate shined once again with three catches for 91 yards and another touchdown. Corey Fuller started opposite Tate and finished with just one catch – a 4-yard touchdown – for the evening. Jeremy Ross and Fuller round out the team’s top four receivers while veteran Lance Moore (1-6-0) and Greg Salas (2-17-0) are likely battling for the final spot after Ryan Broyles was waived on Monday ending his injury-riddled tenure with the team. TE: Eric Ebron was a surprise inactive for the game and the team offered no explanation. He has a quiet two catches for 26 yards on the preseason. On Monday, the team traded kicker Kyle Brindza to the Buccaneers for Tim Wright, who joins the team as the fourth tight end behind co-starters Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew, and Joseph Fauria. Defense: The Lions made a couple of roster moves on Monday, activating defensive tackle Haloti Ngata from the active/PUP list and placing reserve cornerback Chris Owens on season-ending injured reserve. Coach Caldwell remains unsure if Ngata will be ready for the opener, "I can't predict that. It's just one of those things; we have to kind of see where they are. We're hopeful. We look at how he's been performing and going through just in terms of his rehab, we're optimistic." The Lions had another surprise up their sleeve as Tahir Whitehead played second-team middle linebacker as Travis Lewis started and recorded eight tackles. Meanwhile, last year’s second round pick Kyle Van Noy remains sidelined and unlikely to play anytime soon. Josh Wilson beat out rookie Quandre Diggs and last year’s fourth round pick Nevin Lawson for the slot corner job. Corey Wootton (2 sacks) and Jerel Worthy (sack) made plays against the Jags, but both are squarely on the roster bubble, hoping to earn a roster spot over developmental player Larry Webster and Phillip Hunt, who was called one of the team’s best pass rushers this preseason by the Detroit Free Press. |