NFL Preseason Week 1 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Ladies and gentlemen...football is back. Well...kinda, it is preseason but let's be honest, who cares!? It's a chance to see our favorite teams take the field once again and get a good solid look some of the younger players and potentially future stars in this league so to me, this is four weeks of football worth watching. Not to mention, there are some surprisingly intriguing storylines that come out of the league this time of year, so without further ado let's kick off another season of what we learned, starting with Preseason Week 1. 

1. Jameis Winston took the field at last for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and well...meh is probably the nice word to use to describe his NFL debut, but shaky is perhaps the more accurate one. Granted he is a rookie and hasn't seen live action until now and yes, his offensive line could have done a better job, but still. For being the most pro ready QB available in the draft, he looked rough at times with some ugly overthrows and an interception as well. Hopefully he improves quickly since his ability to run a pro offense was part of the grand discussion as to whether or not he should be the number one overall pick. Yet...he's not the only guy who struggled.

2. Marcus Mariota had a tough debut as well. Actually, I would venture to say his first couple of series were far uglier than Winston's.  After all the second overall pick managed to get sacked early on, throw a pick and fumble the ball where it was returned for a touchdown by Atlanta. The biggest thing I noticed about Marcus' play is the sheer fact that he had no idea what the Atlanta defense was doing and if that doesn't shape up quick, Titans fans will be in for a long season. It should be noted that both young men looked better later on in their respective starts, but either way, these two are no Andrew Luck...they looked like rookies through and through and got their rough welcome to the NFL.

3. The Denver Broncos look like a completely different team under Head Coach Gary Kubiak. Many of the players from the John Fox era still remain but the difference in coaching style is evident. These Broncos were completely prepared on Offense and Defense and the new zone blocking run scheme worked like a charm.  Plus that defense was scary good the way they tore through the O line and sacked whatever unfortunate soul was at quarterback for Seattle. Oh, and Brock Osweiler was solid in his preseason debut, looking calm after his first series under center and made some damn impressive throws. In fact, one might say he was...Brock...solid.  Sorry, I couldn't resist. The only glaring issue from this game for Denver is special teams, which had a pretty lackluster performance, but Coach Kubiak will no doubt address that before they face the Texans.  

4. Speaking of a completely different performance, we need to talk about Tim Tebow and his debut in Philadelphia. He was...actually not bad when it came to his play. His throwing motion has clearly improved and on many occasions he was sharp with his throws...connecting with receivers in impressive fashion. Those are words that I never thought I would type with the name Tim Tebow appearing in the same paragraph, but here we are.  Granted, he had his usual head scratching moments, mostly when he made plays with his legs. There were a couple of ugly runs there that fell to pieces, but all of that will be overshadowed by the fact Tebow managed to connect on his passes and he did scramble for a touchdown. 

5. I would think it is safe to say that if you're a New York Jets fan...you're worried and well, that's fair. The little "incident" between quarterback Geno Smith and former Jets Linebacker, now Bills linebacker IK Enemkpali is cause for major concern and here's why. It speaks to the fact that the new regime in New York is already out of touch with their team. This is something that is so off the wall, I mean how on earth did someone not know about IK's football camp and that there was tension between the two players regarding money? The Jets responded appropriately by cutting IK from the team, but man...if tempers keep boiling over in that locker room and Head Coach Todd Bowles can't get his team under control...it's going to be an uglier season than usual for this team.  

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