NFL Preseason Week 2 - What We Learned

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Some folks may not enjoy the NFL preseason, but I personally love it, especially weeks two and three when all the starters get a little more playing time. It's important simply because it gives the starters a chance to work out any kinks in the playbook and shake off the rust of the offseason and for the rest of us...it means football and intriguing storylines and here is some of what we learned from this week in the NFL.

1. So perhaps the craziest story of the week, just happens to involve the always newsworthy Robert Griffin III when he declared himself to be the best quarterback in the league last week in an interview which is...perhaps the most hilarious thing I've heard in quite a long time. I mean come on, what the heck is this guy thinking? I mean if not studying your playbook, telling your coaches what plays you will not run and running to the owner any time someone calls you to the carpet for being a lazy, selfish player without heart makes you the best then yes...he is correct. But seriously, how long is Washington going to continue this charade? He doesn't care, his performance in game two was a joke. It's just not working. If there was ever a time to cut him loose, the preseason would be it. Let him learn a harsh lesson about work ethic and let him catch on with a team that won't put up with his diva crap. 

2. The Denver Broncos looked a little different against Houston. Gone was the high charged offense we saw in Seattle, instead it was a ho hum performance from Peyton Manning and the entire first team offense. While some of his throws were a touch off, Demaryius Thomas dropped a couple of balls and so did James Casey resulting in a pretty boring first half until Brock Osweiler made things interesting with a 57 yard bomb to Andre Caldwell. But even after that heroic moment it was still a pretty pedestrian performance from Brock considering how great he looked last week. But there were still some highlights. Turns out Denver may have found a solid third string quarterback in Trevor Siemian, who looked sharp and tossed the game winning touchdown and the defense continued to look pretty stout. Hopefully Manning got all the rust out or as Scotty said to me "it's gonna be a long season."

3. Speaking of AFC West teams, we need to talk for a minute about how magical the Kansas City game was, preseason or not. After all this was the game that heralded the return of Safety Eric Berry and that's a big deal due to the fact that Eric had to step away from football after being diagnosed last December with Hodgkins lymphoma. He underwent treatment, got the news he was cancer free in June and here we are, with Eric back on the field. Definitely one of the most incredible stories so far this season and with good reason, Chemotherapy is one tough treatment for cancer and Eric's return to the game he so loves after all of that is absolutely inspiring. 

4. The top rookies in this year's draft finally showed some of their potential, which is a good thing considering how rough they looked in week one. This is further proof of why the four game preseason matters, to get those live reps, to make mistakes and learn from them. Mariota and Winston looked simply awful in week one and this go round, there was finally some polish in their game. Granted it wasn't exactly an Elway or Manning type performance, both QB's didn't complete a throw into the end zone, but the key is accuracy and we got more of that from both of them and Winston did manage to run the ball in for a touchdown. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing their progress in week three.

5. The quarterback battle has ended for the Houston Texans since the team announced that Brian Hoyer will lead the squad for the 2015 season and I think that's a wonderful thing. Hoyer has been quite the player to watch over the last couple of years, considering his up and down performance in Cleveland last year and how we are getting to know him up close and personal on this year's Hard Knocks. If you ask me, I think Hoyer is a quality quarterback, not elite, but a game manager to say the least and I honestly feel he got a raw deal in Cleveland especially when you consider the fact that plays get relayed down to the field from people who aren't coaches for the Browns. This is a good place for him, and Houston may have a decent season in store with him at the helm. 

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