Minnesota Vikings 19, Arizona Cardinals 9
Kyler Murray continues to struggle with timing and placement on throws to his receivers. He did have a nice deep completion to Damiere Byrd but missed as many deep throws as he made. Murray hadn’t displayed his deep arm too much in Arizona’s first two preseason games, and though he has the mechanics and velocity to be one of the league’s most prolific deep passers as he was in college, Murray is still getting the timing of the routes and receivers together — especially on the run.
When Murray was flushed from the pocket, he wasn’t as consistent on simple intermediate throws as he’ll need to be. He also missed badly on a couple of end zone fades. Kliff Kingsbury had simplified his preseason passing game to include a ton of underneath stuff, and Mike Zimmer’s defense had all that on lock. Murray will see blitzes and coverages he didn’t see at the collegiate level, and from match coverage to zone blitzes, this was a valuable education for the first-overall pick.
Although there were flashes …
As for the Vikings offense, running back Dalvin Cook has missed a lot of time with injuries over his first two NFL seasons, but this is the kind of thing he can do when healthy — an impressive 85-yard scamper through Arizona’s defense.
Cook could be a revelation this season in assistant head coach Gary Kubiak’s inside and outside zone running concepts. The Vikings ranked 28th in Rushing DVOA (Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics) last season; look for that to improve drastically in 2019.
Dallas Cowboys 34, Houston Texans 0
Dak Prescott came into this game with nine completions in nine attempts in the 2019 preseason, but started Dallas’ first drive with two incompletions to Michael Gallup — one on a slant where there was miscommunication on the width of the route, and one on a tight throw where Gallup couldn’t bring it in. On Dallas’ second drive, Prescott connected with Gallup on a touchdown when Prescott rolled to his left out of the pocket and Gallup adjusted to Prescott’s movement away from cornerback Bradley Roby. If Gallup can keep that up, expect bigger things out of the second-year man from Colorado State.
Houston’s offensive line remains a major problem. Deshaun Watson was sacked by edge rusher Taco Charlton on Houston’s first play from scrimmage, and on the second play, running back Lamar Miller couldn’t avoid Dallas defensive tackle Maliek Collins crashing in to cause a fumble. Miller was carted off the field after the play with what looked like a knee injury. On the third play from scrimmage, Watson was sacked again after waiting to find an opening, and Charlton recovered Watson’s fumble after picking up the quarterback takedown. Watson’s second sack was more on him — he should have found a quicker outlet — but when you hear rumors about the Texans perhaps trading Jadeveon Clowney for a left tackle, rest assured that this game won’t quiet those rumblings. The Texans wisely took Watson out after that disastrous first series.
Chicago Bears 27, Indianapolis Colts 17
Colts head coach Frank Reich loves two-tight-end sets — Indianapolis had two tight ends on the field 28% of the time in 2018 — and one name to watch is Mo Alie-Cox, the undrafted second-year tight end who played basketball in college and is hoping to join a group of conversions at the position that has included everyone from Antonio Gates to Jimmy Graham to Tony Gonzalez to Martellus Bennett. Alie-Cox found himself wide open for a 31-yard reception early in this game, and he’s shown the athleticism needed to succeed at the NFL level. Coaches were impressed with his development last season when injuries forced Alie-Cox into first-team snaps from the practice squad, and he finished his rookie campaign with seven catches on 13 targets for 133 yards and two touchdowns.
Of course, the major news in Indianapolis and around the NFL is Andrew Luck’s sudden and stunning retirement. Ostensibly, the team will go on with Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback. That’s a mixed bag at this point. Selected in the third round of the 2016 draft by the Patriots, Brissett is a tough, smart, mobile player whose mechanics get in his way at times from an accuracy perspective. Reich helped Luck excel with a diverse short-to-intermediate passing game in 2018, and one would expect similar things even with this news.
New Orleans Saints 28, New York Jets 13
“What’s wrong with Drew Brees?”
You wondered it. I wondered it. Everybody wrote about it, including me. The future Hall of Famer had 16 touchdown passes last November, and that total plummeted to just two in December. Brees was a bit better in the playoffs, but there were fears that coming into the 2019 season, the 40-year-old might be on the downswing, and the reason for his decline in performance might be more than normal wear and tear.
Based on this touchdown pass to Michael Thomas against the Jets, I think we can put those fears to rest.
It’s more likely that Brees was injured late last Thanksgiving on a hit following a leaping interception by Falcons safety Damontae Kazee, the regression was the result of that, and all is right in Brees’ world after an offseason to rest and recover.
San Francisco 49ers 27, Kansas City Chiefs 17
Patrick Mahomes’ 62-yard touchdown pass to running back Damien Williams shows just one of many ways Andy Reid successfully creates conflict against man coverage. The Chiefs used to kill opposing defenses with this when they had Kareem Hunt — especially heavy man- and match-coverage teams like the Patriots and Broncos.
Here, it was San Francisco’s turn to take the cheese. With tight end Travis Kelce and receiver Sammy Watkins running quick in-cuts on the left side, coverage left Solomon Thomas, a 6-foot-2, 280-pound defensive lineman, to chase Williams up the boundary.
As you’d expect, it didn’t go well.
The 49ers responded well with a Kyle Shanahan staple: creating defensive conflict by putting a running back in the slot or outside, and letting him run free through the subsequent confusion. The Chiefs are all balled up here as receiver Kendrick Bourne cuts inside while running back Matt Breida takes off downfield from the left slot for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Shanahan has been masterful for years when it comes to deploying his backs all over the formation to threaten coverage, and this was a balm for Jimmy Garoppolo, who could use a few easy explosive plays right about now.
Los Angeles Rams 10, Denver Broncos 6
Brandon Allen’s 51-yard pass to Mike Thomas on the Rams’ second play from scrimmage showed that to a point, anyone can run Sean McVay’s concepts to perfection. From play-action out of a nasty split, drawing the defense in while rolling over the top with the vertical concept, the play was textbook McVay — and thus, textbook Rams.
Seattle Seahawks 23, Los Angeles Chargers 15
The Seahawks are in their second season with offensive line coach Mike Solari, who replaced Tom Cable. While Cable seemed to extract less from any lineman he coached than that lineman was capable of doing, Solari has his charges playing very well in tandem. Against a stout Chargers defensive front, Seattle’s front five plowed gaps open at the line of scrimmage, moved well to the second level and got out to the edge for screen-blocking. Even former bust prospects like Germain Ifedi and Ethan Pocic have looked better. With a depleted receiver corps, the Seahawks will have to rely on extra protection for Russell Wilson and an offensive line that can make life easier in the running game — even and especially when the opponents know what’s coming.
