Preseason is more than half way done; for the Patriots, Ravens, Panthers and Lions, there is only one more look at their squads before games count. Even though the Preseason is only a way to measure rookies and to allow the starters to basically warm up, you still can’t help but wonder how much of this will carry over to the regular season.
Let’s start recaps when the New England Patriots went to battle the Detroit Lions—well at least the Pats showed up!
Detroit Lions 40 New England Patriots 9
New England’s first 5 possessions ended with 3 fumbles, an interception and a 3 and out series. Tom Brady spent an entire half producing worse numbers than he had in four possessions in New England’s previous two games. The Patriot’s running game rushed 29 times and accumulated a mere 68yds—an average of 2.3yds a carry.
The only highlights for New England; Rookie WR Kenbrell Thompkins caught 8 balls and put up 116yds on the night and the Patriots only had 4 penalties for the whole game.
Take away the fumbles and interception; the Detroit Lions didn’t really play the game any better. Matthew Stafford threw 12/25 for 166yds and a touchdown, while his backup QB, Kellen Moore, had 150yds and 2 touchdown going 9/12.
The Lions new RB, Reggie Bush, ran 6 times for 1yd….1yd!
Thankfully for him, he also caught 5 balls and took one for 67yds, going for 103yds receiving on the night. You can catch this highlight by clicking on this link: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap2000000232862/Pre-WK3-Can-t-Miss-Play-Bush-breaks-free.
The Detroit Lions did play better than they have in their first two Preseason games; the starters played seven series in the previous two played and only managed 2 field goals. Detroit also put up a disappointing 102yds on 11 penalties.
Carolina Panthers 34 Baltimore Ravens 27
Cam Newton threw for 99yds and went 10/19 and added 20 rushing yards to his unproductive night. Tauren Poole led the Panther’s rushing game with 36yds and there were no offensive touchdowns as the Carolina Panthers still managed to put up 34 points. Carolina’s offense finished the night with only 173 total yards.
Defensive play for the Panthers was on fire; 2 interceptions and 1 fumble returned for touchdowns tonight and 3 sacks, along with another interception, paved the way for the Panthers to get a victory.
Ted Ginn Jr gave Carolina yet another touchdown with his 74yd punt return.
The Baltimore Ravens played a much better game offensively, just not enough to overcome the turnovers that led to big scores.
Joe Flacco went 18/24 for 169yds, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Ray Rice ran for 62yds on 16 carries with a touchdown. Baltimore finished the night with over 350 total yards on offense and 27 first downs—compared to Carolina’s 173 total yards and 14 first downs.
Penalties were a big issue for both teams; Baltimore had 9 for 90yds and Carolina had 12 for 133yds.
Last week we saw some unnecessary penalties and both games tonight added to the list!
Carolina’s Armond Smith was ejected from play after kicking Baltimore’s Albert McClellan during the fourth quarter. Detroit’s Willie Young was the 3rd Lion to create a personal foul penalty, after taunting and sticking his finger in Tom Brady’s face, negating what would have probably been intentional grounding. Head Coach Jim Schwartz had this to say on Young’s penalty: “They didn’t throw Willie Young out of the game, but he didn’t play the rest of the game,” Schwartz said. “We didn’t want any more personal fouls. We had enough of it after two.” A late hit in the fourth quarter by Rocky McIntosh gave Detroit 4 personal fouls during the game and 7in the past 2 games.
