While most of the star players didn’t see much action, there were still several performers of note, especially some of our more touted rookies. While NFL odds aren’t changing just yet, we still have seen some things to come in 2012.
Rookies look sharp
Both of
the first two draft picks in April’s draft looked very good in their pro
debuts. Andrew Luck threw a touchdown pass on his first throw of the game, and
another one for good measure early in the second quarter. Luck had 188 yards on
10 completions and 16 attempts.
Meanwhile,
the number two overall pick, Robert Griffin III, had himself a good day as well.
He didn’t have the time that Luck had, but he did throw for 70 yards and a
touchdown on 4/6. This is a good sign for two franchises that would like to
forget about last year as fast as possible.
Injury bug bites already
There
were several players who got dinged up during the course of Week 1 of the
preseason. There was none bigger than San Diego’s Ryan Matthews, who broke his collarbone
on his first carry of the game. Matthews has become known as one of the most
injury prone players in the NFL, and, unfortunately for him, he is playing the
wrong position for those kind of tendencies.
Most
experts seem to expect him to miss the first few games of the regular season,
which is likely considering his past and the fact that the Chargers need him
to stay healthy.
Peyton Manning returns, throws
pick
Although
it was short lived, Manning finally got on a football field and faced a live
defense. Manning went 4/7, but threw an interception in the red zone on the
team’s first drive. He watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.
It’s
nice to see Manning, but it was obvious that he has some rust and wrinkles left
to work out. Between now and the start of the season, however, I would bet he has most of
it figured out.
Defense wins championships
Although
this statement didn’t really hold true last season, there were a couple of
teams that stood out with their effort, even for the preseason. The Houston
Texans beat down the Panthers over the weekend, and both sides of the ball
looked good for the Texans. However, the defense is what stood out. Houston
sacked the Panthers eight times, and grabbed an interception as well.
The
49ers looked solid as well, beating the Vikings 17-6. Alex Smith went a
perfect 3-3 with a touchdown while the Niners rushed for 260 yards. San
Francisco’s defense held the Vikings to a little over 200 yards of total
offense for the game.
There is no doubt that there will be many more stories unfolding for
this preseason. The middle weeks will be where we see some of the stars get
more playing time, and for
NFL odds and fantasy purposes, there is still a lot
left to uncover. Preseason games will be going on throughout the next several
weeks, and some should be pretty fun to watch and bet on as well.