Frustration was mounting once again. The first-team offense continued to look as lackluster as it’s been all preseason, and those struggles were even more magnified tonight considering they came against mostly a second-team defense. Once again, the defense wasn’t giving us much of a reason to feel better about things.
We all got a little bit of an unexpected reality check, though. Seeing Jake Long go down and lay on the trainers table having his knee evaluated, was about as scary of a scene as you can have in the preseason and kind of put the whole night into perspective. It also reminded us of how much worse things can get, then just mediocre play in a meaningless game.
News on Long’s injury since has been overwhelmingly positive. All reports and indications are pointing to the big fella being just fine. Judging by how shaky the pass protection looked with Long in the game, there’s no denying the whole offense could have fell apart with him knocked out with a serious injury. The exhibition season is now over. The slate is once again clean. Yes, both sides of the ball looked shaky again tonight, but just be thankful things didn’t completely escalate out of control.
It’s time to take a deep breath and turn our attention to the Buffalo Bills. Full evaluation of tonight’s game to come tommorow. Expect the final addition of the preseason report card, as well as my prediction on the 53-man roster, if I can sneak it in before the cuts begin that is.
Statline
Passing
C. Henne: 6-11, 53 yards, lost fumble
C. Pennington: 7-10, 40 yards, 1 touchdown
T. Thigpen: 10-18, 160 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception
Top 3 Rushing
R. Williams: 2 carries, 45 yards
T. Thigpen: 3 carries, 20 yards
P. Cobbs: 3 carries, 12 yards
Top 5 Receiving
R. Wallace: 3 receptions, 59 yards, 1 touchdown
D. Bess: 5 receptions, 42 yards
M. Moore: 4 receptions, 31 yards, 1 touchdown
J. Nalbone: 1 reception, 30 yards
P. Turner: 1 reception, 29 yards
Top 5 Tackles
R. Jones: 7
N. Ness: 4
C. Anderson: 3
J. Odrick: 2
N. Carroll: 2
T. Dobbins: 2
Special-Teams
B. Fields: 4 punts, 40 yard average
D. Carpenter: 1/1 field goals, long: 28, 2/2 extra points
N. Carroll: 2 kick returns, 20 yard average
D. Bess: 1 punt return, 0 yards
M. Moore: 1 punt return, 6 yards
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