Week 1 of the preseason has come and gone, and it was a doozy. We enjoyed back-to-back triple headers on Thursday and Friday before the bulk of the slate unfolded throughout Saturday, and it concluded with two contests on Sunday.
Over the course of the weekend, several rookies flashed, quarterback battles waged on, and there was even a little bit of NFL history (sort of). While it’s natural to lean towards the positives that come out of the preseason, it’s not all rosy at this time of the year, as some teams are still working out the kinks before they get to Week 1.
So, who impressed during the opening week of exhibitions and who disappointed? We’re here to break all of that down. Below, we’re diving into some of the notable winners and losers, which includes two rookie signal-callers as clear winners and a possible playoff contender that finds itself a loser because of one side of the ball.
Winner: Giants GM Joe Schoen
Joe Schoen arguably has one of the warmest seats for a general manager in the NFL entering the 2025 season, but he may end up saving his job thanks to his pair of first-round rookies. This offseason, New York used its No. 3 overall pick to select Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter, then traded back into the first to bring Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart aboard with the No. 25 overall selection. In their debuts, it’s hard not to like the early returns.
In the Giants preseason opener against the Bills, both Carter and Dart flashed. Starting with Carter, he played just six plays on the afternoon, but made the most of it. Of those six snaps, three were pass-rushing snaps. On all three of those snaps, he applied pressures.
Meanwhile, Dart had a far longer leash in his preseason debut and was just as impressive. He came in after Russell Wilson played the opening drive. From there, he completed 12 of his 19 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown, while adding 24 yards rushing. Against some of Buffalo’s starters on defense, Dart didn’t look too phased under pressure. His most eye-popping moment came on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. He hit him in stride despite having pressure breathing down his neck and taking a hit.
I ranked Dart as the most impressive rookie quarterback to play in Week 1 of the preseason, and if he continues to flash like this, it’s going to make Schoen look smart moving back up to get him after landing an All-Pro caliber pass rusher in Carter.
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Loser: Bengals defense
The Bengals are trying a different strategy this preseason by giving their starters more run than in years past in hopes they avoid another sluggish start to the regular season. While some may look at their preseason opener as a success on the path towards accomplishing that goal, I’m skeptical. Not because Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase didn’t look like they were in midseason form (they did). It’s because the the Philadelphia Eagles reserves lit up the starting defense.
Backup quarterback Tanner McKee led scoring drives on the Eagles first two possessions of the night, including a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on Philly’s first possession of the game. He finished completing 20 of his 25 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns.
While the Cincy starters weren’t out there for all of that production, they were for at least two drives during which they surrendered 10 points. Again, this isn’t a Jalen Hurts-Saquon Barkley-led Eagles offense we’re talking about. So, sure, Burrow and the offense looked dialed in, but the defense — arguably the key reason they missed the playoffs a year ago — looked like their old selves, which isn’t a good thing.
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You couldn’t have asked for a better start to your NFL career than what TreVeyon Henderson did on Friday night. New England’s second-round rookie took the game’s opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, weaving around Commanders defenders en route to the end zone.
But it wasn’t just Henderson’s prowess in the return game that has him as one of our winners. Every time he touched the ball, he seemed liable to pull off a top 10 highlight. His lone carry of the night saw him burst through the hole for an 18-yard gain (credit to first-round rookie tackle Will Campbell), and he hauled in all three of his targets in the passing game.
The Patriots have lacked explosion on the offensive side of the ball for quite a while, but it seems like times are changing with the likes of Henderson in the fold.
In some circles, you’ll find folks who believe the Arizona Cardinals could be one of the surprise teams of the 2025 season. While that certainly could still be the case, Kyler Murray didn’t instill a ton of confidence for an Arizona breakout during one moment of their preseason opener. In the early minutes of the first quarter, the Cardinals quarterback rolled out to his left on a first-and-10 play and threw a lame duck pass directly to a Chiefs defender for an interception.
Did he lose his grip on the football? Did he not see the defender? Or did he simply not put enough power into the throw to reach Marvin Harrison Jr.? No matter the reason, it raises some level of concern, even if that was his lone incompletion on the night.
Maybe the story of Week 1 of the preseason was Shedeur Sanders. With Joe Flacco resting and both Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel sidelined with hamstring injuries, Sanders got the start in the Cleveland Browns opener, and the fifth-rounder balled out. He completed 14 of his 23 pass attempts for 138 yards and two touchdowns while playing deep into the third quarter. He stood tall in the pocket, moved well, rolling to his left and right, and had a number of notable passes on the run. His first touchdown saw him roll left, set his feet and thread the needle to the back-left corner of the end zone.
Arguably his best throw came just before the two-minute warning leading up to halftime when he rolled to his right to evade pressure and tossed a perfectly placed ball to Luke Floriea for a 30-yard gain.
It wasn’t a perfect outing for Sanders (he nearly threw a pick when throwing into traffic in the second quarter), but it was good enough to warrant head coach Kevin Stefanski taking an even harder look at his rookie throughout the preseason before getting to Week 1.
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Coming into the summer, the most notable quarterback competition resided in Indianapolis, as Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones were slated to duke it out for the Colts Week 1 job. Currently, it feels like less of a quarterback battle and more like a war of attrition. Richardson got the start in the preseason opener against Baltimore, but was quickly knocked out of the game after dislocating his pinky. In all, Richardson threw just three passes.
Injuries have been a major piece of Richardson’s NFL story since entering the league as the No. 4 overall pick back in 2024. Over two seasons, he’s played in just 15 games. Some of that was due to an in-season benching during the 2024 season, but a chunk has been due to injury. If he’s unable to stay healthy throughout the summer, Jones may win the job by default.
Does it count in the NFL record books? No. Is it still wildly impressive? Without a doubt!
The Jacksonville Jaguars kicker netted a 70-yard field goal just before heading to the locker room at halftime. Had this occurred during the regular season, it would’ve set the record for the longest field goal in league history. Currently, former Ravens kicker Justin Tucker holds the record with a 66-yarder he hit back in 2021, so this would’ve broken it by a healthy amount. While the record still stands, Little did post on X that “this won’t be the last 70-yarder.”
And here we thought Travis Hunter was going to be the main draw to watch the Jaguars in 2025!
He didn’t play in the Dallas Cowboys’ preseason opener, but CeeDee Lamb somehow took one of the hardest hits of the preseason. Lamb was celebrating a long completion between Joe Milton III and Jonathan Mingo, and, while having his back turned to the action, got in the way of the sideline official who was running up the field. The two collided, and both hit the ground.
Oof. To make matters worse, Lamb was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for contacting the official. In the pool report after the game, referee Alex Moore said it was “sideline interference” because Lamb was standing in the restricted white border area. Luckily for Lamb and the Cowboys, the star wideout wasn’t hurt on the play, which would have further compounded the situation.
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