The third week of the NFL preseason is in the books. RGIII topped Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson won the starting job and David DeCastro went down.
The third week of the preseason is now over, which means only meaningless football is left for the final week. Week 3 of the preseason is generally the one teams treat as a dress rehearsal and play their starters into the second half. The final preseason game often sees starters play a series or two, if they play at all.
Your Week 3 rewind starts with...
Luck vs. RGIII highlights the weekend
Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III will be linked forever after they went 1-2 in the 2012 NFL Draft. On Saturday afternoon, RGIII's Redskins topped Luck's Colts, 30-17.
RGIII's line: 11-of-17, 74 yards, 1 touchdown
Luck's line: 14-of-23, 151 yards, 1 touchdown
The pair were even with Luck picking up more than half his yards on two throws. Neither quarterback was off-the-charts great, but they were still impressive when you consider we're in the third game of their NFL careers. RGIII was aided by running back Alfred Morris eclipsing the century mark on the ground on just 14 carries.
Your Luck and RGIII highlights:
- RGIII lit up by Colts' Jerrell Freeman
- Redskins defense gets the best of Luck
- Luck goes deep to T.Y. Hilton
- RGIII hits Santana Moss for six (and a closer look at that play)
The real surprise was Rex Grossman, the quarterback who was greeted at FedEx field with boos. He completed all eight of his pass attempts for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
Russell Wilson is the preseason MVP
The Seahawks have their starting quarterback all right. Wilson looked like a 10-year veteran against the Chiefs on Friday night, completing 13-of-19 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns as well as adding another 58 yards on the ground. Wilson is dynamic on offense, and he left the Seahawks with little choice but to name him the starting quarterback.
Matt Flynn didn't play on Friday night, which probably didn't help his cause. The Seahawks then traded Tarvaris Jackson to the Bills.
That wraps up their quarterback competition nicely. The rookie starts; the $8 million per year player is the backup; and the only one with starting experience is shipped off.
Just like everyone expected.
Not all quarterback competitions are created equal
NFL coaches like competitions because it should make each player better. Should being the key word there. The Cardinals' quarterback competition is just getting a little sad. John Skelton or Kevin Kolb -- not very inspiring, huh?
It's not often that a face can sum up everything I want to say but this one does:
We can now answer this question.
The worst injury of the week
Marc Mariani fractured his tibia in the Titans' game over the weekend.
A picture of the injury is here. The .GIF is here.
You've been warned: the injury will make your stomach queasy.
Josh Baker's injury is a close second.
Your weekly 'The Replacement Refs Screwed It Up' moment
Bengals safety Taylor Mays was flagged on this play. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis after the game did not stick to the script that says not to criticize the referees, and he said they got this call wrong. Lewis is right. Mays leads with his shoulder into the midsection. If he were leading with his helmet or if he hit Tom Crabtree in the head then the penalty would make sense. I don't understand this call. Whether Mays is fined by the league will tell us whether the referees got this right or not.
Bonus replacement refs moment: Titans DC calls them 'The Three Stooges'
Headline of the week
'Carson Palmer's Job Safe From Terrelle Pryor'
Pryor had a pretty good day if you missed it.
Who says there are no big hits in preseason?
Take the Seahawks-Chiefs game on Friday night for example.
Russell Wilson takes off running on this play and Leon Washington lays a block on Eric Berry sending him flying into the air and making all Chiefs fans hold their breath until he got up.
Berry, who tore his ACL last year, got up after the hit and was fine.
Later in the game, Chiefs running back Nate Eachus returned the favor with this devastating blow.
Was that a legal hit? We'll find out for sure when the fines come down this week but it appears this is a legal shoulder-to-shoulder hit.
David DeCastro's injury is a blow to the Steelers
DeCastro was taken in the first round, easily the top guard in this year's draft class. He was expected to be one of those guys you line up and play for a decade without thinking twice.
Unless, of course, he gets hurt. The worst case scenario appears to be upon us as DeCastro suffered a knee injury that will keep him out several months, if not the entire season.
The Steelers were a team that couldn't afford an injury to, of all places, the offensive line. This doesn't mean we're not picking them to make the playoffs or anything but an already questionable unit has lost a starter.
