ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — It took one half of their preseason debuts for Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart to provide promising glimpses into the New York Giants’ present and future in a 34-25 win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
The 36-year-old Wilson — New York’s anticipated season-opening starter — was efficient in running the Giants’ quick-strike passing attack by going 6 of 7 for 28 yards in an opening drive ending with Graham Gano’s 53-yard field goal. The 22-year-old Dart — New York’s starter in waiting — then closed the half by displaying his arm strength and mobility in overseeing three scoring drives on four possessions.
The rookie first-round pick out of Ole Miss finished 12 of 19 for 154 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey, while adding three carries for 24 yards.
The outcome was decided with the teams trading leads four times in the second half of their respective preseason openers.
New York backup kicker Jude McAtamney scored the go-ahead points, hitting a 42-yard field goal with 7:13 remaining.
Bills third stringer Mike White threw two second-half touchdown passes, including a 39-yarder on fourth-and-4 to K.J. Hamler.
Giants third stringer Jameis Winston led three second-half possessions and went 7 of 11 for 62 yards, including a 7-yard completion to Gunner Olszewski. Tommy DeVito mopped up by going 10 of 14 for 73 yards and a 8-yard touchdown to Jonathan Ward.
VIKINGS 20, TEXANS 10
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — J.J. McCarthy was solid in his brief return for the Vikings, going 4 of 7 for 30 yards while leading a scoring drive in his only series and Minnesota topped Houston in the teams’ preseason opener.
McCarthy, who missed all of his rookie season after tearing the meniscus in his right knee in last year’s first preseason game, took the field to a rousing ovation from the home crowd.
The first-round pick in last year’s NFL draft out of Michigan completed his first four passes, three to Jordan Addison, who made a sliding grab for an 18-yard gain on one. McCarthy also ran 8 yards for a first down on fourth-and-4 at the Texans 43 to keep alive a 13-play, 58-yard scoring drive that was capped by Will Reichard’s 48-yard field goal that put the Vikings up 3-0.
Houston’s Davis Mills, who got the start at quarterback when head coach DeMeco Ryans elected to sit starter C.J. Stroud, then marched the Texans 74 yards in 10 plays — capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios.
McCarthy was replaced by backup Sam Howell before the Vikings’ second possession. Howell played the rest of the first half, finishing 11 of 13 for 105 yards. He led Minnesota to a pair of scores: a 38-yard field goal by Reichard and a 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Vikings a 13-7 halftime lead.
RAMS 31, COWBOYS 21
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Stetson Bennett passed for 188 yards and two touchdowns in a strong start to the preseason, leading Los Angeles to a victory over the Cowboys in new Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s debut.
Blake Corum rushed for short TDs to cap the Rams’ first two offensive drives behind Bennett, the two-time national champion at the University of Georgia attempting to secure his job as the Rams’ third-string quarterback for another season.
Looking much sharper than he did a year ago against the Cowboys, Bennett went 16 for 24 and hit Cody Schrader and Brennan Presley for touchdowns in the second half. Bennett’s only interception resulted from an exceptional play made by Dallas’ Israel Mukuamu on a long pass.
Joe Milton passed for 143 yards before injuring his elbow in the fourth quarter of a solid debut with the Cowboys, throwing a touchdown pass to Rivaldo Fairweather with 8:48 to play. The second-year pro, who had one interception while going 17 for 29, is looking to cement his job as Dak Prescott’s backup.
Will Grier replaced Milton for the final series and rushed for a TD with 2:31 left.
BUCCANEERS 29, TITANS 7
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Cam Ward’s pro debut was solid, if unspectacular.
The first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft completed five of eight passes for 67 yards, but more importantly was composed and looked comfortable running Tennessee’s offense in the Titans’ preseason-opening loss to Tampa Bay.
Two days after working against the Bucs defense in a joint practice at Tampa Bay’s training facility, Ward played three offensive series, including an impressive second-quarter touchdown drive that gave the Titans a glimpse of what the franchise is counting on to be a bright future with him at quarterback.
The 6-foot-2, 219-pound rookie completed three passes to Calvin Ridley to account for all but 15 yards on the 11-play, 65-yard TD drive Tony Pollard finished with a 1-yard scoring run. That came after the Tennessee offense spent more than 14 minutes of the opening quarter on the sideline while Tampa Bay was building a 10-0 lead and a whopping 143-5 advantage in total yardage while running 22 plays to Tennessee’s 3.
Ward began his team’s only scoring drive with a 27-yard completion over the middle to a wide-open Ridley and later led his target cutting across the middle again with a nice throw for a 13-yard gain into Tampa Bay territory. The rookie got away with his worst throw of the night when Bucs cornerback Josh Hayes made a nice adjustment on a sideline throw intended for receiver Elic Ayomanor but was unable to hang on to the ball for an interception.
Ward, who had no turnovers and was not sacked, left the game after leading one more drive that ended with a punt. Backup Brandon Allen entered to kneel down on the final play of the first half, then shared playing time after halftime with Tim Boyle.
STEELERS 31, JAGUARS 25
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Travis Hunter’s professional debut included 10 snaps on offense, eight on defense and no highlights.
The Heisman Trophy winner and second overall pick in the NFL draft was relatively quiet in Jacksonville’s loss to Pittsburgh in a preseason game. He caught two passes for 9 yards, with a long gain of 6, and missed an open-field tackle.
Hunter did, however, have a front-row seat for the most exciting play of the night: Cam Little drilled a 70-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, a kick that would have broken the NFL record had it happened during the regular season.
Little and the Jaguars celebrated widely as the half ended. Holder Logan Cooke lifted both arms shortly after the ball took flight. Little leaned forward a little and then raised an arm as it cleared the crossbar.
Cooke pushed Little to start the party, and then Hunter greeted Little on the field with a midair body-bump.
Baltimore’s Justin Tucker holds the NFL mark, having made a 66-yarder at Detroit in 2021.
JETS 30, PACKERS 10
GREEN BAY, Wisc. (AP) — Justin Fields ran for a 13-yard touchdown in his lone series and New York defeated Green Bay in the preseason opener for both teams.
New Jets coach Aaron Glenn, the former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator, said he wanted to win this game even though it was a mere exhibition. Fields and an opportunistic defense helped make that happen.
Fields joined the Jets in March on a two-year, $40 million contract after making a combined 44 starts with the Chicago Bears (2021-23) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2024). He engineered a 10-play, 79-yard drive in his first game with his new team.
On third-and-5, Fields ran his way out of a collapsing pocket, made a move to get past Keisean Nixon’s diving tackle attempt and got into the right corner of the end zone. Fields also went 3 of 4 through the air for 42 yards, including a 24-yard completion to Andrew Beck.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love went 1 of 5 for 7 yards and neither of the two drives he led resulted in any points. Love overthrew Luke Musgrave on a deep route across the middle and a couple of his other passes were dropped.
CARDINALS 20, CHIEFS 17
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes needed just 48 seconds on the field to get his preseason off to a good start.
Mahomes — a three-time Super Bowl champ entering his ninth season with Kansas City — took advantage of a short field after Arizona fumbled the opening kickoff, hitting Jason Brownlee for a 1-yard touchdown and an early 7-0 lead.
Arizona rallied for a win over Kansas City in the preseason opener for both teams.
The TD pass was Mahomes’ only completion of the game, ending a brief, effective outing. Backup Gardner Minshew took over on the next series and ran for a 2-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Harrison Butker made a 58-yard field goal.
Mahomes’ final line: 1-for-1 passing for 1 yard and one touchdown. The three-time defending AFC champions were playing for the first time since losing last season’s Super Bowl 40-22 to the Philadelphia Eagles.
While Kansas City got off to a good start, Arizona’s starters were a little sloppy.
The Cardinals fumbled their first two kickoff returns, though they recovered the second one. Kyler Murray — playing in his first preseason game since 2021 — was intercepted on the offense’s opening drive on a pass intended for second-year receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
Murray’s second drive was hindered when tight end Tip Reiman was called for a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. The miscue was part of the reason the Cardinals had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Chad Ryland.
BRONCOS 30, 49ERS 9
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Jarrett Stidham threw two TD passes following a lackluster performance from Bo Nix and Denver’s starters, and the Broncos beat San Francisco in the preseason opener.
The teams approached the game very differently following a joint practice on Thursday when top players from both teams got plenty of work. San Francisco played only a handful of starters in the game, while Denver played most of its front-line players for at least a few series.
Nix and the offense had three possessions with the first ending in a punt, the second a safety following an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone and then a field goal on a drive that started in San Francisco territory.
The Broncos’ first-team offense managed 56 yards on 18 plays with Nix going 6 for 11 for 31 yards in his first game action in his second season.
Nix threw 29 TD passes as a rookie to help Denver make the postseason for the first time since 2015 and coach Sean Payton is counting on an even bigger performance this season as the Broncos look to contend in the tough AFC.
Denver’s starting defense also wasn’t sharp, allowing a 50-yard pass from Mac Jones to rookie Jordan Watkins on the first drive that set up a 5-yard TD run by Patrick Taylor.
Edge rusher Nik Bonitto shined on the next drive with two sacks and a pressure to force a punt.
The Associated Press
