This year’s No 1 overall draft pick, Caleb Williams, showed signs of promise in his preseason debut, overseeing a pair of drives ending in field goals in the Chicago Bears’ 33-6 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
The 22-year-old out of USC completed four of seven attempts for 95 yards, and also converted a third-and-nine by bolting out of the pocket for a 13-yard gain. Though he was not perfect – Williams was late in nearly throwing an interception on a play wiped out by a Bills defensive penalty away from the ball – the quarterback oversaw the Bears gaining a combined 152 yards and seven first downs on 20 plays over two possessions.
The receiver D.J. Moore had a simple assessment of his new quarterback’s debut: “outstanding”. The Bears coach Matt Eberflus was a little more cautious but said he was happy with Williams’s play.
“There’s certainly positivity there,” Eberflus said. “We’re not going to squash that. I do feel like we have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to accomplish as a football team, not just Caleb. We all got to play good around him. It’s important that we keep improving before that first game.”
For Buffalo, Josh Allen went 2 for 3 for 22 yards, and also had a seven-yard run in a brief outing before giving way to backup Mitchell Trubisky.
Elsewhere, the No 2 pick, Jayden Daniels, ran for a touchdown after throwing a perfectly placed deep pass for his first NFL completion to get Washington into New York territory in their preseason-opening loss 20-17 loss.
Daniels and most of the Commanders’ starters on offense played just the opening series against Jets backups – and the young quarterback kept it going on his second pass when he connected with Dyami Brown for 42 yards along the right sideline on third-and-six from Washington’s 34.
Daniels was 2 of 3 for 45 yards with three third-down conversions before being replaced by Marcus Mariota. The Jets, who rested nearly all their starters including the quarterback Aaron Rodgers, got the win on Austin Seibert’s 37-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining.
Another first-round quarterback, J.J. McCarthy had a mixed but promising preseason debut in the Minnesota Vikings’ 24-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Gardner Minshew, in a too-close-to-call competition with Aidan O’Connell for the starting quarterback job for the Raiders, was 6 for 12 for 117 yards and a second-quarter touchdown to DJ Turner.
The Vikings have given the newcomer Sam Darnold most of the turns with the first team in practice and are trending toward starting the season with the third overall pick in the 2018 draft, but he is keeping the throne warm for McCarthy. After Darnold went 4 for 8 for 59 yards on the opening drive that stalled at the four-yard line with consecutive end-zone incompletions, McCarthy entered the game to an eager roar from the crowd at US Bank Stadium. In six possessions, the 10th overall pick in the draft from national champion Michigan went 11 for 17 for 188 yards.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati saw all they needed to see of Joe Burrow in their first series against Tampa Bay. In his first game action in nearly nine months, Cincinnati’s franchise quarterback directed a 73-yard drive, tossed a touchdown pass to Tee Higgins and then walked off the field.
The Buccaneers scored late to win the game 17-14, but Burrow passed his test. He was 5 for 7 for 51 yards, directed five first downs and completed passes to four different receivers.
Burrow looked as if he was back to his old self after having surgery last year to repair a torn ligament in his throwing hand. He avoided taking any hits, on one play throwing the ball into the ground to avoid blitzing the safety Kaevon Merriweather.