Defense can't hold lead in 23-21 loss

STORYLINE
It was to be preseason game No. 2, and the general impression during the run-up was there was plenty of room for improvement based on what had happened five days ago in preseason game No. 1.

“I want to see guys take a significant step,” said Coach Mike Tomlin. “The guys have been in a stadium, and wherever they were a week ago I want to see them take a significant step forward. I expect us collectively to do some of the things we talked about last week, that quite frankly we failed at doing. I want an elimination of pre-snap penalties. We had delay of game penalties on offense. We also had a false start by the punt team. We had a lining up in the neutral zone on defense. You make yourself an easy team to beat when you do things like that, and I’m not interested in being that type of team.”

The game was to serve as the 2015 preseason debut for Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown,Heath Miller, Le’Veon Bell, Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton, Cortez Allen, Jarvis Jones,Shamarko Thomas, and James Harrison.

Coming into the game, the plan was to play Roethlisberger between 10-12 plays, but after he directed the first-team offense on a six-play 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a two-point conversion pass to Markus Wheaton, Coach Mike Tomlin decided he had seen enough. Roethlisberger exchanged his helmet for a baseball cap and was done for the night.

ALIGNING THE OFFENSIVE LINE
To start the game, the Steelers offensive line was as expected – from left to right, Kelvin Beachum,Ramon Foster,Maurkice Pouncey,David DeCastro, andMarcus Gilbert. After the first series, which ended in a touchdown and an 8-0 Steelers lead, Pouncey was replaced by Cody Wallace with the rest of the unit staying intact. When it came time for the second group, it was made up of, from left to right,Alejandro Villanueva, Chris Hubbard, Wallace, B.J. Finney, and Mitchell Van Dyk.

TURNING POINT
It was the fourth quarter, and the Steelers had just taken a 21-17 lead on a touchdown pass fromLandry Jones to C.J. Goodwin. When the team needed a defensive stop, what it got instead was a slew of penalties. 

After the ensuing kickoff, the Jaguars began their offensive possession at their own 8-yard line, and before it ended with what turned out to be the deciding 1-yard touchdown by QB Stephen Morris, the Steelers defense had helped out with four critical penalties.

Jordan Zumwalt was flagged for roughing the passer; Gerod Holliman was hit with a personal foul for hitting a receiver above the shoulders; and then Jordan Sullen was flagged for defensive holding and then pass interference on back-to-back snaps.

STAT THAT STANDS OUT I
Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams combined for 46 yards on eight carries (5.8 average) in limited playing time, but once they were removed the Steelers running attack disappeared. The rest of the game, the Steelers rushed for 29 yards on 12 attempts (2.4 average).

STAT THAT STANDS OUT II
The Steelers were not penalized in the first half, but they were flagged eight times for 73 yards in the second half, with seven for 68 yards coming in the fourth quarter.

GIVEN THE NIGHT OFF
Two days before the game, Tomlin ruled out Robert Golden, Daniel McCullers, Ross Ventrone,Vince Williams, Bruce Gradkowski, Mike Adams, and Senquez Golson. Gradkowski, Adams, and Golson remain on the physically unable to perform list. Lawrence Timmons was in uniform, but he did not play.

Sharp Bengals cut down Giants

In what was arguably the fastest and crispest a Marvin Lewis team has ever come out for a pre-season opener, the Bengals jumped out to a 10-0 lead over the Giants in the first nine minutes Friday night at Paul Brown Stadium on their way to a fairly complete 23-10 victory.

With 432 yards, the Bengals nearly doubled up the Giants' 224

And by the time there were five minutes left in the third quarter, the Bengals had 14 plays of at least 10 yards to six for the Giants. At that point, working with a mix of second- and third-teamers, Bengals rookie linebackerP.J. Dawson made his debut with a stop of running back Kenneth Harper that fueled the Cincinnati defense’s fifth three-and-out of the night.

The first-team defense put New York through two three-and-outs and quarterback Andy Dalton took a seat when he hit all three of his passes for 31 yards in a microwave-quick, six-play 52-yard touchdown drive that never reached third down.

Even though the Bengals’ first defense left after six snaps, Giants quarterback Eli Manning stayed in for two more series but it didn’t get much better. He didn’t engineer a point and completed four of eight passes for 22 yards in a stretch the Giants’ longest plays were a draw and a screen.

"The first offense did some good things. I was particularly pleased with the tempo. And you always want to start your first drive of the year with a touchdown," Lewis said. "Defensively, the first unit also played well. I particularly liked the way we responded after the long kickoff
return."

The Bengals offense picked up where it left off after picking apart the Giants secondary in Wednesday’s practice. Dalton wasted no time going to his favorite target of this preseason when he hit tight end Tyler Eifert for 12 yards over the middle beating linebacker Jon Beason.

After running back Jeremy Hill busted up the middle for a 10-yard gain as the lone back, wide receiver A.J. Greenscalded safety-turned-cornerback Bennett Jackson on a 16-yard route to the right sideline off Dalton’s bootleg play-action.

Dalton picked up six by himself on a scramble and Hill plowed for five behind the interior for a first down. When Dalton lined up his receivers, they were in a bunch to his right at the Giants 3 and wide receiver Mohamed Sanubroke wide open for an easy touchdown.

“I think what everybody saw just shows that we came out fully prepared. We executed well, did what we wanted to do and scored a touchdown," Dalton said. "It’s not that much, but sure, it’s a good start to the season. The first-unit guys were glad we could earn ourselves a short
night.”

It was just as easy on defense. On the first series of the game, left end Carlos Dunlap dropped running back Rashad Jennings for a five-yard loss on second down and on the next snap Manning couldn’t convert a back-shoulder throw to wide receiver Rueben Randle because cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was draped all over it.

Manning had no better luck in his second series even though Akeem Hunt returned Bengals rookie kickerTom Obarski’s liner to the Bengals 35. Defensive tackle Geno Atkins flashed the three-time Pro Bowl form he’s flashed all summer and dropped running back Andre Williams for no gain on first down. Then Dunlap, torturing former Bengals right tackle Marshall Newhouse, hounded Manning into an incompletion on a bootleg that fooled no one. On third down, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., kept running down the sideline in an effort to get away from cornerback Adam Jones, but he couldn’t and Manning threw it short.

Old friend Josh Brown then did what he rarely did in his month with the Bengals in 2012 and missed a 53-yard field goal to the right.

Obarski didn’t when he cashed a 46-yarder in the wake of quarterback Josh Johnson’s first series working behind everyone on the first offensive line but left tackle Andrew Whitworth.  Johnson had been taking good notes. He also went to Eifert over the middle and this time got 18 yards. But the drive stalled when the Giants got a sack over the left side of the Bengals line and Obarski hit the field goal with 5:20 left in the first quarter for the 10-0 lead.

"It’s a good start. Really, we just played against what we saw in practice against them this week," Dunlap said. "We were fortunate that they gave us some plays we were ready for. You can’t read a lot into this, it’s just one quarter of a preseason game, but I see it as the first
building block to getting where we want to be.”

The first half had some casualties. Cornerback Darqueze Dennard walked to the locker room with a groin injury late in the half after running backs Rex Burkhead (neck) and Cedric Peerman (knee) were marked as questionable to return. None of them returned to the game.

Johnson manufactured a touchdown on long passes to two wide receivers playing in significant games. In his first NFL game, rookie Mario Alford slithered out of the slot into the flat and then raced past Bennett Jackson for the first down and 13 yards. Then four plays later, on third-and-11, Marvin Jones, playing his first game since the 2013 Wild Card Game, broke loose on a left sideline pattern against cornerback Chandler Fenner, pirouetted at the first-down marker, and picked up a couple of more for a 17-yard gain.

That set up running back James Wilder Jr.’s two-yard touchdown run to put the Bengals back into a 10-point lead at 17-7 with 4:44 left in the first half.

With Burkhead and Peerman on the bench, Wilder went to work behind an undermanned backup offensive line. With second-round pick Jake Fisher not playing after leaving Wednesday’s practice with what appeared to be a shoulder injury and guard Trey Hopkins scratched with an unknown ailment, tackle Tanner Hawkinson was at left guard and veteran tackle Eric Winston was still in the game and played both right tackle and right guard. Wilder converted on a power play behind rookie fullback Mark Weisman and the pulling Hawkinson.

The Giants cut the lead to 17-10 on the last play of the half on Brown’s 41-yard field goal. But the Bengals stopped one drive when they got back-to-back hits on  Giants backup quarterback Ryan Nassib, one from right end Will Clarke and the other from rush linebacker Chris Carter off the edge. Clarke also batted down a pass late in the first half.  

With backup quarterback AJ McCarron shelved, Johnson had a field day and his receivers had no problem beating the Giants defenders.  His 42-yard pass to wide receiver Greg Little down the right sideline set up Obarski’s field goal that made it 20-10 with 5:47 left in the third quarter. Little separated from defensive back Trevin Wade and made a nice reaching catch over his head while staying in-bounds at the Giants 10.

Early in the fourth quarter Johnson went deep for wide receiver Denarius Moore down the right sideline and Moore drew a 30-yard interference penalty on safety Josh Gordy to set up Obarski’s tricky 21-yard field from the right hash. With 9:37 left in the game, Obarski’s third field goal in his debut gave the Bengals a 23-10 lead.

Johnson left in favor of Keith Wenning with eight minutes left in the game after completing of 11 of 21 passes for 175 yards while rushing six times for 37 yards. He also had help from Wilder’s 53 yards on 14 carries.

Alford, the seventh-rounder from West Virginia, had an exciting second half. On his first punt return, he made a bad decision when he fielded it at about his own five-yard line

But he came back and ran a reverse for 22 yards when the Bengals faked the power play with Hawkinson again pulling as Alford skittered the other way.

Wenning put the finishing touches on an offensive night that went over 400 yards when he got a first down to rookie wide receiver Jake Kumerow on third-and-four. Kumerow then threw a key block on rookie running backTerrell Watson’s 26-yard run.

But Wenning threw a red-zone interception intended for wide receiver Tevin Reese and the big return set the Giants up deep in Bengals’ territory. But sacks by rookie defensive linemen Marcus Hardison andDeShawn Williams, as well as rookie cornerback Troy Hill’s pass defense in the end zone, blunted the Giants.   

PRE-GAME NOTES: Backup quarterback AJ McCarron led the list of Bengals not expected to play in Friday night’s pre-season opener against the Giants at Paul Brown Stadium.

McCarron hasn’t worked since suffering an injury early in Monday’s practice, when it’s believed he suffered some kind of strain in the rib-chest area. That means Josh Johnson is going to get the bulk of the snaps after Andy Dalton gets a series or two of work.

McCarron said on Wednesday the injury isn't related to the shoulder tendinitis that took him out of most of last season.

Also not expected to play was right tackle Andre Smith, who has practiced this training camp but has been eased into it as he comes back from a torn triceps. Eric Winston got the start in his place. As expected, right endMichael Johnson, who reportedly suffered an MCL sprain the third day of camp, was scratched and former GiantWallace Gilberry got the start.

Rookie Tom Obarski was expected to take all the kicks with Mike Nugent getting the night off. The Bengals Radio Network reported Nugent had tender hamstring.

Also not expected to play were backup cornerback Brandon Ghee and backup guard Trey Hopkins with unknown ailments.

For the Giants, wide receiver Victor Cruz, who took a few snaps in Wednesday's practice against the Bengals, was a scratch as he continues his comeback from last season's injury. Also sitting out was starting cornerback Prince Amukamara and starting guard Geoff Schwartz.

Browns offense starts fast in preseason loss to Washington

The Josh McCown era began Thursday in Cleveland and the veteran quarterback brought immediate results in a 20-17 preseason loss to the Redskins.

On Cleveland’s opening drive, McCown completed all five of his passes and capped it with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin in the back of the end zone. On the play, McCown evaded several blitzing Redskins in the pocket with nifty footwork.

It ended up being his only possession of the game, but McCown continued to show Cleveland’s coaching staff he can be an effective leader of the Browns offense.

“Flip (offensive coordinator John DeFilippo) called an excellent game,” McCown said. “To come out and just worry about us and how we execute things, I was really proud of that of our guys. Everybody just went about our business the way we have throughout training camp and we were able to move the ball down the field and score.”

In the second quarter, the offense kept the momentum rolling with quarterbackJohnny Manziel.

After Marlon Moore stripped Redskins return man Andre Roberts on a punt, Manziel and the offense capitalized on the mistake. Two quick completions to Brian Hartline andIsaiah Crowell spread the defense out, and Manziel broke loose with his feet on a third-and-4, weaving around Washington defenders on his way to a 12-yard touchdown run.

It wasn’t all picture-perfect for the 22-year-old in five total series, but Manziel finished the night 7-for-11 for 42 yards and with something to build upon.

The Redskins had some success against the Browns defense, though. With the Browns run defense under the microscope, Washington’s Alfred Morris carried the ball eight times for 42 yards (5.3 yards per carry).

In the second quarter, quarterback Kirk Cousins engineered a quick, eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive and finished it with a 4-yard touchdown of his own. Cousins, who had success in Cleveland in a 2012 win that helped the Redskins make the playoffs, completed 12-of-14 passes for 154 yards. The Redskins scored 17 points in two quarters with the 26-year-old pocket passer.

Despite Washington’s efficiency with Cousins, there were several bright spots on defense for the Browns.

The Redskins were threatening for another touchdown before halftime, but a sack from rookieXavier Cooper and a thundering tackle for a loss by Christian Kirksey on Redskins running back Chris Thompson forced Washington into a field goal. In the third quarter,Jamie Meder forced a fumble from running back Silas Redd and Tank Carder pounced on football.

Game Recap: Ravens 30, Saints 27

Baltimore's offense was humming, and third-string QB Bryn Renner finished it with a game-winning touchdown.

The Ravens’ preseason opener began and ended about as well as it could.

The first-team offense and defense both dominated in Thursday night’s preseason opener, putting Baltimore up 14-0 in the first quarter.

The Saints charged back behind their second-teamers, but third-string quarterbackBryn Renner got the last laugh, leaping into the end zone with two seconds left to give the Ravens a dramatic (especially for the preseason) 30-27 win.

The Ravens’ first-team offense cruised down the field with a 16-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in its first and only action of the night.

Quarterback Joe Flacco went 5-for-6 for 33 yards and a 17-yard carry. Running backLorenzo Taliaferro rushed 12 times for 36 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down to cap the Ravens’ opening drive in the end zone.

The first-team defense was equally dominant, holding the Saints to back-to-back three-and-outs. New Orleans didn’t start Pro Bowler Drew Brees, however, going with Luke McCown instead. The Saints only netted 11 yards on their first two drives.

Baltimore’s second-team defense struggled and backup quarterback Matt Schaub had a stronger first half than second. The combination of the two allowed the Saints to tie the game at 20-20 in the fourth quarter, then take the lead after a Renner interception deep in his own zone.

Renner led a 16-play drive in the final two minutes, capped off by a 1-yard roll out and scramble into the end zone, sending Baltimore’s sideline into a celebration reminiscent of a regular-season game. Renner received a big hug from Head Coach John Harbaugh and Gatorade bath fromTerrell Suggs.

Quote Of The Day“I’d like to see a two-minute stop, for once, maybe the first time in about eight years.” – Head Coach John Harbaugh at halftime.

Turning Point Of The GameFacing a fourth-and-20 on the final game-winning drive, Renner dumped a short pass to rookie second-round tight end Maxx Williams. Williams charged up field, hurdled one Saints defender then plowed into another to pick up the first down – with 2 yards to spare.

Impact Plays

• Facing a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the first quarter, Harbaugh kept the offense on the field. The middle of the Ravens’ offensive line and fullback Kyle Juszczyk paved the way for running back Lorenzo Taliaferro to drive his way into the end zone.
• Wide receiver Michael Campanaro only made one catch in the first half, but he made it worthwhile. He streaked across the deep secondary to haul in a wide-open pass from Matt Schaub, then scampered up the sideline for a 45-yard touchdown to put the Ravens up 14-0.
• The Saints started to carve up the Ravens’ second-team defense at the end of the first half. Third-string New Orleans quarterback Ryan Griffin found tight end Josh Hill down the middle of the field for 25 yards, then running back Khiry Robinson for another 21 on the next play. The Saints exposed the Ravens’ inside linebackers and perimeter defense, cutting the Ravens’ lead to six points, 20-14, at halftime.
• After a solid first half in which he went 7-of-12 for 104 yards and a touchdown, backup quarterback Matt Schaub threw an interception on his first pass of the second half. The Saints turned it into a field goal.
• Kicker Justin Tucker is so automatic. With the game tied at 20-20 in the fourth quarter, Renner drove into Saints’ territory but stalled there. Tucker entered and boomed a 51-yard field goal through the uprights that would have been good from 60 yards. Tucker went 3-for-3 on his field-goal attempts on the night.
• Rookie outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith halted a potential game-winning or tying drive with a sack for an 8-yard loss. It’s the first sack of his NFL career and he’ll take it, even if came on a missed block.
• The Saints scored a late fourth-quarter touchdown on a power toss to rookie running back Marcus Murphy. He went into the end zone untouched on the first play after the two-minute warning.

Standout Performer: RB Lorenzo TaliaferroThe Ravens entered the game without a clear No. 2 running back. Taliaferro made a step forward in proving he deserves the nod behind Justin Forsett. He ran 12 times for 36 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown plunge, and showed he can catch with two snags for 18 yards.

Stat Of The GameRenner finished the night as the hero, and he had a scrappy final 14-play, 80-yard drive. Renner went 5-of-12 on the game-winning drive. Flacco didn’t have a bad night himself, finishing with a 89.6 quarterback rating and having his only incompletion on a throw-away.

On The Horizon
Next week, the Ravens will travel to Philadelphia for three days of practice with the Eagles before facing them in their second preseason game next Saturday.