Buccaneers fall to Vikings, 26-16

In their first game of the 2015 preseason, the Buccaneers fell, 26-16, to the Vikings on Saturday night at TCF Bank Stadium in Minnesota. 

The game marked Jameis Winston’s NFL debut. He completed nine of 19 passes for 131 yards and rushing for a touchdown. On his first completion of his pro career, Winston connected with wide receiver Vincent Jackson to pick up 40 yards. 

The Bucs defense forced three turnovers, all of which came on fumbles. Linebacker Khaseem Green forced one of those fumbles an on impressive, extra-effort play and led the team in tackles with five.  

Also scoring for the Bucs was kicker Patrick Murray, who booted a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter, and running back Mike James, who punched in a three-yard run in the third. 

Louis Murphy led the team in receving, catching four passes for 54 yards, while Bobby Rainey’s 20 rushing yards were a team-high. The Bucs will next take the field on Monday, August 24 against the Bengals in Tampa.

Panthers 25, Bills 24

The Panthers’ first-team offense shook off the rust and the reserves provided a winning finish in a 25-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills to open preseason play Friday night at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Quarterback Cam Newton and the starters ran just eight plays in their first two drives, leaving head coach Ron Rivera with no choice but to give them a third opportunity at the start of the second quarter.

"I thanked coach for giving me another chance," quarterback Cam Newton said. "It had to happen, especially with the things we were doing offensively."

After Buffalo rookie running back Karlos Williams recorded a 1-yard touchdown to put the Bills in front, the Carolina offense started to click.

Wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin got it started. He drew a pass interference penalty that advanced the ball 25 yards, then made a tough catch over the middle for 19 more, although a taunting penalty wiped out 15 of those hard-earned yards.

But Newton then tossed a pinpoint deep ball down the right sideline to wide receiverTed Ginn, Jr., for 38 yards. Later, on third-and-6, Newton connected with tight endGreg Olsen for nine yards to keep the drive alive.

On first-and-goal, Newton quickly turned to his right and fired a quick pass up high to Benjamin for a 2-yard touchdown.

"That was in the perfect position where only I could get it," Benjamin said. "I just had to go up and make a play for him."

Bills running back Bryce Brown rushed for a 4-yard touchdown late in the second quarter to give Buffalo a 14-7 lead. But rookie wide receiver Devin Funchess’ first NFL catch – a 19-yard sliding effort – helped set up a 47-yard field goal by kicker Graham Gano in the closing seconds of the half.

Funchess recorded an even better catch on the first play of the third quarter. The rookie reeled in a high-arching deep ball from quarterback Derek Anderson and dragged two feet inbounds for a 34-yard gain.

Ten plays later, Anderson scrambled before finding wide receiver Brenton Bersin in the back of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown.

"Wow," Rivera said of the wide receivers. "Some guys did some really nice things. We’ve got some really good young players."

Bills kicker Jordan Gay converted a 52-yard field goal and quarterback E.J. Manuel connected with wide receiver Deonte Thompson deep over the middle for a 51-yard touchdown, giving Buffalo a 24-17 lead late in the third quarter.

The Bills scored all 24 of their points in the second and third quarter as they took advantage of missed tackles and penalties. Rivera wasn’t pleased.

"There are things we need to get fixed," Rivera said. "I thought the first defense did some nice things but I was really disappointed with what happened in the second and third quarters with our defense. That’s unacceptable, and it really upset me. That bothers me.

"We had too many penalties – 10 penalties, which is unacceptable."

Quarterback Joe Webb and a host of young players fighting for roster spots ended the game on a high note for the Panthers.

With 1:48 left and a drive starting at their own 9-yard line, the Panthers marched downfield in a hurry. Webb dumped off a pass to rookie running back Brandon Wegher, who slipped out of the backfield and saw nothing but wide open space in front of him.

"It was just a check down and on my way out I realized that it was a wide open field," Wegher said. "I knew that’s the way I would break after I caught the ball. Joe found me, and I just took off."

Wegher beat a host of Bills in pursuit to the left pylon for a 42-yard touchdown with 54 seconds left. Webb then fired a quick slant to wide receiver Paul Browning for the game-winning two-point conversion.

"I thought the ball was going to come my way, and it ended up being a slant route. I saw the off coverage and broke in," Browning said. "The ball was right there – perfect throw by Joe."

A perfect ending to an imperfect debut. But heading home with a win sure beats the alternative, even if it’s just the preseason opener.

"It wasn’t pretty but we were able to get into that winning atmosphere," Newton said. "You can go back and fix a lot of things, but you can’t fix a loss. We had to try to find a way to win a football game."

Rookie Mariota struggles early as Falcons top Titans, 31-24

Tennessee rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota quickly learned NFL games are different from practice.

Mariota's first two series ended with an interception and a fumble before he recovered to lead a touchdown drive in the Titans' 31-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in a preseason opener Friday night.

One play after he was sacked early in his first drive, Mariota's short pass was intercepted by linebacker Justin Durant, whose 20-yard return set up a field goal. On Tennessee's next drive, the ball slipped out of Mariota's hand as he was preparing to pass. Linebacker Paul Worrilow scooped up the loose ball and raced 14 yards for a touchdown.

"I just kind of shrugged it off," Mariota said. "I figured we needed a good drive, and we finished with a good one."

Mariota regrouped on his third possession. He had two 17-yard completions to former Falcons receiver Harry Douglas and a 26-yard pass to running back Antonio Andrews to set up Dexter McCluster's 6-yard scoring run.

"We obviously had a tough start," said Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt. "We can't turn the ball over. ... It was disappointing, but I like the way they responded."

Mariota, the No. 2 overall draft pick, went 7 of 8 for 94 yards. He entered the preseason opener with an impressive streak of 186 passes without an interception in seven-on-seven and team drills at training camp.

The Falcons led 17-0 behind new coach Dan Quinn before the Titans pulled even at 24. Michael Ford's 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter snapped the tie.

RYAN SHARP

Atlanta's Matt Ryan completed all six passes for 86 yards on his only possession, including a 13-yard touchdown toJulio Jones. Jones had four catches for 61 yards - all in the opening drive.

"He's a beast and I'm lucky to call him a teammate," said Ryan of Jones.

LOOK AT ME, COACH

Ford, who had 11 carries for 20 yards, was one of a group of running backs who had a chance to impress Quinn asDevonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were held out with hamstring injuries. Jerome Smith had seven carries for 25 yards. Terron Ward gained 6 yards on three carries.

QB COMPARISON

Titans: Zach Mettenberger also threw an interception late in the first half, but only after a 30-yard touchdown pass toRico Richardson. He was 8 for 11 for 129 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Charlie Whitehurst and Alex Tanney combined to complete all eight of their passes.

Falcons: T.J Yates went 9 of 15 for 105 yards and an interception. Sean Renfree, who led the decisive touchdown drive, was 6 of 7 for 68 yards. Quinn said the competition to be Ryan's backup is still close.

ROOKIE WATCH

Titans: WR Dorial Green-Beckham, the second-round pick, had one catch for 32 yards.

Falcons: Vic Beasley, the No. 8 overall pick, started in the "Leo" defensive end position and had one tackle.

ALMOST READY

Freeman and Coleman were in uniform and ran well in pregame drills. Quinn said the two tailbacks are close to returning. LB Brooks Reed (hip) also was in uniform but didn't play. CB Desmond Trufant (sprained shoulder) was not in uniform.

INJURY WATCH

Titans: LB Zaviar Gooden was driven off the field in the second quarter with a hamstring injury.

Falcons: RB Antone Smith did not return after suffering a hamstring injury on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

FANTASY WATCH

Titans: TE Chase Coffman led Tennessee with four catches for 58 yards. Douglas had three catches for 46 yards. RBDavid Cobb, who played behind Bishop Sankey, had 11 carries for 53 yards.

Falcons: TE Levine Toilolo, projected by many to fall behind free-agent additions Jacob Tamme and Tony Moeaki, impressed as a receiver. Toilolo had three catches for 36 yards.

JUST LIKE PRACTICE

Worrilow said going for Mariota's fumble was just a matter of repeating a familiar practice drill.

"The way we practice and the way we play, we're all running," Worrilow said. "So you just take off to the pile, the ball comes out, you scoop and score a million times in practice."

New Orleans Saints rally falls short in 30-27 loss to Baltimore Ravens

With franchise quarterback Drew Brees sitting out the first preseason game of the 2015 season the New Orleans Saints were slow out of the blocks but rallied against the Baltimore Ravens only to lose 30-27 Thursday night.

The Ravens won when third-string quarterback Bryn Renner scampered in from a yard out with two seconds to play.

The Saints looked like they had the game won when rookie running back Marcus Murphy scored from 3 yards out with 1:56 to play for a 27-23 lead.

Luke McCown started for the Saints and directed the first-team offense against the Ravens' tough first-string defense. The Saints trailed 17-0 before McCown hit Brandin Cooks for a lovely 28-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Ryan Griffin replaced McCown on the next possession and quickly led the Saints to another score, a 21-yard catch-and-run by Khiry Robinson to make it 20-14 Baltimore at halftime.

Robinson had a nice evening with two runs for 35 yards and and three catches for 37 yards. Mark Ingram ran the ball four times for 15 yards. Tim Hightower played most of the second half and finished with 12 carries for 31 yards.

McCown was 7 of 10 for 75 yards and the one score, Griffin was 10 of 17 for 112 yards and a touchdown and third-round draft pick played the fourth quarter and was 8 of 12 for 87 yards.

On offense, star receiverMarques Colston also was given the night off as was running backC.J. Spiller. On defense,Akiem Hicks and Jairus Byrddidn't see any action. A handful of Saints players left the game with unspecified injuries.

Rookie Damian Swann had the defensive play of the night when he jumped a route to pick off Ravens quarterback Matt Schaub. Terrence Frederick also made an interception.

The Saints' two first-round draft picks, tackle Andrus Peat and linebacker Stephone Anthony, both saw action. Anthony started at middle linebacker while Peat played a lot of snaps at right tackle.

Dustin Hopkins and Zach Hocker, who are battling for the kicking job, both had good games. Both boomed their kickoffs while Hocker made a 47-yard and a 50-yard field goal and the final extra-point attempt. He also missed a field-goal attempt from 50. Hopkins didn't attempt a field goal but he made both his extra point attempts.

The Saints had an unusually high number of penalties (16 for 143 yards) something for the team to work on when it returns to practices Saturday at The Greenbrier. The team will leave White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., on Aug. 21, one day before New Orleans takes on New England in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.