Please take all Cold, Hard Football Facts preseason observations with a grain of salt. In fact, take them with several grains of salt wrapped around the rim of a glass filled with a frosty margarita. Nobody puts less stock in the preseason than the Cold, Hard Football Facts. Remember, Indy failed to win a single preseason game last year and then reeled off 13 straight when the games counted.
With that said, it's worth gleaning a few nuggets from the start of the first full weekend of preseason football.
Vinatieri delivers
The preseason losing streak continued for the Colts on Thursday night, as they fell to the Rams, 19-17, at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. But kicker Adam Vinatieri paid immediate dividends in his debut. He started the game with a successful onside kick that was recovered by Indy's Von Hutchins. Seven plays later, Peyton Manning hit tight end Ben Utecht for an 8-yard touchdown pass that gave the Colts an early 7-0 lead.
With the two teams combining for 22 points in the first quarter, Vinatieri also added a 53-yard field goal. His last regular-season field goal of more than 50 yards came on Nov. 10, 2002, when he connected on a 57-yarder at Chicago. He had been 0-5 from 50+ since, but all of those misses came outdoors. The Colts, of course, play their home games in the climate-controlled RCA Dome.
A tale of two teams in Cleveland
The Cleveland offense looked no better Thursday night during a 20-7 loss to Philly. The Browns converted just 3 of 13 third downs and failed on their lone fourth-down attempt, too.
Kellen Winslow, meanwhile, made his first appearance in NFL competition since his motorcycle accident back in the spring of 2005. He caught 2 passes for 7 yards.
Pressure on McNabb?
Jeff Garcia must be the best backup in the NFL. He struggled in Detroit last year, but name a quarterback over the past 40 years who hasn't.
Garcia looked sharp in Philly's win over Cleveland in backup duty, completing 8 of 11 passes for 125 yards, including a 32-yard TD pass to Darnerien McCants. Don't forget, Garcia is a three-time Pro Bowler who tossed 63 TD passes (with just 22 INTs) in 2000 and 2001 with San Francisco.
Garcia has thrown 126 TD passes in his seven-year career. Philly starter Donovan McNabb, a five-time Pro Bowler, has thrown 134 TD passes in his seven-year career.
New England pounds the pigskin
New England's top two ballcarriers, Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney, pounded out 93 yards on just 14 carries in the first quarter-and-a-half. The most encouraging moment for Patriots fans came on a 3rd-and-18 play in the first quarter when Maroney ripped off a 27-yard gain on a draw play up the middle. New England has not shown any hint of that kind of threat during the Tom Brady Era. The Patriots totaled 162 yards on 31 carries, while underrated third-down back Kevin Faulk caught two passes for 17 yards.
Matt Cassel has famously backed up Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Brady. He made his case to secure the second-string job in New England with 229 passing yards in an extended relief effort. He looked shaky at the outset, but has passed for more yards than any other QB so far in the preseason.
Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick was sharp on his one series, completing 3 of 4 for 26 yards, including a bullet to Michael Jenkins for 15 yards and a first down. He also ran for 16 yards and a first down on his lone carry.
Martin Gramatica, who's fighting to replace Vinatieri in New England, looked shaky on his first pressure kick in a Patriots uniform. His game-tying, 30-yard effort with 5:31 to play in the fourth quarter barely squeezed through the uprights.
Atlanta's Michael Koenen hit the 40-yard game-winner with no time to play.
Hooray backups
We learned Friday night that the players who won't make the Giants' roster are better than the players who won't make the Ravens' roster.
Baltimore was sporting a 16-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter before New York rallied for a 17-16 win. Mike Jennings, an undrafted rookie wide receiver out of Florida State, returned a punt 57 yards to close the gap to 16-14 in the fourth quarter.
New York's second-year backup, Jared Lorenzen, who at 285 pounds is the biggest QB in NFL history, led a 62-yeard drive to set up Jay Feely's 29-yard game-winner as time expired.
Baltimore's new quarterback, Steve McNair, has struggled with injuries and a general lack of production since his co-MVP season of 2003. He showed shadows of his old double-threat self by completing 4 of 5 passes and capping his lone drive with a 6-yard TD run.
Smith and Griese sparkle
But he confidently led the 49ers against what was the league's stingiest defense last year during a 28-14 win over Chicago.
Smith played the entire first half, completed 16 of 21 passes for 137 yards and led the 49ers to an early 17-0 lead.
Chicago newcomer Brian Griese, meanwhile, made a pretty loud statement that he should be the man to lead the Bears offense this season. Last year's starters, Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, combined to complete just 7 of 20 passes for 89 yards and 0 TDs. Griese connected on 6 of 7 attempts for 134 yards and 2 TDs. That gave him a nifty 19.1
yards per attempt and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
Mangini's first game
The big preseason story for the Jets has been the return of Chad Pennington. In fact, according to a graphic shown during the broadcast of their 16-3 loss to Tampa Bay Friday night, Pennington is the clear fan favorite to take the starting QB job.
New coach Eric Mangini is not so convinced. He continues to say that the QB gig is an open competition. Nobody stepped up to grab the job against Tampa.
- Pennington got the start and played two series. He completed 9 of 14 for 54 yards.
- Rookie Kellen Clemens took over in the second quarter and played until the fourth. He completed 10 of 14 for 92 yards
- Patrick Ramsey saw work in just one fourth-quarter series. He completed 2 of 3 for 9 yards
The bigger Jets story, at least at this point, is on the other side of the ball: The Buccaneers had their way with the New York defense, rushing for 167 yards on 44 carries (3.8 per attempt) and controlling the clock for more than 36 minutes.
However, the teams were locked in a 3-3 tie before the scrub squads took over in the second half.
