The preseason comes to a close this weekend with a jam-packed, four-day string of games that’ll conclude with a tripleheader on Sunday. While the final week of the preseason oftentimes doesn’t see teams roll out their starters, it is a fascinating period with players on the bubble continuing to make their case to make it onto the 53-man roster.
As they do that, we’ll also get some standout plays that should wrap up this year’s slate of exhibitions with an exclamation point. Below, we’ll showcase all of the top highlights that come out of Week 3 of the preseason.
Drake Maye marches down the field in style
Jacoby Brissett got the start under center for the Patriots in their final preseason contest, but he played only one series before giving way to the rookie. And Maye delivered a series of highlights in his final tuneup.
Backed up near his own end zone on third-and-14, Maye waited out the pressure and then stepped up and through the pocket before taking off and picking up a first down.
A couple plays later, he layered an excellent throw over the top of a defender to hit fellow rookie Ja’Lynn Polk in stride for a big gain. (Granted, he had a significantly easier throw wide open right in front of him, but hey, if you can hit the big play, why not take it?)
Facing another third-and-long later in the drive, Maye slid to his left and lofted a pass to Demario Douglas on a crossing route. Again, the Pats picked up the first to move the chains.
And finally, Maye fired a strike on a quick hitch to running back Kevin Harris, who spun himself away from a defender and took it into the end zone for a touchdown. Maye finished the drive 5 of 6 for 71 yards and the score, while also rushing three times for 17 yards.
Zach Wilson drops a dime
Zach Wilson is one of the most-maligned quarterbacks in the NFL, but he’s having a nice showing in the Broncos’ preseason finale. As of this writing late in the fourth quarter, Wilson is 16 of 25 for 251 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and he also has a rushing touchdown. The most recent score came courtesy of this beauty of a deep ball down the right sideline to Brandon Johnson.
Wilson remains the third-string quarterback in Denver, but you’ve got to give him his props for this one.
Samson Nacua ALMOST pulls off kick six
The older brother of Puka Nacua almost pulled off an absurd kick six right before halftime of the Saints’ preseason finale against the Titans, going 106 yards before tight end Thomas Odukoya knocked him out at the 3-yard line!
Spencer Rattler drops it in the bucket
The rookie quarterback out of South Carolina has impressed through his first preseason, and he continued to make plays on Sunday by throwing a perfect touchdown pass to Equanimeous St. Brown.
Titans put together perfect first drive
Tennessee’s offensive starters look ready for the season opener, as Will Levis led his unit 84 yards down the field on nine plays, and Tony Pollard punched in the 1-yard score. Three of Levis’ four completions went for at least 13 yards, including this nice 22-yard completion to new Titan Tyler Boyd.
He could go all the way
Seahawks Dee Eskridge takes it to the house on a 79-yard punt return. The fourth-year Seahawks wide receiver and returner, along with the successful extra point, makes it 24-10 Seattle in their preseason finale.
Browns find the end zone
Under pressure, and getting hit immediately after the throw, Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson finds wide receiver Jamari Thrash for 46 yards and a touchdown, capping off a 70-yard drive. The Browns first TD of the night cut the Seahawks lead to 14-10.
Can’t catch Kenny
Seahawks running back Kenny McIntosh took the handoff from quarterback Sam Howell and took off. He found a hole, fought off defenders and took it 56 yards to the end zone. This is the former seventh-round pick’s second year in the league, and with the Seahawks.
The TD put the Hawks up 14-3.
Sideline catch counts
Jets wide receiver Brandon Smith with the catch and, most importantly, two feet in bounds. Quarterback Andrew Peasley threw a dime to Smith down the far sideline just ahead of the two-minute warning on the first play of the drive. After the catch, Giants players were motioning that he was out of bounds, but Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, who had a front row seat of the action, was adamant he was in bounds. Rodgers was right and the 39-yard play stood.
The reception helped the Jets set up a field goal try, but the 47-yarder from Greg Zuerlein was no good.
Jiles shows off
Defense in his path? That’s no problem for Giants wide receiver John Jiles, who made his first catch of the night count. After quarterback Tommy DeVito found him on the first play of the drive, Jiles jumped over Jets cornerback Shemar Bartholomew to extend the play and impress his sideline with the 21-yard play.
The series ended in a punt.
Izzy makes Giants dizzy
Jets running back Israel Abanikanda did his best Barry Sanders impression on this 45-yard touchdown run that saw him muscle through several would-be tacklers before turning on the jets (pun intended. Abanikanda, who broke Tony Dorsett’s 47-year-old single game school rushing record during his final eyar at Pitt, is hoping to land a bigger role in the offense after getting just 22 carries during his rookie campaign.
Lance lights it up
Cowboys backup quarterback Trey Lance continue his solid preseason with a nifty 11-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Flournoy. He later had a 46-yard run that saw him find space on the outside before getting into high gear.
In last week’s matchup with the Raiders, Lance went 15 of 23 with two total touchdowns. He started slow but finished strong in Dallas’ preseason opener against the Rams two weeks ago.
Stick ’em
Chargers quarterback Easton Stick and wideout Simi Fehoko teamed up on an impressive 78-yard touchdown pass against the Cowboys. While the score was certainly an exciting play for Chargers fans, it also reinforced Dallas’ current depth issues in the secondary. Shortly prior to the Chargers’ big touchdowns, news broke that Cowboys All-Pro DaRon Bland will be out 6-8 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot.
Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper
Vikings running back DeWayne McBride had an unfortunate encounter with Eagles second-round pick Cooper DeJean late in the third quarter. DeJean made his NFL debut on Saturday after battling through a hamstring this offseason.
DeJean’s versatility, one of his strengths as a football player, actually created some uncertainty regarding his draft stock. Those questions have never been a concern for DeJean, though, who is looking to help the Eagles win in any way possible.
“Whatever position that is, I’m willing to do that,” DeJean told CBS Sports prior to April’s draft. “Obviously, I played corner most of my college career, but I feel like there’s multiple positions in a defense that I can play. I just want to trust the coaches that have been doing it for a long time and try to make an impact wherever they put me.”
Two generations of Frank Gores have now suited up for the Buffalo Bills. In the team’s preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers, undrafted running back Frank Gore Jr., son of the NFL’s third all-time leading rusher, got some extended run for Buffalo. That included this 17-yard gain in the second quarter, which had his father fired up. At halftime of this matchup, Frank Gore Jr. was up to 41 yards on the ground on seven rushes.
Packers strip sack returned for touchdown
One of the biggest defensive plays of the weekend came out of Lambeau Field. Packers defensive end Arron Mosby was able to get in the face of Ravens quarterback Devin Leary in the blink of an eye and force the strip sack, while safety Anthony Johnson Jr. scooped the ball up for a 24-yard touchdown return. Naturally, the score had to end with a Lambeau leap.
Ravens WR Wallace rips off 48-yard touchdown reception
Veteran wideout Tylan Wallace helped put Baltimore on the board in its preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers. Early in the second quarter, Josh Johnson took a third-and-nine snap and threw the ball to a wide-open Wallace over the middle of the field and took it 48 yards to the house.
The Panthers second-year quarterback looks primed for a bounce-back season. In Carolina’s preseason finale against the Bills, Young flashed the talent that made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. The Alabama product was able to escape pressure by running out of the pocket, rolling to his left and threw a dart to his receiver down the field to move the chains.
Patterson gallops for 31-yard touchdown
The 33-year-old still has some giddy up! While the attention is being paid largely to Pittsburgh’s quarterback battle, Cordarrelle Patterson showed he can still be a factor out of the backfield breaking off a 31-yard touchdown run to give the Steelers and early lead.
The Steelers are still trying to figure out who’ll be their Week 1 starter heading into their preseason finale and Russell Wilson made an early case why he should remain under center. The veteran got the nod to begin the exhibition and flashed his deep ball ability out of the shoot. On the opening drive of the afternoon, Wilson found wideout George Pickens for a 32-yard gain just along the left sideline.
Deebo being Deebo, Kittle being Kittle
The 49ers surprisingly sent their starters out there for the preseason finale against the Raiders, and they very quickly made a splash. On the first play of the game, Brock Purdy lofted a throw up the sideline for Deebo Samuel (now wearing No. 1 instead of his familiar No. 19, by the way), who did some fancy footwork to come down with the ball for a 27-yard gain.
The drive eventually stalled out and resulted in a field goal by Jake Moody, but it was good to see the offense create an explosive play early on. On the next drive, the other 49ers pass-catcher who starred in Netflix’s “Receiver” series made a huge grab of his own.
That’s a pretty dangerous throw by Purdy, but George Kittle made it work. The ball came over the top of one defender and dropped down just in front of another, with Kittle going up between them and making the snag for a big gain. The drive eventually ended with Jordan Mason running it in from 4 yards out.
The one who knocks
Skylar Thompson got the Dolphins on the board with a nifty 20-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Rucci. The touchdown pass was Thompson’s fifth completion in as many attempts.
Very few passes touched the ground during the first 28 minutes of Friday night’s game. Thompson and Mike White went a combined 10 of 14 passing, while Buccaneers quarterbacks Kyle Trask and Baker Mayfield went 14 of 17.
Baker’s got the goods
Baker Mayfield was 3 of 3 for 54 yards on Tampa’s opening drive against Miami. The drive’s big play was Mayfield’s 28-yard completion to Jalen McMillan that set up Rachaad White’s short touchdown run on the next play.
Trevor Lawrence closes out preseason with two scoring drives
The Jaguars are one of the few NFL teams actually playing their starters this week, and they didn’t take long to get to work against the Falcons’ second-string defense. Travis Etienne ripped off a long run early on their first drive, then Trevor Lawrence found rookie Brian Thomas Jr. over the middle for a 38-yard gain to get Jacksonville into scoring position.
Along with a roughing-the-passer penalty, those two plays and another completion to Parker Washington gave Jacksonville a goal-to-go opportunity, and Lawrence capitalized by hitting Evan Engram in the back of the end zone for a score. He went 4 of 4 for 59 yards on the drive, while Etienne had four carries for 28 yards.
Lawrence connected with Engram for six on the Jaguars’ next drive as well, finding him on a corner route from the slot. Engram put an absolutely nasty move on Falcons cornerback Anthony Johnson and got himself wide the heck open on the play. Lawrence finished his night 8 of 10 for 92 yards and two scores.
In the fourth quarter of the final preseason game, folks are simply looking to put good film on tape for the road ahead of making their current team’s roster or some other across the league. Ian Book and Montrell Washington did just that. On a second-and-6 play from their own 41-yard line, Book uncorked a deep ball up the middle of the field, which Washington was able to haul in despite two defenders between him.
That reception put the Chiefs on the doorstep of the end zone, which they found on the very next play as Book connected with tight end Baylor Cupp for the 10-yard score.
Carson Steele continues to shine for Chiefs
The Chiefs may have found a gem in undrafted running back Carson Steele. Throughout the preseason, the UCLA product has popped, and that continued in the finale against the Bears. In the second quarter, Steele was able to rip off a 31-yard gain that initially looked like he reached the end zone. However, after review, it was deemed he was down just short, but Andy Reid swiftly gave him the ball on the ensuing play, which he turned into a goal-line touchdown.
Richardson’s sharp opening drive ends with TD
Anthony Richardson sure looked like a former top-five pick at the NFL Draft to begin the game. In Indianapolis’ preseason finale against the Bengals on Thursday night, Richardson was dialed in out of the gate. The second-year quarterback completed seven of his eight passes on the drive for 65 yards, including a nine-yard touchdown to pass to rookie wideout Adonai Mitchell. Facing pressure, Richardson was able to zip a pass over the middle and Mitchell fought his way over the goal line.
Colts pass rusher Laiatu Latu flashes DROY potential
Indianapolis’ rookie class could be something special as soon as Year 1. The first defensive player off the board at the 2024 NFL Draft, Laiatu Latu flashed his potential early in the Colts preseason finale against the Bengals, beating the left tackle with relative ease to sack Logan Woodside. Latu is the favorite to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and it’s no surprise as to why after seeing that play.
