Top picks in top form as Browns win

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Baker Mayfield and Saquon Barkley lived up to early expectations as the top two picks in the NFL draft in their first action as the Cleveland Browns beat the New York Giants 20-10 on Thursday.

Replacing starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor late in the first quarter, Mayfield hit 11 of 20 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and he converted two fourth-down plays with his feet.

The Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick found tight end David Njoku on a 10-yard TD pass to cap a 14-play, 72-yard drive on his second series. He capped his debut with a completion on a 54-yard slant and run to fellow rookie Antonio Callaway.

Barkley electrified the fans at Metlife Stadium, taking a handoff from Eli Manning on the opening play from scrimmage and turning no apparent hole into a 39-yard run down the sideline in front of the Giants’ bench. It set up a 42-yard field goal by Aldrick Rosas.

The Penn State running back totaled 43 yards on five carries.

Taylor, expected to be coach Hue Jackson’s starter as Mayfield learns this season, hit all five of his passes in two series, including a 36-yard TD pass to Njoku.

Atseattle, Andrew Luck was 6 of 9 passing for 64 yards in leading two Indianapolis field-goal drives in his first game action since the final week of 2016. Adam Vinatieri made field goals of 33, 51 and 45 yards for the Colts.

At Cincinnati, Andy Dalton was 6 of 8 passing for 103 yards and two touchdowns, completing four passes of at least 20 yards, for Cincinnati. Mitchell Trubisky was in for two series that netted minus-1 yards on eight plays for Chicago.

At Miami Gardens, Fla., Jameis Winston was 11 of 13 passing for 102 yards for Tampa Bay, which won on Chandler Catanzaro’s 26-yard field goal with 23 seconds left. Ryan Tannehill completed passes on his first four plays for Miami.

At Baltimore, Joe Flacco was 5 of 7 for 71 yards and a touchdown in his lone series for Baltimore before giving way to rookie Lamar Jackson, who led a 73-yard TD drive that included a 36-yard completion and his 9-yard scoring run.

At Philadelphia, Landry Jones completed all four of his passes for 83 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown to Juju Smith-schuster in the first quarter, and rookie Mason Rudolph was 7 of 12 for 101 yards for Pittsburgh.

At Orchard Park, N.Y., Kelvin Benjamin caught four passes for 59 yards, including a 28-yard TD from Nathan Peterman on Buffalo’s first possession. Cam Newton was 6 of 9 passing for 84 yards on two series for Carolina.

At Kansas City, Mo., Patrick Mahomes was 5 of 7 passing for 33 yards on two drives for Kansas City. Deshaun Watson, coming back from a torn ACL, threw one pass — a 4-yard completion — during his lone drive for Houston.

At

Green Bay, Wis., Marcus Mariota was 2 of 3 passing for 42 yards and a touchdown in one drive for Tennessee. Brett Hundley was 6 of 8 for 95 yards, including a 48-yard completion to Davante Adams, for Green Bay.

At Santa Clara, Calif., Dak Prescott completed all three of his passes for 39 yards, including a 30-yard TD to rookie Michael Gallup, for Dallas. Jimmy Garoppolo was 3 of 6 passing for 34 yards for San Francisco.

At Foxborough, Mass., Colt Mccoy was 13 of 18 passing for 189 yards and two touchdowns for Washington, which opened a 17-0 first-half lead. Brian Hoyer drove New England to two second-half touchdowns.

At Jacksonville, Fla., Blake Bortles was 6 of 9 passing for 53 yards and scored on a bootleg for Jacksonville. Tom Savage was 10 of 14 passing for 70 yards for New Orleans.

Colts 19, Seahawks 17 — Bengals 30, Bears 27 — Buccaneers 26, Dolphins 24 — Ravens 33, Rams 7 — Steelers 31, Eagles 14 — Panthers 28, Bills 23 — Texans 17, Chiefs 10 — Packers 31, Titans 17 — Cowboys 24, 49ers 21 — Patriots 26, Redskins 17 — Saints 24, Jaguars 20 —

Ever ask a question on a group text only to be ignored?

It’s an embarrassing feeling. You consider making new friends because it’s been 10 minutes and no one has acknowledged your “Mimosas Sunday?” text that was sent at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday.

I put myself out there last week when I asked Raider Nation on

Twitter to send me questions to kick off the Review-journal’s first Raiders mailbag.

For nearly 24 hours, the silver and black faithful left me on read.

Then Bay Area native Carlo Ammatuna rescued me from my lonely island with a thoughtful email.

Ammatuna mentioned how he developed a strong fandom for the Raiders at the age of 8 when the team returned to Oakland in 1995 after leaving Los Angeles.

He plans on continuing to cheer for the Raiders when they move to Las Vegas in 2020.

“No other football team could win me over and no other sports team could capture my attention quite in the same way that Al Davis’ Raiders could,” Ammatuna’s email read. “I’d put up with the losing, with a few negative experiences at the Coliseum and with the ever present rumors of leaving Oakland.

“Even through the talks of moving to Santa Clara, Carson and San Antonio, none of that mattered (as long) as the Raiders moved to the best option that would better the team and secure the greatness they always strived for.”

Raiders fans in Northern California can relate to Ammatuna. They’ll eventually have to decide, if they haven’t already, if the Raiders will remain their favorite team when the moving trucks arrive.

The location of the new home stadium will be nearly 600 miles away, but the team mantra and national aura should remain the same.

If you’re on the fence, wait until the Raiders play the Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum next week for a preseason game. The former home of the Raiders will probably be covered in black.

The Raiders left L.A. 24 years ago and still remain the city’s favorite NFL team, even with the Rams and Chargers recently moving into town.

It’s hard to give up on the Raiders.

New faces on special teams

The second email I received was a lot shorter and didn’t have a name, just a phone number with a 702 area code.

So we at least know he’s local, and he might have been stuck in a time machine.

“What is the latest information on Oakland kicker (Sebastian) Janikowski?” 702 local asked. “Still on the team? Traded? Retired? Other info?”

I hate to break the bad news, 702 local. Janikowski is now kicking for the Seahawks after the Raiders parted ways with the franchise’s all-time leading scorer in the spring.

Janikowski’s 18-year run with the Raiders was recently put into perspective.

Giorgio Tavecchio was the starting kicker for the Raiders in 2017. He’s no longer on the team after being cut last week.

Rookie Eddy Pineiro and veteran Mike Nugent are vying for the starting gig in 2018.

Specialteamswasonceanareaof stability for the Raiders when Janikowski and punter Shane Lechler were doing the kicking.

The Raiders drafted Janikowski in the first round and selected Lechler in the fifth round of the 2000 draft. The two were paired together for 13 seasons.

The Raiders potentially could have a rookie kicker-punter tandem again this season with Pineiro and punter Johnny Townsend.

“We kind of compare our game a lot to those guys, Janikowski and Lechler,” Townsend said Wednesday. “They’re two of the best to ever to do it, especially to wear the Raider brand. We try to model our game after them.”

Good or bad trade?

Miguel Zavala tweeted “Bad trade. What about (Seth) Roberts?”

He was referring to the draft day trade the Raiders executed in April to land wide receiver Martavis Bryant after giving up a third-round pick to the Steelers.

Bryant’s struggles to grasp Raiders coach Jon Gruden’s offense have been made public this training camp.

He also hasn’t received many snaps with the first-team offense.

That could change after Bryant made dazzling plays with Connor Cook throwing him passes Wednesday in a joint practice against the Lions, whom the Raiders face Friday in the preseason opener.

Roberts doesn’t seem like the candidate to take Bryant’s snaps if he can’t leave Gruden’s doghouse before the regular season arrives.

The Raiders have been impressed with Ryan Switzer, who also joined the Raiders this spring on a draft day trade.

At first, it seemed Switzer was going to be solely a return specialist. He can now be the starting slot receiver.

It’s too soon to grade the Bryant trade, but the Raiders might have insurance with their other trade.

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Gmanzano24 on Twitter.