Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Steelers rally to win
Dwayne Haskins continued his push for the backup quarterback spot, throwing for 161 yards and a touchdown to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 24-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday.
NEW ENGLAND 22, WASHINGTON 13
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson had two touchdown runs, including a 91-yard score with just over a minute to play to help the New England Patriots beat Washington 22-13 to open the exhibition season for both teams Thursday night.
Quinn Nordin had three field goals for the Patriots, including a 50-yarder. Joejuan Williams had the play of the night for the New England’s defense, picking off Steven Montez early in the fourth quarter to set up Stevenson’s first TD. Stevenson finished with 10 carries for 127 yards.
“Fundamentally I thought we made some progress, but we’ve still got a long way to go,” Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said.
New England led 15-7 in the fourth quarter before Montez took Washington on a 15-play, 92-yard drive he capped with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Lamar Miller with 1:25 left.
Montez appeared to complete a two-point conversion pass to Antonio Gandy-Golden. But a booth review overturned the call. Stevenson then got free down the sideline on the third play of New England’s ensuing series to put away the game.
All eyes were on the quarterback position for New England, with Cam Newton entering training camp looking to rebound from a disappointing 2020 campaign and cement his spot as the starter after the Patriots used a firstround draft pick on Mac Jones.
Belichick has said Newton is his starter. But it was Jones
who had the better preseason debut. The rookie completed 13 of 19 passes for 87 yards in five series, spreading the ball around with confidence after he took over for Newton late in the first quarter.
Newton, who shared a field with Washington Coach Ron Rivera for the first time since they were together in Carolina from 2011-2019, played the opening two series and finished 4 of 7 for 49 yards.
“(Jones) came to me and we talked it out about just his expectations,” Newton said. “He wants to be so perfect and I see his preparation is always pristine and that’s what I admire about him. … For him and today’s performance he’s just going to keep getting better. And we’re gonna be here for each other along this whole process and that’s what we’re here for.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick had a short night in his debut for Washington, playing just two series before Rivera went to Taylor Heinicke. Fitzpatrick made the most of his limited work, going 5 of 8 for 58 yards. It included a 22-yard pass to Terry McLaurin on the second
play of the game and a 24-yarder to Logan Thomas during Washington’s second series.
Heinicke was 9 of 15 for 86 yards. Peyton Barber had a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Result aside, Rivera was pleased with his team’s first outing of the season.
“I like what we got from our first offensive line. It looks like Logan is picking up where he left off,” Rivera said. “The running game seemed to click pretty well. There were a lot of things we’re gonna be feeling good about.”
STEELERS 24, EAGLES 16
PHILADELPHIA — Dwayne Haskins continued his push for the backup quarterback spot, throwing for 161 yards and a touchdown to lead Pittsburgh over Philadelphia.
Ben Roethlisberger sat out Pittsburgh’s second preseason game. Mason Rudolph has been the team’s backup for the past three seasons and just may keep that job. Haskins, though, is giving Rudolph a bit of a push in his attempt at winning the backup spot.
Haskins threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Johnson. Pittsburgh also got a 1-yard scoring run by Anthony McFarland.
Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni made his debut on the sideline, replacing Doug Pederson.
Pederson was fired in January, less than three years after he led the Eagles to the franchise’s only Super Bowl title.
Sirianni turned 40 in June and is Philadelphia’s youngest head coach since Dick Vermeil in 1976. This was his first game in charge at any level.
He has a young QB leading the way in Philly. Jalen Hurts played two series and was a modest 3 of 7 for 54 yards. He hit tight end Zach Ertz over the middle for 34 yards and had receivers drop passes on his next two attempts.
Hurts, a second-round draft pick last year, was 1-3 with an injury-depleted team that finished 4-11-1. He completed 52% of his passes for 1,061 yards and 6 touchdowns with 4 interceptions. He also ran for 354 yards and three TDs.
Hurts has not officially been made the starter, even though he took every firstteam snap in practice and got the preseason start.
Joe Flacco, who threw 25 touchdown passes against the Steelers in his 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, hit Quez Watkins for a 79-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Flacco, signed to play behind Hurts, was 10 of 17 for 178 yards and the touchdown.
Jake Elliott kicked two 47-yard field goals and a 50-yarder for the Eagles.
Nick Mullens, Philadelphia’s third QB, had a pass picked off by Justin Layne in the third quarter. Jaylen Samuels scored from 1-yard to give the Steelers a 21-16 lead.