Still cooking
Former OU quarterback Baker Mayfield made his National Football League debut for the Cleveland Browns Thursday night and threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns.
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 night in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Replacing starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor late in the first quarter, Mayfield hit 11 of 20 passes for 212 yards, two touchdowns, and converted two fourthdown plays with his feet.
The Heisman Trophy winner who was the 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 finished his debut with a completion on a 54-yard slant and run to fellow rookie Antonio Callaway.
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 touchdown pass to Njoku, a New Jersey native.
Barkley, the No. 2 pick, 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 finished with 43 yards on five carries.
Steelers 31, Eagles 14
Landry Jones and Josh Dobbs each tossed touchdown passes and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Philadelphia Eagles 31-14 Thursday night in the preseason opener.
The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles rested several starters, including quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Nick Foles. Nate Sudfeld threw a pair of touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown sat for the Steelers and Le'Veon Bell still hasn't signed his franchise tender.
Jones completed all four of his passes for 83 yards, including a 71-yard TD pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the first quarter. Smith-Schuster made a leaping catch over Rasul Douglas at the 33 and ran untouched to the end zone.
Mason Rudolph, a thirdround pick competing with Jones and Dobbs for the backup job to Roethlisberger, was 7 of 12 for 101 yards. James Washington had two catches for 44 yards.
Bengals 30, Bears 27
Andy Dalton made a solid debut in Cincinnati's revamped offense, throwing for a pair of touchdowns as the Bengals beat the Chicago Bears 30-27 on Thursday night.
Dalton went 6 of 8 for 103 yards, completing four passes of at least 20 yards. He also had an interception that wasn't his fault — John Ross fell on his route and Kyle Fuller returned the pickoff 47 yards to the end zone.
The Bengals are hoping that Ross and running back Joe Mixon — their top two picks last season — emerge in the redesigned offense during their second seasons.
Ross had a 20-yard catch. Mixon — moved into the starring role with Jeremy Hill gone — made the game's most impressive play. He caught a short pass, stiffarmed one defender and spun away from another for a 24-yard touchdown.
Buccaneers 26, Dolphins 24
Ryan Tannehill completed passes on the first four plays in his return from two serious injuries to his left knee, sparking a 40-yard drive that ended with a missed field goal in his only series, and the Miami Dolphins lost their exhibition opener to Tampa Bay 26-24 Thursday night.
Tannehill, seeing his first action since December 2016, was off-target on his final two throws and finished 4 for 6 for 32 yards.
New Buccaneers kicker Chandler Catanzaro made a 26-yard field goal with 23 seconds left to cap a 67-yard drive and give them the win.
Saints 24, Jaguars 20
Blake Bortles completed 6 of 9 passes for 53 yards and scored on a short bootleg in Jacksonville's 24-20 loss to New Orleans in the exhibition opener for both teams Thursday night.
Playing without two starting offensive linemen — left guard Andrew Norwell (calf) and right tackle Jermey Parnell (precaution) — Bortles led the Jaguars on a 15-play, 79-yard drive to open the game. He converted both third-down passes he faced and finished off the series by going untouched around the right side.
Saints star Drew Brees got the night off, allowing backup Tom Savage to play the first half. Savage completed 10 of 14 passes for 70 yards.
Mark Ingram, suspended the first four games of the regular season for violating NFL policy on performance enhancers, carried seven times for 23 yards and a touchdown.
Panthers 28, Bills 23
Buffalo Bills receiver Kelvin Benjamin's feud with former teammate Panthers quarterback Cam Newton continued before and during Carolina's preseasonopening 28-23 win against Buffalo on Thursday night.
First, the two exchanged words on the field about 90 minutes before kickoff. Then they each played key roles in touchdowns drives in the first quarter.
Benjamin caught four passes for 59 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown reception from Nathan Peterman on Buffalo's first possession. Benjamin scored by beating former Bills cornerback Kevon Seymour off the line, and was open when catching the pass at the 2 up the left sideline.
Newton responded on the next possession, completing 4 of 5 attempts for 67 yards as part of an 85-yard drive capped by Christian McCaffrey's 2-yard run.