Fromm sparks Bills’ comeback
DETROIT — Josh Allen rested and Mitchell Trubisky barely played in the Buffalo Bills’ preseason opener, giving Davis Webb and Jake Fromm extended opportunities to show what they could do.
Fromm threw a 42-yard, fourth-down pass to rookie Marquez Stevenson to set up Tyler Bass’ 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in Buffalo’s 16-15 victory over the Detroit Lions on Friday night.
Fromm, Buffalo’s fifthround pick in 2020, spent all of last year as the team’s covid-19 emergency quarterback. He was forced into self-isolation and had to work out mostly on his own all season.
“Last year, it was was hard to make those gamelike scenarios,” he acknowledged. “That’s why it feels awesome for me.”
Davis Webb threw a 6-yard, tiebreaking touchdown pass to Devin Singletary late in the second quarter. Webb is vying with Fromm to be Buffalo’s third-string quarterback.
The Bills, coming off their first AFC East title since 1995 and longest playoff run in 27 years, clearly want to keep key players healthy for Week 1 in just under a month.
“We only have three of these [preseason] games to evaluate players we don’t know as much about,” Buffalo Coach Sean McDermott said.
Webb was 11 of 16 for 90 yards and ran twice for 26 yards.
Fromm entered in the fourth quarter and finished 8 of 13 for 65 yards, playing for the first time since the 2019 season at Georgia.
“The thing with Jake is, he has been there before,” McDermott said. “He’s been in big games before, those moments.”
Jared Goff got off to a rough start in his and Coach Dan Campbell’s debut with the Lions, nearly throwing an interception on his first snap and getting sacked to end the game-opening drive with a thud.
The former Los Angeles Rams quarterback, acquired as part of the Matthew Stafford trade, bounced back with seven straight completions. He finished 7 of 9 for 56 yards and had a 4-yard run to set up Randy Bullock’s 28-yard field goal that ended an 18-play, 70yard drive that took almost 10 minutes off the clock.
“As good as that is, if you’re going to possess it that long, you need to come away with a touchdown,” Campbell said. “But it was encouraging to see those big boys up front just go to work, and Goff manage the football and march us down the field.”
Bass made 50- and 37-yard field goals to help Buffalo lead 13-3 at halftime.
TITANS 23, FALCONS 3
ATLANTA — Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley each threw touchdown passes to open Tennessee’s backup quarterback competition, and the Titans beat Atlanta in the preseason opener for both teams.
The Titans held Atlanta to 139 yards and six first downs in the debut for Falcons Coach Arthur Smith, Tennessee’s former offensive coordinator.
Woodside started and threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Cameron Batson in the second quarter. Woodside completed 10 of 15 passes for 84 yards.
Barkley had third-down completions of 14 and 15 yards to Mason Kinsey on a field goal drive early in the second half. Barkley’s 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Miller Forristall in the fourth quarter completed the scoring.
Barkley completed 5 of 8 passes for 54 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception, though Woodside was sacked three times.
Each team held out its key playmakers. Atlanta rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, the No. 4 overall selection in the NFL Draft, was in uniform but did not play.
Feleipe Franks (Arkansas Razorbacks) completed 2 of 10 passes for 9 yards for Atlanta, but he rushed for a gamehigh 75 yards on 5 carries, including a 52-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Franks had back-to-back runs of 11 and 10 yards to help set up Younghoe Koo’s 42-yard field goal to open the second half.
It was a unique debut for Smith. His first game as coach came against Tennessee, where he worked for 10 years as an assistant, including the last two leading the offense.
Smith said this week he was glad to be playing the Titans in a preseason game as he tries to learn more about his new team.
“It’s a good evaluation for us because I know what we’re up against,” Smith said.