Peterson solid in debut ROUNDUP
Adrian Peterson showed Washington what it needed to see in his debut, rushing for 56 yards on 11 carries in a 29-17 loss to the visiting Denver Broncos on Friday night.
Peterson carried the ball seven consecutive plays on one possession, and the 2012 MVP later picked up 15 yards on 4th-and-1 in the third preseason game for both teams. Washington had signed Peterson, 33, on Monday after injuries to three running backs.
After only three practices, Peterson appears to have likely earned the starting job Week 1 at Arizona.
The Washington defense, though, was carved up by Case Keenum and Denver’s firstteam offense. Keenum was 12-for-18 passing for 148 yards. Dual-threat Broncos receiver Emmanuel Sanders was responsible for all 75 of Denver’s yards on its second touchdown drive, catching passes of 15 and 33 yards and scoring on a 27yard end around.
Washington quarterback Alex Smith was an unimpressive 3-for-8 passing for 33 yards in four series. Panthers 25, Patriots 14: On the game’s opening drive, Cam Newton scrambled out of the pocket on 3rd-and-9 before diving headfirst and landing on his head after getting upended by cornerback Jonathan Jones. Newton was forced to leave the game to be evaluated for a concussion, but he returned four plays later to a loud ovation and played the remainder of the first half. He finished 11-for-17 passing for 142 yards.
Stanford alum Christian McCaffrey continued to be a major player on offense, touching the ball 10 times for 51 yards on Carolina’s opening drive, which lasted nearly 10 minutes. Vikings 21, Seahawks 20: Kirk Cousins passed for 182 yards in the first half and thirdstringer Kyle Sloter threw for two fourth-quarter touchdowns as host Minnesota rallied late.
Former Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski booted field goals from 35 and 55 yards in the first half for Seattle, which kept its starters in past halftime. Russell Wilson led one scoring drive and finished 11-for-21 passing for 118 yards. Giants 22, Jets 16: Sam Darnold led the Jets on two touchdown drives, moving closer to securing the starting quarterback job in a loss to the Giants at the Meadowlands. The No. 3 overall draft pick made his second consecutive start and completed 8 of 16 passes for 86 yards — including a 12-yard touchdown throw to Terrelle Pryor. Giants starting tight end Evan Engram left the game with a concussion in the second quarter. Lions 33, Buccaneers 30: Brandon Powell scored on an 80-yard punt return and Jake Rudock threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Lucas with 30 seconds remaining as visiting Detroit rallied from a 21-point third-quarter deficit. Taylor good to go: Browns starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor is not expected to miss any time after dislocating his left pinkie and bruising his hand in Thursday’s win over Philadelphia. Taylor landed awkwardly while falling out of bounds in the first quarter and grabbed his non-throwing hand and ran to the sideline. He was treated in the locker room and returned to the game. Briefly: The Jets signed running back Charcandrick West, who was waived by the Chiefs on Wednesday after four seasons in Kansas City . ... The Colts signed cornerback Juante Baldwin and placed quarterback Brad Kaaya on the waived-injured list.