Preseason recap: a few real blowouts, one more weekend before it counts
Last weekend's slate had some ugly final scores if you're a Saints or Steelers fan. This weekend closes out the preseason, and then the guys who played the whole fourth quarter are unemployed.
What actually happened last weekend
Sixteen games, and a handful of them weren't close. Here's every score from Aug 21-24:
- Raiders 22, Texans 20
- 49ers 41, Chargers 17 - not a typo, San Francisco's backups just went off
- Jets 17, Steelers 0 - Pittsburgh got shut out, which is never a good look heading into cuts
- Panthers 34, Jaguars 17
- Packers 33, Broncos 13
- Lions 17, Commanders 13
- Bills 31, Browns 7
- Falcons 34, Colts 6
- Ravens 13, Vikings 3
- Rams 34, Saints 0 - the Saints managed zero points across four quarters against a team also resting its guys
- Giants 26, Dolphins 3
- Bengals 27, Bears 9
- Patriots 24, Eagles 21 - actually competitive, for once
- Buccaneers 16, Chiefs 15 - one-point game, about as tight as preseason gets
- Cowboys 34, Cardinals 13
- Titans 19, Seahawks 16
Take all of it with a grain of salt - these scores are backups against backups, and they mean approximately nothing for September. But somebody's fighting for the 53rd roster spot in every one of those games, and for them, this is the whole season.
The last preseason weekend: August 27-29
This is it - the getaway game, the one where starters barely see the field and the roster bubble gets decided. Full slate:
- Thursday, Aug 27: Steelers at Bills (7:00 PM ET, NFL Network) · Patriots at Browns (8:00 PM ET, Prime Video) · 49ers at Raiders (8:00 PM ET) · Rams at Chargers (10:00 PM ET)
- Friday, Aug 28: Commanders at Ravens (6:00 PM ET) · Falcons at Dolphins, Texans at Panthers (7:00 PM ET) · Giants at Jets, Buccaneers at Jaguars (7:30 PM ET) · Saints at Cowboys, Cardinals at Packers, Seahawks at Chiefs, Bengals at Eagles (8:00 PM ET) · Vikings at Broncos (9:00 PM ET)
- Saturday, Aug 29: Lions at Colts (1:00 PM ET) · Bears at Titans (6:00 PM ET)
Bengals-Eagles is the one game that landed on actual national TV (CBS); everything else is NFL Network or local affiliates, which tells you how much anyone expects from this weekend on the field. Watch it anyway if you've got a rookie or a camp-battle guy you're rooting for - this is their last chance to put something on tape before the 53-man deadline.
Then it's cutdown day
Once this weekend wraps, every team has to get down to 53 players. No more games, just a flood of roster moves - cuts, waiver claims, practice squad signings - while the real schedule gets finalized. Once Week 1 kicks off, it'll show up automatically on the NFL page with kickoff times in your own timezone and TV assignments as they're confirmed.