Although the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills officially got the NFL season underway on Sunday night when the Giants defeated the Bills 17-13 in the Hall of Fame, the official start of the preseason for the rest of the league began on Thursday night.
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There are six matchups on Thursday night, headlined by rematches of the last two Super Bowls. The Baltimore Ravens are taking on the San Francisco 49ers in a battle between brothers John and Jim Harbaugh while the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks will do battle later in the evening. The Seahawks, of course, won the Super Bowl just six months ago while the Ravens won the year prior.
In another matchup, the Washington Redskins are playing host to the New England Patriots. The two teams have practiced together all week and that has gotten quite a bit of press. The two teams are led by headline-making quarterbacks, third-year pro Robert Griffin III for the Redskins and the legendary Tom Brady for the Patriots. However, we didn’t see much of them on Thursday. Griffin III threw just four passes before he was lifted in favor of Kirk Cousins. Taking a starter out that early in the first preseason game is no surprise.
Brady, on the other hand, didn’t play at all and Ryan Mallett got the start. Mallett struggled early and suffered one of the most embarrassing plays of his career on an attempted slide in the first half. You can see his slide below.
Mallett has thrown four passes, completing one, in his career.