NFL.com breaks down what you need to know from Week 2 of the 2021 ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íøpreseason. Catch up on each game's biggest takeaways using the links below:
Washington Football Team 17, Cincinnati Bengals 13
1) Antonio Gibson is going to be a star. The second-year running back is clearly the lead man in Washington and showed flashes of his explosive, hard-running style that will gain him plenty of yards in 2021. Of Gibson's seven rushing attempts Friday night, five finished as successful runs (5 yards on first-and-10, 3 yards on second down, etc.). He exited averaging four yards per carry and added a pair of receptions to bring his all-purpose total close to 50 yards on just nine touches. It's impossible to not like what you see out of Gibson. Washington has one of the more intriguing backfields with Gibson as the lead man, Peyton Barber behind him and UDFA (and former Mid-American Conference hero) Jaret Patterson, who ripped off an explosive run in the second quarter and had a night filled with explosive plays. Keep an eye on them.
2) The Bengals need to clean things up offensively. This one wasn't the easiest to gauge because Cincinnati was without Joe Burrow and was facing a defensive front that's renowned for being a nightmare for most opposing offenses. Having said that, the Bengals need to be sharper. Ja'Marr Chase struggled to haul in passes from Brandon Allen on three different occasions, with at least two of them looking more like drops than anything, and he was far from the only receiver who dropped his targets. Joe Mixon looked strong, but the Bengals' line wasn't regular-season reliable. The playmakers are enticing; they just need reps.
¹ú²úÍâÁ÷ÍøResearch: Patterson is the first Washington player with 150-plus scrimmage yards and a TD in the preseason since Mack Brown and Rob Kelley in 2016.
Kansas City Chiefs 17, Arizona Cardinals 10
1) Kyler Murray looks fully healthy, which is great news! The Cardinals saw their 2020 season fizzle down the stretch due largely to a hobbled Murray, whose escapability was hampered enough to undercut Arizona's offense. He looked back to normal -- which is often electric -- on Friday, and while the Cardinals have a decent amount of rust to shake off before Week 1, they're already ahead of where they finished last season.
2) The Chiefs' offensive line will be a work in progress. The prospect of lining up three rookie starters on the right side is daunting to anyone who values experience, but it's a scenario that is very possible for the Chiefs at this point. They're not terrible, and they're big enough to move masses of defenders around. They're just not all that clean or in sync yet. There was some leakage when dropping to protect Patrick Mahomes on Friday, leading to him being flushed out of the pocket and resulting in an interception in the end zone. As is the case with most every team in the preseason, there's rust to shake off (just look at Mahomes' stat line). For this group of blockers, there's a rapport to build, too.
¹ú²úÍâÁ÷ÍøResearch: Mahomes' 20 preseason pass attempts thus far are the second most by a Super Bowl-losing quarterback over the last five seasons. The only QB with more was Tom Brady (44) in 2018 after losing in Super Bowl LII to the Eagles.
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