Welcome to Week 3 of the NFL preseason, otherwise known as the one week of the preseason that you might actually want to pay attention to. 

For most teams, the third week of the preseason is a dress rehearsal, with starters playing well into the second half for the first time this year. However, for a few teams, there will be no more rehearsing, as the starters will be spending the game on the bench. That will be the case in Oakland, where Aaron Rodgers isn't expected to play against the Raiders. 

One of the most intriguing games on Friday's docket is a Big Apple showdown between the Giants and Jets. The Jets are still trying to figure out who their starting quarterback is going to be in 2018, and it sounds like they're going to let Sam Darnold try and earn the job against the Giants. The rookie quarterback is expected play the entire first half at MetLife Stadium. 

There will be a total of six games on Friday, and let's hope they'll be more exciting than the Browns rousing 5-0 win over the Eagles on Thursday. For updates, highlights and scores from Friday's games, just keep scrolling. 

Scores, schedule

Thursday
Cleveland 5, Philadelphia 0 (box score)

Friday
Denver 29, Washington 17  (box score)
Carolina 25, New England 14 (box score)
N.Y. Giants 22, N.Y. Jets 16 (box score)
Detroit 33, Tampa Bay 30 (box score)
Minnesota 21, Seattle 20 (box score) 
Oakland 13, Green Bay 6 (box score)

Saturday
Kansas City at Chicago, 1 p.m. ET, NFL Network (GameTracker)
Houston at L.A. Rams, 4 p.m. ET (GameTracker)
Tennessee at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. ET, NFL Network (GameTracker)
San Francisco at Indianapolis, 4:30 p.m. ET (GameTracker)
Atlanta at Jacksonville, 7 p.m. ET (GameTracker)
Baltimore at Miami, 7 p.m. ET (GameTracker)
New Orleans at L.A. Chargers, 8 p.m. ET, CBS (GameTracker)

Sunday
Cincinnati at Buffalo, 4 p.m. ET, FOX (GameTracker)
Arizona at Dallas, 8 p.m. ET (GameTracker)

Adrian Peterson bulldozes Broncos in Redskins' debut 

Redskins coach Jay Gruden promised this week that Adrian Peterson would see some serious action against the Broncos and he wasn't kidding. Although the Redskins passing game was almost completely shut down by Denver in the first half, the Broncos didn't have any answers for Peterson, who bulldozed everyone who dared to get in his path on Friday. 

After that first carry went for seven yards, Peterson would tack on another run a few plays later that would go for 15 yards. Overall, the Redskins new running back carried the ball 11 times for 56 yards in the first half. Here's a look at 11 of Peterson's runs. 

Of course, the downside to all of this for Washington is that a guy who's only been on the team for three days (Peterson) looked better than everyone else on the Redskins' offense. Alex Smith went 3 of 8 for 33 yards before being pulled midway through the second quarter of a game the Redskins ended up losing 29-17.

Packers-Raiders turns into backup quarterback bowl

Someone forgot to tell the Packers that the third week of the preseason is supposed to be a dress rehearsal. Instead of sending Aaron Rodgers out on Friday, the Packers decided to keep him on the bench.  

On the Raiders' end, Derek Carr didn't see much more action than Rodgers: He was only on the field for one possession. Although that one possession did give us one of the most exciting plays of the game in the form of a 49-yard pass from Carr to Amari Cooper. 

That was one of the two passes that Carr completed in the game. The Raiders quarterback finished 2-for-3 for 68 yards. With Carr and Rodgers both on the bench, that turned Friday's late night game into the backup quarterback bowl. 

For Green Bay, it was a chance for DeShone Kizer and Brett Hundley to duke it out for the backup spot behind Rodgers. If the Packers had to make the decision based on this game alone, well, that would be impossible, because both quarterbacks were equally average. Hundley (8 of 14, 78 yards) played the entire first half and didn't lead a single touchdown drive, although he did lead one field-goal drive. On the other hand, Kizer (8 of 18, 93 yards) played the entire second half and also didn't lead a touchdown drive. Kizer's performance was definitely more disappointing, and that's because he was playing late in the game against a lot of defensive players who probably won't make the Raiders roster. 

As for the Raiders, if they learned one thing from Friday's game, it's probably that they should still be looking for a backup quarterback. EJ Manuel and Connor Cook both struggled during their time on the field, with each quarterback turning it over once. Cook's numbers were especially ugly (6 of 15, 72 yards) and it was pretty clear that Jon Gruden was unhappy with his quarterback's performance. The Raiders coach was shown multiple times giving Cook an earful. Maybe the Raiders should trade for Teddy Bridgewater. 

Panthers hold their breath after Cam Newton headfirst crash

The last thing any team wants to see in the preseason is their starting quarterback going down with an injury, but that's almost something the Panthers had to deal with on Friday. On Carolina's opening possession of the game, the Panthers were facing a third-and-9 and that's when Cam Newton sent everyone at Bank of America Stadium into a full blown panic. On the play, Newton decided to scramble for the first down and when he got tackled, he came down square on his head. 

Here's what it looks like when you land square on your head. 

Fortunately for the Panthers, Newton didn't injure his neck or suffer a concussion. However, he did leave the stadium with a black eye because his helmet slid sideways and slammed his eye on the play. The headfirst flip didn't seem to bother Newton very much though, as he finished 11 of 17 for 142 yards. 

Besides Newton's health, the other fascinating thing about this game for the Panthers offense was the play of Christian McCaffrey. Back in July, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said he wanted to see McCaffrey get 25-30 touches per game this year, which seemed like an absurdly high number at the time, and that's mainly because it was more than double the output that McCaffrey had in 2017. However, that number now seems more reasonable after watching how the Panthers used McCaffrey against the Patriots.

As a matter of fact, McCaffrey got one-third of the way to 30 touches on the Panthers' opening possession alone. The Panthers started off the game with a 16-play, 77-yard drive and McCaffrey accounted for 51 of those yards thanks to 10 touches (nine runs, one catch). After watching McCaffrey go wild against New England, it's now easy to see how he could end up getting 30 touches. The second-year running back, who only played one half, ended up with 14 touches against the Patriots for 64 yards. 

Lions-Buccaneers game goes bonkers

If the NFL decides to hand out an award for wildest preseason game of 2018, this one would be a strong contender. The Lions 33-30 win over the Buccaneers had everything: Not only was there a one-hour rain delay, but we also saw a 109-yard kick six, an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown and comeback win by the Lions, who once trailed 27-6. 

Of course, the biggest news out of this game is probably the fact that Matt Patricia's defense still seems to be struggling. Although Patricia was viewed as a defensive genius in New England, that doesn't seem to be translating in Detroit. On the opening series of the game, Ryan Fitzpatrick marched the Buccaneers 66 yards down the field on a drive that was capped by a 14-yard Peyton Barber touchdown run. 

Fitzpatrick was only on the field for two possessions, but he was effective, finishing 6 of 7 for 82 yards. Fitzmagic's best throw of the game came late in the first quarter when he connected with Ronald Jones for a 37-yard gain. 

After Fitzpatrick was pulled following the first quarter, Jameis Winston finished the first half and went 6 of 10 for 60 yards and a touchdown. 

Now, about that bonkers stuff. The craziest play of the game came at the end of the first half when Tampa's Adam Humphries returned a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown. IF you want to see a highlight of the play and find out just how many 109-yard touchdowns there have been in NFL history, click here. 

As for the other wild special teams play, that came from Lions returner Brandon Powell, who blazed past the Buccaneers punt team for an 80-yard score in the fourth quarter. 

Powell's punt return was a big reason why the Lions were able to comeback and win 33-30 after trailing 27-6. Of course, comebacks mean nothing in the preseason, and the Lions now only have two weeks to fix the kinks in their defense before they play their opener against the Jets. 

Will the Vikings regret cutting Kai Forbath?

Hopefully the Vikings still have Kai Forbath's number, because they might need to use it this weekend. After spending the past two seasons as the Vikings kicker, Forbath was cut this week in favor of rookie Daniel Carlson, who won over the coaching staff with his booming leg. Of course, booming legs don't really mean anything in the NFL if you can't put the ball through the uprights and that's where Carlson struggled. 

Playing in his first game since winning the job, the Vikings rookie missed two field goals in the first half of Minnesota's game against Seattle, with both misses coming from 42 yards. If you know anything about Vikings history, then you probably already know that there's zero trust between the fans and the team's kicker, which is why hundreds of fans were already panicking after Carlson's second miss. 

Things got so bad that fans started booing Carlson after his second miss, which probably isn't going to help the confidence of a rookie who just won the job four days ago.  

Between Gary Anderson's miss in the 1998 NFC title game and Blair Walsh's miss in the 2015 playoff (from 26 yards) Vikings fans understandably don't have a lot of confidence in the kicker position and if Carlson doesn't turn things around quickly, he's not going to last long in Minnesota. Oh, and to make matters worse, the other kicker in the game -- Sebastian Janikowski -- hasn't had any issues at all. 

Yup, that's a 40-year-old Janikowski knocking through a field goal from 55 yards. Maybe the Vikings should have signed him. 

The upside in all of this for Carlson is that the Vikings won in spite of him. Seven months after the Minneapolis miracle, Kyle Sloter pulled off a mini miracle of his own with a game-winning touchdown pas on fourth-and-15. 

Even better for the Vikings? They didn't have to send Carlson out for the extra point. Sloter connected with Jake Wieneke on the two=point conversion to give Minnesota a 21-20 win. 

Here's why a rookie won the Seahawks punting job

When the Seahawks decided to trade up for a punter during the fifth round of this year's NFL Draft, some people thought they were crazy, but it appears, they were actually brilliant. Rookie Michael Dickson won the punting job this week when the Seahawks decided to cut Jon Ryan and in his first preseason game as the team's official starter, the Australian shined. Even if you hate punting highlights, I think you'll be impressed with what you're about to see, starting with his first punt, which traveled 57 yards before rolling out of bounds at the 3-yard line. 

That's impressive, and it's even more impressive that he basically did it again in the second half. 

In the third quarter, Dickson jacked a 56-yard punt that also pinned the Vikings at the 3-yard line. 

Besides those two punts, Dickson also tacked on a 46-yard punt, a 48-yard punt and a monstrous 61-yard punt. Oh, and did I mention he can tackle? Because he can tackle. On his 61-yard punt, Dickson actually saved a touchdown. 

Overall, Dickson averaged 53.6 yards on five punts. 

I'm not sure if he would qualify as offense rookie of the year or defensive, but we should probably go ahead and figure that out soon, just in case. 

Broncos might have a new secret weapon 

As he gets ready to head into his first season with the Broncos, it looks like Case Keenum has figured out who his favorite target is: Emmanuel Sanders. During the first half against the Redskins, Sanders caught four passes for 61 yards, including the impressive 33-yard reception that you can see below. 

Now, we all know that Sanders can catch, but apparently, the Broncos have decided to turn him into a secret rushing weapon this season. Late in the second quarter, the Broncos decided to give it to Sanders on a reverse, and this is what happened. 

That's a 27-yard touchdown run, which gave the Broncos a 17-3 lead. The only thing more impressive than Sanders' run was the Redskins lack of effort on tackling. It's almost as if Peterson was the only player on Washington's roster who showed up ready to play on Friday, which is a horrible look for the Redskins, considering he's only been on the roster for three days. 

As for Keenum, he finished the game 12 of 18 for 148 yards before being pulled at halftime.

You can't spell 'Elite" without Eli 

If anyone out there was wondering whether or not Eli Manning still has anything left in the tank, it appears the answer to that question is yes. Manning might be 37 years old and he might be learning a new offense, but you couldn't tell that on Friday, as the veteran shredded the Jets during an impressive first half performance at MetLife Stadium. 

Eli loves to go long and that's exactly what he did when he found Cody Latimer for a 54-yard gain late in the first quarter. 

Unfortunately for Manning and the Giants, the big play went to waste because Jonathan Stewart would lose a fumble at the six-yard line just one play later. 

As for Manning, he led the Giants on four scoring drives in the first half on six possessions, and that number would likely have been five scoring drives, if not for Stewart's fumble. Manning finished the first half 17 of 23 for 188 yards and he did all of that without Odell Beckham or Saquon Barkley on the field. It's only one half of preseason football, but Manning looks rejuvenated, and if that's the case, the Giants could be a dark horse in the NFC East. Despite his big night, Manning got slightly overshadowed by the quarterback he was playing against, which brings us to our next topic. 

Sam Darnold shines on opening drive

Going into Friday's game against the Giants, the belief around New York was that the Jets' quarterback job was Sam Darnold's to lose, and if that's the case, then the rookie might have won the job with his performance on the Jets' opening drive. 

On his first possession of the game, Darnold carved up the Giants defense as he engineered an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Not only did Darnold show off his throwing arm, but he also proved that he can scramble when needed, and it was definitely needed early on against the Giants. After driving down to the Giants' 35-yard line, the Jets were faced with a third-and-13 and that's when Darnold turned on his rocket boosters. 

Not only did the 14-yard run give the Jets a first down, but it was the second time on the drive that Darnold converted a third-and-long. Just four plays earlier, Darnold connected with Neal Sterling for 13 yards on a third-and-8. Overall, Darnold went 3 of 5 for 35 yards on the Jets' opening drive and totaled 49 yards. 

The rookie quarterback also got some serious help from Bilal Powell, who carried the ball five times for 25 yards. Powell capped the 11-play drive with a 10-yard run that gave the Jets an early 7-0 lead. 

Although Darnold didn't get to throw a touchdown pass on the Jets' opening drive, he did get to throw one later in the first half when he hit Terrelle Pryor for a 12-yard score. 

The throw to Pryor capped a 47-yard drive where Darnold did most of the damage. The rookie quarterback went 4 of 4 for 46 yards. Overall, Darnold finished the first half 8 of 16 for 86 yards. Although he wasn't perfect on the field, he was definitely perfect off of it. 

It doesn't get any more in sync than that.  

If the starting job was on the line against the Giants, Darnold definitely didn't do anything to lose it. The rookie led two touchdown drives against a defense that consisted mostly of Giants' starters and also, he didn't turn the ball over. 

Although Teddy Bridgewater would finish the game with better numbers (11 of 15, 104 yards), he didn't lead the Jets to a single touchdown, despite the fact that he was playing against the Giants' backups. The third week of the preseason basically ended perfectly for the Jets: Darnold looks like a starter and Bridgewater's trade value shot up based on how he played over the past three weeks.  

Thursday's Highlights

By Ryan Wilson

Mayfield throws first interception, hits head

Mayfield started the second half for the Browns and for the most part, his performance looked a lot like the ones we've seen in the Browns' first two preseason games: poised, decisive, and impressive enough for folks to wonder if he deserves the starting job ahead of veteran Tyrod Taylor.

Barring injuries -- and the Browns and Taylor had such a scare in the first quarter -- Mayfield will be No. 2 on the depth chart, and that's probably for the best. Because for as good as Mayfield has been, he's facing second- and third-team defenses featuring players who won't even be on NFL rosters in two weeks' time. After throwing two touchdowns in his preseason debut against the Giants, Mayfield hasn't found the end zone since, and on Thursday night, he threw his first interception:

Pressure from his left forced Mayfield into a bad throw. Making matters worse, the quarterback was tackled into his offensive lineman and banged his head as he went to the turf. He made his way to the medical tent behind the Browns' bench.

Prior to that throw, which was Mayfield's last of the evening, he showed glimpses of why he was the NFL's top pick back in April. He finished 8 of 12 while facing constant pressure, and made several big-time throws:

Perhaps the bigger issue pertains to the health of Browns quarterbacks in general; why did Taylor return to the game after suffering a hand injury on the team's second drive? Are mostly meaningless snaps in August worth a potential long-term injury?

Related: Offensive coordinator Todd Haley's play-calling. He dialed up four straight pass plays inside the Eagles' 5-yard line on the drive that ended with Taylor's injury. After the half, the Browns fell into the pattern of running on early downs and having Mayfield throw on third down, and it caught up with him on his final series.

Haley, who was the Steelers' offensive coordinator from 2012-17, deserves a lot of credit for helping Ben Roethlisberger become one of the league's most consistent quarterbacks. Whether he can replicate that success in Cleveland -- while not running afoul of the face of the franchise -- is yet to be determined.

This Browns defense ain't playin'

It's easy to take shots at this team because they've won once in two years, but defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has this defense playing some inspired football, as much as you can do that in August. 

(On Thursday, the second and third teams also held the Eagles scoreless.)

And the driving force behind that success is 2017 first-overall pick Myles Garrett, who had his way with anybody Philadelphia put in front of him. He finished with three solo tackles, two sacks, tackles for loss and two hits on the quarterback, but stats don't come close to capturing how he dominated the Eagles.

Behold:

Garrett also drove left tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai into Nick Foles to force a first-quarter fumble, which you can see below in section about just how poorly this Eagles offense performed on Thursday.

Foles, Eagles' first-team offense continue to struggle

Nick Foles may be the defending Super Bowl MVP after leading the Eagles over the Patriots in February, but this preseason he's looked every bit the replacement-level quarterback he has been for much of his career.  And the rest of the offense has been just as mediocre. The first six drives of the game against the Browns went like this: Turnover on downs, safety ...

Fumble ...

Interception ...

Fumble...

And a red-zone interception ...

Foles should have been intercepted on the Eagles' first drive too, after throwing late to the sidelines following three completions to open the game.

The Eagles first-team offense had trouble finding points in the first half, which has been a recurring theme; the unit didn't score in the first two preseason games either.  Meanwhile, the Browns defense, which was worst in the league in takeaways last season, had four in the first half against the defending champs.  

By halftime, coach Doug Pederson was asked by FOX's Erin Andrews if he would play Foles in the third quarter in the hopes of seeing some improvement.

"No, I'm done," Peterson said. "I've seen enough."

Asked what was wrong with Foles, Peterson added, "I don't know. It's very disappointing. He was calm before the game, I thought he'd settle in."

That clearly didn't happen. And the backups weren't any better, either. All told, the Eagles' offense failed to score a single point against a team that went 0-16 a season ago.

The Eagles have made it clear that they won't rush Carson Wentz back onto the field, which could realistically mean we won't see him until Week 2 or 3 of the regular season. Just something to keep in mind as Foles and this offense continue to stumble their way through August.

Injuries mar Browns' first half

Browns coach Hue Jackson has made it clear for months that Tyrod Taylor would be the starting quarterback when the regular season begins but that plan looked to be out the window when Taylor suffered a left hand injury late in the first quarter. Listed as questionable by the team, Taylor returned to the sidelines early in the second quarter, and returned to the game after two series with Baker Mayfield under center. Read more about the injury here.

Starting right tackle Chris Hubbard, signed this offseason from Pittsburgh, also was injured in the first half but like Taylor, he returned to the game.

Meanwhile, rookie cornerback Denzel Ward's evening ended on the first drive. The fourth-overall pick in this spring's NFL Draft injured his back while making a tackle on Eagles tight end Zach Ertz.