While many of us are finishing up with the first week of back-to-school chaos, now is a great time to reflect upon the developments taking place in the 2026 NFL season. Last night marked the first official round of preseason play. Teams rose, teams fell, and experiments were had. In today's newsletter, we'll take a look at what we learned and how last night's results might impact the 2026 season.
Spoilers? Probably not very much.
Oh, and a special heads-up. Tomorrow's newsletter will feature some MLS picks. If you're a soccer fan, get ready for some exciting prop action.
Preseason Recap
Preseason action is often underwhelming. Last night’s games still managed to deliver fun.
The Las Vegas Raiders debuted Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza was the number one overall draft pick and made an impressive display in his short but impactful relief of Kirk Cousins. In his limited playtime, Mendoza threw a surgical touchdown pass that took some of the sting out of the Raiders' 27-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Drew Allar, meanwhile, produced a dominant performance for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Allar produced two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, resulting in a 28-9 win over the Packers. There was also a preseason tie last night between the Colts and the New England Patriots.
Finally, last night saw the return of Joe Burrow, who briefly took the field for the Bengals.
All in all, last night's preseason play provided a fun look at what could easily be a remarkable 2026 season.
How Much Do Preseason Outcomes Really Matter?
Short answer? Not very much.
The NFL preseason, possibly more than any other sport, is infamous for being wildly inaccurate as a regular-season litmus test. In 2008, for example, the Detroit Lions went undefeated during the preseason. They did not win a single game during the regular season. The same thing happened to the Cleveland Browns in 2017.
If you're disheartened, or for that matter, excited by your team's performance, rest assured that true insight starts Week 1 of regulation play.
That's not to say that the preseason is without value. It's here that you get a look at roster depth and receive insights on what the coaching focus is for the season. You should definitely tune in if you have the time for situations and plays that you may never see during the regular season.
Just know that whatever happened last night to your team won't define how things play out in the fall.
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