Are you ready for some football?  I am ready for real football.

Glad the preseason is about to be over.

The NFL obviously has to protect its stars so we have 3-games with virtually none of the starters playing.  We get a combination of backups, rookies, and guys who will be cut this weekend.

Glad we are almost at the finish line, but here is what I saw on Thursday night:

RAMS..Some dazzling night from first round pick Tyler Simpson, who torched the Chargers secondary, as the Powder Blues got burned.  Simpson had a 17-play drive; had an (18-26) passing night.  Bring the blitz, flush him out of the pocket, make him throw on the run, he still hit passes everywhere.  No panic.  No forcing things.  The Rams search for young WR backups included a combined 10-catches from CJ Daniels and Brennan Pressley in the opening half.  The Rams did not play their veterans in preseason, but they sure coached up the kids well.

CHARGERS…That wasn’t much to see, what happened last week in getting thumped by the Niners and then against the Rams again.  Yes Justin Herbert launched a 65Y-TD bomb to Quentin Johnston against the Rams rookie secondary.  But aside from that, nothing was impressive, especially in the opening half, where the Rams had the ball for 22-of-30 minutes.  Still have not seen much from DE-Ahkeem Mesidor’s pass rush.  Did see LT-Travis Burke continue to play well and show athleticism.  Think a tough decision is coming as to which backup LB they keep, Junior Colson or Marlowe Wax.  Of course come opening day, Mike McDaniel unveils his Hi-Octane offense when they face the Arizona Cardinals in two weeks.  But I do not think it was much of a preseason, and I still have questions about the interior of the offensive line once the real bullets start flying.  I think Jake Slaughter can play, but can he holdup at 305-pounds at center?

RAIDERS..The learning sessions continue for Fernando Mendoza.  He does compete throws.  He forces things.  He scrambles.  He makes plays.  He makes mistakes.  A (7-15) passing night for (57Y).  Another pick.  Two more sacks. A bunch of hits.  Think the real storyline in camp is the emergence of young RB-Mike Washington, crafty, shifty, powerful too.  Just think the Raiders are too young

49ers..Don’t know what to say since we have not seen much of the offense because of injuries.  Eddie Piniero’s 6-FG night was impressive.  But Mike Evans has had injury issues.  Christian McCaffrey has been limited in practice.  No one knows about the true status of Nick Bosa to be ready for opening day.  Alot of unknowns in San Francisco.

BROWNS..The QB-quandry.  Watson or Sanders?  And then Dillon Gabriel starts in the last preseason game and goes off for (186P-3TD) vs the Patriots.  Browns football is Bizarre.

PATRIOTS..New England has played vets in games, and does have AJ Brown added to the mix, but just has not been very consistent in preseason.

STEELERS…Aaron Rodgers hasn’t played but every other QB has and has had good moments.  The Steelers will be very interesting once Mike McCarthy opens up his full playbook in two weeks time.  And how about this, keeping all 4-QBs on the active roster?

BILLS..Joe Brady added firepower to the wide out group and it has been a good preseason, so we see if the WR bunch can stay on the field and take some of the load off superstar Josh Allen.  The last second come from behind win over Pittsburgh was fun.

More games Friday-Saturday…then roster cuts on Sunday.  Teams will look very different on Monday morning.

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