Last week's Hall of Fame game was a taste, but this week marks the full return of football, albeit of the preseason variety. The Pittsburgh Steelers might have a pair of new stars in James Washington and Devin Bush, Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns started hot, and so did several other young quarterbacks.

All that and more in the biggest takeaways and fantasy football nuggets of the preseason's opening week from NFL Nation:

Jump to a matchup:

CIN-KC | LAR-OAK | DAL-SF | IND-BUF | NYJ-NYG | WSH-CLE

NE-DET | ATL-MIA | CAR-CHI | TEN-PHI

JAX-BAL | HOU-GB | LAC-ARI | DEN-SEA

TB-PIT | MIN-NO

Saturday's games

One play from Saturday night's preseason opener showed why the Chiefs could be better offensively this season than they were in 2018. Rookie wide receiver Mecole Hardman took a shovel pass 17 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter by outrunning several Cincinnati defenders. Hardman, the Chiefs' top draft pick, has showed that kind of speed repeatedly at training camp. He's another fast threat for Patrick Mahomes, joining Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Demarcus Robinson and 260-pound tight end Travis Kelce. That kind of speed will be difficult for opponents to deal with. -- Adam Teicher

The Bengals had some good moments in coach Zac Taylor's preseason debut but ultimately looked sloppy against the Chiefs. Cincinnati committed 11 penalties for 115 yards and had four turnovers, including an end-of-half interception that resulted in a bruised rib for rookie RB Trayveon Williams. Two of those turnovers came on muffed punt returns. The mistakes overshadowed a scoring drive by Cincinnati's starters and a positive showing by rookie quarterback Ryan Finley. The Bengals must look sharper when they take the field at Washington on Thursday. -- Ben Baby

Mike Glennon looked more polished in the pocket -- except for throwing two bad interceptions, including one at the goal line -- while Nathan Peterman, who broke off a 50-yard run, brought more energy and looked more athletic, when he wasn't getting clobbered. As such, give Peterman a slight edge in the race to be Derek Carr's backup at quarterback, even if Glennon had shinier stats in throwing for 200 yards on 17-of-25 passing. There were just a few too many what-was-he-thinking plays for a guy in his seventh NFL season. Peterman, meanwhile, followed his impressive run with a quick slant 3-yard TD pass to Keelan Doss but did little after. He finished with a mere 66 yards passing, in completing 9 of 12 attempts and getting sacked twice. He gives Jon Gruden more options on offense, should he need to play in place of Carr. -- Paul Gutierrez

Sean McVay's opinion of preseason football remains clear: It is unnecessary to play starters in exhibition games. McVay did not play any starters, with the exception of projected first-year starting defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day and linebacker Micah Kiser, in the Rams' preseason opener against the Raiders. McVay also did not deem it necessary to play several key backups, including running back Malcolm Brown and cornerback Troy Hill. McVay's decision to keep key players sidelined in a preseason game does not come as a surprise. Last season, McVay drew plenty of scrutiny when he played backups throughout the preseason, though that decision was hardly questioned when the Rams advanced to Super Bowl LIII. This season, he has emphasized the importance of combined practices in their preparation. The Rams held two joint practices with the Chargers, followed by two joint practices with the Raiders ahead of their preseason game. -- Lindsey Thiry

San Francisco 49ers 17, Dallas Cowboys 9

Saturday's biggest takeaway comes from a player who wasn't even playing against Dallas. The Niners announced that slot receiver Trent Taylor had surgery to fix a broken toe on Friday and will miss the rest of the preseason. Although the Niners hope Taylor will be back early in the season, his loss is important. Through two weeks of training camp, he looked the part of a guy poised to lead the team in targets and receptions. Taylor will return, but the Niners must now find a dependable target for Jimmy Garoppolo outside of tight end George Kittle. Third-round pick Jalen Hurd has been coming on lately, and he added to that cause with two touchdown catches Saturday night. With Taylor out, the opportunity is there for Hurd, but he will need to continue to improve the rest of the exhibition season in order to be involved early in the season. It's just one more question a team facing many now has to answer. -- Nick Wagoner

While a lot of attention was on who wasn't at Levi's Stadium (Ezekiel Elliott) and who played only a little (Dak Prescott) or not at all (Jason Witten, Alfred Morris, Zack Martin, Amari Cooper) in the Cowboys' 17-9 loss to San Francisco in their preseason opener, the team got its first look at new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore in game action. On the face of it, not much changed for the offense -- just three field goals -- but Moore did not show much of what the Cowboys had been doing in Oxnard, California, in training camp practices. In four red zone drives, the Cowboys did not score a touchdown and Brett Maher missed a field goal attempt. Moore was able to help direct the Cowboys down the field in a two-minute drill to close the first half with backup quarterback Cooper Rush. The second half was painful but hardly the fault of Moore. In terms of the mechanics of his new role, little appeared to go wrong. The Cowboys did not have any issues with personnel groupings or confusion on the sideline. But clearly things have to improve. Dating back to last season, the Cowboys have gone three preseason games without a touchdown. -- Todd Archer

Friday's games

In Bruce Arians' debut as Bucs head coach, Jameis Winston and the first-team offense had a solid night. Winston went 5-for-6 for 40 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to Chris Godwin on the opening possession. The defense had some hiccups in the way of some blown coverages and not finishing tackles, although it was good to see Noah Spence rattling Josh Dobbs a few times and Carl Nassib and Deone Bucannon each coming up with sacks. Still, the defense looks to be hurting for depth with so many injuries. Rookie kicker Matt Gay drilled a 55-yard field goal before halftime, but Cairo Santos has been giving him a strong push every day in practice, so expect that kicking battle to continue through the preseason. -- Jenna Laine

James Washington made a compelling case for more looks in a Steelers passing game that needs viable options behind JuJu Smith-Schuster. Slimmed down in the offseason and growing in confidence, Washington did a bit of everything on his way to 84 yards receiving -- snagging the deep ball from Josh Dobbs while absorbing contact, connecting on a back-shoulder touchdown play with college teammate Mason Rudolph and nearly securing a second touchdown with an outstretched, barely-out-of-bounds catch in the corner of the end zone. Rudolph looked decisive throwing from the pocket, Dobbs ripped off big rushing gains and rookie linebacker Devin Bush was hard to ignore with eight tackles and a near-interception. The defense was spotty early with several starters out, but several young players shined. -- Jeremy Fowler

The nine snaps we saw from the first-team offense provided some clues about what this new Vikings scheme will feature. Kirk Cousins is excellent on play-action, and its use, along with the quarterback going under center more often, will help Minnesota be less predictable. Cousins went 4-for-4 for 65 yards and a touchdown in New Orleans. The recipient of that scoring play -- third-round pick Alexander Mattison -- showed how important his role will be even with Dalvin Cook as the lead running back. Mattison can shoulder a heavy load, as evidenced by what he did at Boise State and how effective he was on a handful of outside-zone runs in the first half, including the 1-yard TD pass he caught at the goal line. The Vikings continue to explore how to effectively use heavier personnel groupings with multiple-tight end sets and the use of the fullback, both of which should have an emphasis in this scheme. -- Courtney Cronin

The Saints would put their QB room up against anybody else's in the NFL. New Orleans rested Drew Brees against the Vikings on Friday, but backup Teddy Bridgewater looked sharp against his former team. Bridgewater completed 14 of 19 passes for 134 yards and one touchdown on a terrific two-minute drive before halftime. Meanwhile, third-stringer Taysom Hill -- who should once again play a key role as a change-of-pace read-option QB -- threw for 80 yards and a score and ran for 45 yards in the second half. -- Mike Triplett

Thursday's games

The Colts don't have a timetable on when Andrew Luck (calf) will return to practice, but they're working under the expectation that the quarterback will be ready for the start of the regular season. Until that happens, though, Jacoby Brissett will remain the starting quarterback. The offense had no success with Brissett on the field for the first three series Thursday. The Colts totaled just 22 yards with only one first down while Brissett was in the game. Brissett continues to see his passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage, and he finished 2-of-5 for 21 yards. The Colts are expected to give their next update on Luck's status once the team returns to practice Saturday. -- Mike Wells

The Bills' top two picks in the past draft acquitted themselves well. Ed Oliver held his own against All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson, while Cody Ford was used at both right guard and right tackle throughout Buffalo's first few series. Josh Allen (6-for-11, 66 yards) showed the restraint the Bills need for him to develop, but he still took four shots downfield -- completing one. Buffalo's defensive depth looked strong, albeit against a heavily depleted Colts offense, and Devin Singletary (27 rushing yards, 21 receiving yards) might be a PPR star in the making. The Bills' offensive line, while improved on paper, still needs to jell as it battles through injuries. -- Marcel Louis-Jacques

It was only one series, but QB Sam Darnold displayed the traits that make you believe he can be a franchise quarterback. He moved well in the pocket, buying time and finding his second and third reads -- which he did so well at the end of his rookie season. Darnold (4-for-5, 68 yards, one TD) almost threw an interception on his first pass, but he rebounded nicely. This was an encouraging start for Adam Gase's offense, which didn't have its two most accomplished players: running back Le'Veon Bell and center Ryan Kalil. -- Rich Cimini

Daniel Jones looks like the real deal. OK, it was only the first preseason game. It was only one drive in which he was on the field. It doesn't matter. What the signal-caller did -- 5-for-5 passing for 67 yards and a touchdown -- in his only drive was impressive. Jones made some throws into tight windows and didn't flinch under the spotlight in his first foray into a live NFL game environment. -- Jordan Raanan