ARLINGTON, Texas — Felix Jones got the Dallas Cowboys away from their goal line and, 13 plays later, into the opposing end zone. Marion Barber did most of the hard work in between.
No wonder the Cowboys are so excited about their 1-2 punch in the backfield.
Dallas rode Jones and Barber for most of a 94-yard touchdown drive, the highlight series during the first-half battle between the first-team units in a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night. The 49ers won the battle of the backups in the second half, winning 20-13 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Kory Sheets with 33 seconds left.
The Cowboys (1-2) outplayed the 49ers (3-0) when the starters were in, with Tony Romo getting the offense into scoring position on three of four drives, but led only 10-3 at halftime.
Romo was 11 of 17 for 125 yards and his first big mistake of the preseason, a rushed throw into double coverage that was intercepted.
Jones finished with 23 yards on five carries and Barber 47 yards on 13 attempts. Thirdstringer Tashard Choice outgained them both, going for 55 yards on eight carries in the second half before leaving with an injury.
San Francisco ...............0 3 7 10 - 20 Dallas .........................0 10 0 3 - 13 Second Quarter Dal-Jones 3 run (Folk kick), 7:27.
Dal-FG Folk 25, 2:49.
SF-FG Nedney 42, :11.
Third Quarter SF-Sheets 1 run (Nedney kick), :10.
Fourth Quarter Dal-FG Folk 26, 10:59.
SF-FG Romero 24, 3:55.
SF-Sheets 9 run (Romero kick), :33.
A-72,171.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-San Francisco, Sheets 11-42, Coffee 8-34, Gore 5-19, N.Davis 1-6. Dallas, Choice 8-55, Barber 13-47, Jones 5-23, Kitna 1-0, Lattimore 1-0.
PASSING-San Francisco, N.Davis 10-15-0-132, S.Hill 9-17-0-79, Huard 2-4-0-25. Dallas, Kitna 10-19-0-127, Romo 11-17-1-125.
RECEIVING-San Francisco, Battle 4-54, Coffee 3-27, Sheets 3-18, Spurlock 2-50, Walker 2-24, Miller 2-14, Gore 2-8, Finley 1-19, Robinson 1-11, Zeigler 1-11. Dallas, Austin 3-44, Bennett 3-31, Crayton 3-29, Witten 3-16, Lattimore 2-39, Ogletree 2-36, Phillips 2-23, Jefferson 1-17, Chandler 1-16, Stanback 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
STEELERS 17, BILLS 0
PITTSBURGH - Ben Roethlisberger played a nearly flawless first half in his first game since injuring his right foot, James Farrior had a 22-yard interception for a touchdown and Buffalo's starting offense struggled yet again as the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Bills.
Roethlisberger led two scoring drives while going 15 of 19 for 168 yards and a 103.5 passer rating before sitting out the second half. He looked regular-season ready, finding Limas Sweed for 16 yards, Hines Ward for 19 and Heath Miller for 18. Buffalo ........................0 0 0 0 - 0 Pittsburgh ....................0 17 0 0 - 17 Second Quarter Pit-FG Czech 34, 12:34.
Pit-Farrior 22 interception return (Czech kick), 12:21.
Pit-Mendenhall 4 run (Czech kick), :31.
A-57,942.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Buffalo, Lynch 4-19, Hall 2-10, Fitzpatrick 1-8, Parrish 1-7, Omon 3-3, Rhodes 2-2. Pittsburgh, Mendenhall 16-48, Redman 13-31, Vincent 5-5, Moore 1-2, Reilly 2-0, Roethlisberger 1-(minus 5).
PASSING-Buffalo, Fitzpatrick 8-11-0-65, Edwards 6-13-1-31.Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger 15-19-0-168, Batch 7-9-0-79, Reilly 3-3-0-35.
RECEIVING-Buffalo, Parrish 4-22, St.Johnson 3-21, Rhodes 3-17, Jenkins 2-26, Schouman 1-6, Omon 1-4. Pittsburgh, Ward 5-74, Sweed 4-34, Williams 3-28, Miller 2-26, McDonald 2-18, Moore 2-18, Mendenhall 2-16, Sherrod 1-21, Redman 1-19, Johnson 1-13, Baker 1-12, Nance 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-Buffalo, Lindell 33 (BK). Pittsburgh, Czech 40 (WR).
BROWNS 23, TITANS 17
CLEVELAND - Brady Quinn threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards and outplayed Derek Anderson in perhaps their final auditions for Coach Eric Mangini to be Cleveland's starting quarterback, and the Browns beat the Tennessee Titans.
Quinn and Anderson entered the third preseason game in a virtual dead heat. Earlier this week, Mangini described their summer-long competition as "very close" and it remains that way.
Tennessee ...................7 0 7 3 - 17 Cleveland ....................0 3 17 3 - 23 First Quarter Ten-Gage 6 pass from Collins (Bironas kick), 4:59.
Second Quarter Cle-FG Dawson 21, 12:51.
Third Quarter Cle-FG Dawson 37, 8:07.
Cle-Edwards 20 pass from Quinn (Dawson kick), 7:01.
Cle-Hall 11 interception return (Dawson kick), 5:49.
Ten-Mulligan 15 pass from Young (Bironas kick), 3:07.
Fourth Quarter Cle-FG Dawson 31, 12:41.
Ten-FG Bironas 32, 4:29.
Attendance-67,400.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Tennessee, Johnson 7-27, White 4-20, Young 2-20, Fuller 1-6, Ganther 2-5, Henry 1-4, Ringer 1-2, Collins 1-1, Hall 1-0, Little 1-(minus 2). Cleveland, Davis 5-28, Lewis 10-23, Herron 5-17, Cribbs 1-6, Jennings 1-4, Vickers 1-1, D.Anderson 1-0, Bartel 2-(minus 2), Furrey1-(minus 2).
PASSING-Tennessee, Young 17-24-1-174, Collins 11-14-0-102. Cleveland, Quinn 11-15-0-128, D.Anderson 7-11-0-77, Bartel 3-3-0-40.
RECEIVING-Tennessee, Gage 6-57, Cook 5-39, Edison 3-21, Crumpler 3-18, Ganther 2-40, Stevens 2-32, Scaife 2-10, Britt 1-19, Johnson 1-15, Mulligan 1-15, Hawkins 1-7, P.Williams 1-3. Cleveland, Lewis 4-36, Davis 4-27, Edwards 3-51, Furrey 3-35, Cribbs 2-31, Jennings 1-27, Massaquoi 1-14, Royal 1-11, Herron 1-7, Hubbard 1-6.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-Tennessee, Bironas 27 (BK).
RAVENS 17, PANTHERS 13
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Joe Flacco threw for 247 yards and a touchdown, the Baltimore's defense shut down Carolina's first unit.
The third exhibition game, where both teams played their starters into the third quarter, proved one-sided when the regulars were on the field. The Panthers, playing without their top two running backs and three starters on defense, were overwhelmed early by Flacco, who completed 23 of 28 passes.
Baltimore ....................0 14 3 0 - 17 Carolina ......................3 0 0 10 - 13 First Quarter Car-FG Kasay 38, 2:02.
Second Quarter Bal-Heap 9 pass from Flacco (Hauschka kick), 13:23.
Bal-McGahee 1 run (Hauschka kick), 4:16.
Third Quarter Bal-FG Hauschka 38, 9:27.
Fourth Quarter Car-Birmingham 1 run (Kasay kick), 11:34.
Car-FG Kasay 50, 3:39.
Attendance-71,045.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Baltimore, Parmele 4-68, Rice 10-32, McGahee 6-16, L.McClain 2-3, Lawrence 2-2, Flacco 1-2, Beck 3-(minus 5). Carolina, Goodson 11-52, Birmingham 8-27, Delhomme 1-(minus 1).
PASSING-Baltimore, Flacco 23-28-0-247, T.Smith 7-10-1-57, Beck 1-1-0-3. Carolina, Delhomme 11-16-0-180, McCown 2-4-0-40.
RECEIVING-Baltimore, Rice 8-67, Mason 6-71, Williams 4-43, Heap 4-35, K.Washington 3-66, McGahee 3-8, Harper 1-13, Parmele 1-3, L.McClain 1-1. Carolina, K.Moore 3-40, Goodson 3-26, Muhammad 2-51, S.Smith 2-37, King 1-31, Rosario 1-25, Jarrett 1-10.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-Baltimore, Hauschka 27 (WR).
SEAHAWKS 14, CHIEFS 10
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Matt Hasselbeck threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns with newly signed Edgerrin James watching on the sideline, leading the Seattle Seahawks past the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City had a woeful night on offense - its only touchdown came on defense - and lost two starters in the game's first three minutes: quarterback Matt Cassel to a leg injury, cornerback Brandon Flowers to a hurt shoulder. Receiver Devard Darling also had to be helped off in the second quarter, favoring his left leg.
Seattle ........................0 7 7 0 - 14 Kansas City ..................7 0 0 3 - 10 First Quarter KC-Flowers 28 interception return (Succop kick), 11:12.
Second Quarter Sea-Houshmandzadeh 8 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick), :56.
Third Quarter Sea-Carlson 28 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick), 10:37.
Fourth Quarter KC-FG Succop 35, 11:50.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Seattle, J.Jones 15-57, Forsett 12-45, Moore 7-12, Teel 3-(minus 1), Hasselbeck 1-(minus 1). Kansas City, Charles 7-54, L.Johnson 8-36, Thigpen 3-10, Battle 2-8.
PASSING-Seattle, Hasselbeck 19-25-1-216, S.Wallace 8-11-0-84, Teel 1-3-0-6. Kansas City, Gutierrez 10-13-2-113, Thigpen 8-15-0-56.
RECEIVING-Seattle, Carlson 5-68, Houshmandzadeh 5-60, Forsett 4-23, Burleson 2-49, Butler 2-27, J.Jones 2-14, Branch 2-13, Taylor 1-19, Newton 1-10, Obomanu 1-9, Payne 1-6, Griffith 1-4, Kent 1-4. Kansas City, Lelie 4-52, Engram 4-11, Bowe 3-38, Lawrence 3-31, Wright 1-16, Toomer 1-13, Charles 1-7, Battle 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-Seattle, Mare 51 (WL), 27 (WL), Coutu 50 (SH). Kansas City, Succop 28 (WL), 53 (SH).
SAINTS 45, RAIDERS 7
OAKLAND, Calif. - Drew Brees completed 14 of 17 passes for 179 yards and drove the New Orleans to touchdowns on all three drives he played, leading the Saints to an exhibition victory over the Raiders.
Brees completed his first eight passes.
New Orleans ........... 14 17 7 7 - 45 Oakland ................ 0 0 0 7 - 7 First Quarter NO-H.Evans 4 run (Carney kick), 9:29.
NO-Henderson 40 pass from Brees (Carney kick), 4:22.
Second Quarter NO-Moore 5 pass from Brees (Carney kick), 13:53.
NO-FG Carney 35, 5:09.
NO-Hill 1 run (Carney kick), 1:21.
Third Quarter NO-Hill 11 run (Hartley kick), 4:40.
Fourth Quarter NO-Green 11 pass from Harrington (Hartley kick), 8:25.
Oak-Holland 43 pass from Garcia (Janikowski kick), 6:06.
Attendance-32,585.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-New Orleans, Hamilton 16-95, Hill 12-83, Donaldson 8-19, Bell 5-15, Roby 1-7, Henderson 1-5, H.Evans 1-4, Brunell 1-3, Sobomehin 1-1. Oakland, G.Russell 3-42, Garcia 1-4, Rankin 1-4, Bush 1-1, J.Russell 1-1, McFadden 3-0, Murphy 1-0.
PASSING-New Orleans, Brees 14-17-0-179, Brunell 4-13-2-86, Harrington 4-6-0-46. Oakland, J.Russell 12-18-0-153, Garcia 9-15-0-111.
RECEIVING-New Orleans, Shockey 4-48, Moore 4-29, Henderson 3-69, Ortega 2-20, Hamilton 2-16, Meachem 1-71, Colston 1-15, Donaldson 1-13, Bell 1-11, Green 1-11, R.Harper 1-6, Hill 1-2. Oakland, Z.Miller 5-74, Murphy 3-84, McFadden 3-21, Rankin 2-10, Bush 2-8, G.Russell 2-6, Holland 1-43, Heyward-Bey 1-12, Myers 1-7, N.Miller 1-(minus 1).
MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
JETS 27, GIANTS 25
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Mark Sanchez lived up to all the hype in his first game since being selected as the New York Jets' starting quarterback.
Sanchez completed a 31-yard touchdown pass to Chansi Stuckey and led his team to 20 points in 2 1 /2 quarters as the Jets took the annual New York bragging rights game with a victory over the Giants, giving new Coach Rex Ryan his first victory.
NY Jets ..................7 10 3 7 - 27 NY Giants ...............10 3 0 12 - 25 First Quarter NYG-Jacobs 8 pass from Manning (Tynes kick), 10:41.
NYJ-Jones 1 run (Feely kick), 4:50.
NYG-FG Tynes 38, 1:09.
Second Quarter NYG-FG Tynes 26, 8:45.
NYJ-Stuckey 31 pass from Sanchez (Feely kick), 6:50.
NYJ-FG Feely 42, 1:49.
Third Quarter NYJ-FG Feely 25, 6:12.
Fourth Quarter NYG-Nicks 22 pass from Carr (pass failed), 4:15.
NYJ-Allison 70 pass from Ainge (Feely kick), 3:58.
NYG-Nicks 71 pass from Carr (run failed), 2:32.
Attendance-74,255.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-NY Jets, Washington 9-62, Woodhead 7-22, Jones 12-16, Ainge 1-(minus 1). NY Giants, Bradshaw 8-47, Ware 9-43, Jacobs 6-24, Carr 2-20, Nicks 1-1, Patrick 1-(minus 1).
PASSING-NY Jets, Sanchez 13-20-0-149, Ainge 1-1-0-70, Clemens 1-2-0-5. NY Giants, Carr 12-17-0-181, Manning 9-21-1-91.
RECEIVING-NY Jets, Stuckey 4-69, Cotchery 3-51, Washington 3-7, Keller 2-15, Allison 1-70, Jones 1-7, Brown 1-5. NY Giants, Nicks 6-144, Manningham 4-41, Hagan 2-25, Bradshaw 2-5, Boss 1-18, Smith 1-12, Hixon 1-10, Jacobs 1-8, Barden 1-4, D.Johnson 1-4, Patrick 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-NY Giants, Tynes 51 (SH).
FALCONS 27, CHARGERS 24
ATLANTA - San Diego's Philip Rivers led touchdown drives in two of his three possessions in his first game since signing a contract extension, before the Atlanta Falcons' backups rallied to beat the Chargers.
The Chargers led 21-10 as the first-team offense ran smoothly even with LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates watching from the sideline.
Rivers completed 10 of 15 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown. He signed a sixyear, $93 million extension Monday.
San Diego .................. 7 14 0 3 - 24 Atlanta ...................... 7 6 0 14 - 27 First Quarter SD-Sproles 10 run (Kaeding kick), 9:37.
Atl-Finneran 12 pass from Ryan (Elam kick), 4:32.
Second Quarter SD-Bennett 48 pass from Rivers (Kaeding kick), 8:32.
Atl-FG Elam 40, 3:19.
SD-Floyd 10 pass from Volek (Kaeding kick), 1:11.
Atl-FG Elam 39, :00.
Fourth Quarter Atl-Redman 10 run (Elam kick), 10:21.
SD-FG Kaeding 37, 2:07.
Atl-Weems 5 pass from Redman (Elam kick), :09.
Attendance-66,718.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-San Diego, Johnson 12-59, Bennett 7-22, Sproles 3-16, Naanee 1-8, Hester 5-7, Whitehurst 1-4, Tolbert 1-2. Atlanta, Turner 12-47, Snelling 5-19, Redman 1-10, Ryan 1-10, Norwood 2-3, Haynes 1-0, Brown 2-(minus 1).
PASSING-San Diego, Rivers 10-15-0-185, Volek 7-9-0-102, Whitehurst 4-8-0-43. Atlanta, Ryan 14-20-0-140, Redman 15-19-0-134.
RECEIVING-San Diego, Floyd 4-56, Bennett 3-84, Sproles 3-29, V.Jackson 2-60, B.Davis 2-38, Johnson 2-18, Tolbert 2-15, Chambers 1-18, Manumaleuna 1-9, Hester 1-3. Atlanta, Booker 6-62, White 3-45, Bergeron 3-29, Jenkins 3-29, Finneran 3-24, Ferguson 2-24, Gonzalez 2-15, Weems 2-10, Brown 1-16, Peelle 1-8, Williams 1-5, Norwood 1-4, Turner 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-San Diego, Kaeding 49 (WL).
LIONS 18, COLTS 17
DETROIT - The Detroit Lions' quarterback competition looks as if its headed to their final preseason game.
Daunte Culpepper threw for a touchdown and Matthew Stafford passed for 160 yards to help the Lions beat Indianapolis.
Culpepper started and completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards. Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, was 13 of 19 but also threw an interception.
Drew Stanton followed Culpepper and Stanton, and led the Lions to the winning points with 4:13 left. He threw a 21-yard pass to rookie Dan Gronkowski and a two-point conversion to John Standeford to help Detroit improve to 2-1 in the preseason.
Stanton then completed four consecutive passes to give Detroit the lead. After forcing the Colts to punt, Stanton's sharp pass to Keary Colbert on a third-and-11 at midfield allowed the Lions to run almost all the time off the clock.
Indianapolis ............. 7 0 7 3 - 17 Detroit .................... 0 10 0 8 - 18 First Quarter Ind-Clark 6 pass from Manning (Andrus kick), 5:36.
Second Quarter Det-B.Johnson 3 pass from Culpepper (Cundiff kick), 14:55.
Det-FG Cundiff 21, 3:21.
Third Quarter Ind-Brown 2 run (Andrus kick), 9:32.
Fourth Quarter Ind-FG Andrus 29, 7:31.
Det-Gronkowski 21 pass from Stanton (Standeford pass from Stanton), 4:13.
Attendance-37,011.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Indianapolis, Addai 7-22, Brown 5-16, Simpson 3-12, Ball 3-1, Manning 1-(minus 1). Detroit, Kev.Smith 8-50, A.Brown 7-37, Davis 4-22, Morris 7-19, Felton 7-18, Cason 2-5.
PASSING-Indianapolis, Painter 9-14-1-145, Manning 12-15-0-123. Detroit, Stafford 13-19-1-160, Culpepper 7-12-0-67, Stanton 4-6-0-56.
RECEIVING-Indianapolis, Clark 6-63, Garcon 2-82, Collie 2-20, Gonzalez 2-17, Tamme 2-12, Santi 1-22, Addai 1-21, Matthews 1-11, Robinson 1-9, Petrowski 1-4, Wayne 1-4, McDermott 1-3. Detroit, C.Johnson 4-67, Williams 4-63, Kev.Smith 3-33, Pettigrew 2-24, Standeford 2-21, Colbert 2-20, Gronkowski 1-21, Jennings 1-11, Looker 1-11, Felton 1-10, B.Johnson 1-3, FitzSimmons 1-2, A.Brown 1-(minus 3).
MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
NFL preseason FRIDAY'S GAMES New England 27, Washington 24 Green Bay 44, Arizona 37 SATURDAY'S GAMES Detroit 18, Indianapolis 17 New Orleans 45, Oakland 7 Pittsburgh 17, Buffalo 0 Cleveland 23, Tennessee 17 Atlanta 27, San Diego 24 NY Jets 27, NY Giants 25 San Francisco 20, Dallas 13 Seattle 14, Kansas City 10 Baltimore 17, Carolina 13 TODAY'S GAME All times Central Chicago at Denver, 7 p.m.
MONDAY'S GAME Minnesota at Houston, 7 p.m.
Sports, Pages 31 on 08/30/2009