NFL PRESEASON
RAVENS 37, COWBOYS 30
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Tony Romo passed the first test with his surgically repaired back, and Baltimore's defense and special teams made three more scoring drives from Joe Flacco an afterthought.
Deonte Thompson returned a kickoff 108 yards for a score after Romo threw a touchdown pass in his preseason debut for Dallas, Flacco had a scoring toss and the Ravens beat the Cowboys 37-30 on Saturday night.
The Ravens (2-0) also got a 26-yard fumble return for a touchdown when Courtney Upshaw picked up a botched handoff from Romo and stayed on his feet while Romo tried to drag him down by his jersey.
Romo's final play was a 31-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant midway through the first quarter.
Dallas is 0-2 in the preseason.
Baltimore led 14-7 before Flacco took the field for the first time late in the first quarter. He threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Torrey Smith for a 24-10 lead late in the first half.
Romo was expected to take about a dozen snaps in first game since surgery for a herniated disk that kept him out of a loss to Philadelphia in playoffs-or-bust finale last December. That ended up being two possessions after a botched exchange with running back DeMarco Murray led to Upshaw's score.
Murray had 25 of his 34 yards rushing and a 21-yard catch on the next drive, which ended with Bryant leaping over Ravens cornerback Dominique Franks at the goal line and falling into the end zone.
Romo was 4 of 5 for 80 yards, and Bryant had three catches for 59 yards after both skipped the preseason-opening loss at San Diego, along with several other offensive and defensive starters.
"Some things came up that were a little different we hadn't seen," Romo said. "We were able to communicate and be on the same page and the receivers, me, the linemen. It just shows we are doing some going things and are further along than you might usually be this early."
TEXANS 32, FALCONS 7
HOUSTON -- Jadeveon Clowney made big hits behind the line on consecutive plays and Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a touchdown pass to DeVier Posey in the Houston Texans' victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Clowney, the top overall pick in the draft, smacked down Atlanta's Antone Smith for a 2-yard loss and then sacked Matt Ryan on the Falcons' second series.
Jonathan Grimes returned a blocked punt for a touchdown and Andre Hal returned an interception 64 yards for another score for the Texans (1-1), who showed significant improvement after last week's 32-0 loss in Arizona.
PACKERS 21, RAMS 7
ST. LOUIS -- Sam Bradford and Aaron Rodgers each threw a touchdown pass in their preseason debuts in the Green Bay Packers' victory over the St. Louis Rams.
Michael Sam played in the second half and got his first sack of the preseason, dropping Matt Flynn for a 10-yard loss in the fourth quarter to force a 49-yard field goal by Mason Crosby.
Rodgers was 11 for 13 for 128 yards and a 3-yard score to Randall Cobb. His only complaint was about officiating -- the teams were whistled for a combined 22 penalties for 171 yards and two touchdowns catches were nullified.
DOLPHINS 20, BUCCANEERS 14
TAMPA, Fla. -- Backup quarterback Matt Moore led the Miami Dolphins on two touchdown drives in a 20-14 preseason victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night.
Mike Evans, the Bucs' first-round pick from Texas A&M, caught a short pass from Mike Glennon in the second quarter and after breaking a tackle, sprinted down the sideline toward a 42-yard touchdown which could have given the Bucs a 14-3 lead. After a review of the original touchdown call, however, it was ruled that Miami cornerback Brent Grimes had punched the ball out of Evans' hands just before Evans crossed the goal line.
JETS 25, BENGALS 17
CINCINNATI -- Andy Dalton was perfect in his first home performance since his playoff meltdown.
Dalton completed all eight of his passes and led the Bengals to a pair of touchdowns and a field goal during three impressive series before the New York Jets' reserves rallied for a preseason victory.
The fourth-year quarterback went 8 for 8 for 144 yards, one touchdown and a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
GIANTS 27, COLTS 26
INDIANAPOLIS -- Ryan Nassib led the New York Giants to two touchdowns in the final four minutes, completing a huge fourth-quarter comeback with a victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
New York trailed 26-0 early in the fourth, but the Colts couldn't hold on.
Former Indy quarterback Curtis Painter finally got New York on the board with a 3-yard TD pass to Kellen Davis. Sixteen seconds later, Spencer Adkins recovered a Colts fumble in the end zone to make it 26-14. Michael Cox then scored on a 2-yard run with 3:59 to go, and Nassib hooked up with Corey Washington on a 6-yard TD pass with 55 seconds to go.
STEELERS 19, BILLS 16
PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes in less than a half of work and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Buffalo Bills.
Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for a 76-yard score on Pittsburgh's second play from scrimmage and found Markus Wheaton for a 16-yard strike to help the Steelers (1-1) win a preseason game for the first time in nearly two years.
Roethlisberger finished 8 of 11 for 128 yards and the two scores.
VIKINGS 30, CARDINALS 28
MINNEAPOLIS -- Teddy Bridgewater gave the giddy fans chanting his first name a pair of go-ahead touchdown throws to cheer for in the fourth quarter, giving the Minnesota Vikings a victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Bridgewater floated a back-shoulder fade pass from 2 yards out to Rodney Smith with 18 seconds remaining for the lead, after the Cardinals had gone ahead on a bizarre fourth-down score about a minute earlier.
Sports on 08/17/2014