ARLINGTON, Texas -- Dallas' star running back Ezekiel Elliott had eight touches in 10 plays in his only series of the exhibition season before undrafted rookie Cooper Rush rallied the Cowboys with two touchdown passes in a 24-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Saturday night.
Elliott is facing a six-game suspension for domestic violence and is now waiting to see if his regular-season debut will be on hold until late October.
Oakland (0-3) left tackle Donald Penn played 17 snaps over two series just three days after ending his camp-long holdout. The first series covered 10 plays and 81 yards, capped by Cordarrelle Patterson's 17-yard pass from Derek Carr, who also had a 48-yard scoring toss to Amari Cooper.
Carr was 13 of 17 for 144 yards before EJ Manuel replaced him late in the second quarter.
Elliott had six carries for 18 yards and two catches for 2 yards on a drive to Dan Bailey's 42-yard field on Dallas' opening series. Elliott had about the same preseason workload before his standout rookie year, although he had a hamstring injury in camp.
Dak Prescott, last year's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, had yet another solid preseason outing. The Dallas quarterback was 11 of 14 for 113 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown to Jason Witten. The 15th-year tight end had six catches for 74 yards.
Trailing 20-10 in the fourth quarter, Rush had scoring tosses of 7 yards to Ronnie Hillman and 44 yards to Lance Lenoir. Rush got the second-team nod over veteran Kellen Moore after three strong preseason showings. He was 12 of 13 for 115 yards and a 143.1 rating.
The Cowboys (3-1) preserved the win by forcing two incompletions from Connor Cook at their 9-yard line in the final seven seconds.
CARDINALS 24, FALCONS 14
ATLANTA -- John Brown made a strong statement his lingering quadriceps injury is no concern as he caught two touchdown passes to lead the Arizona Cardinals to a preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Brown showed off his speed when he caught a 28-yard scoring pass from Carson Palmer and a 21-yarder from Drew Stanton, each in the second quarter.
The game was the first event held at the new $1.5 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium. There are ongoing issues with the stadium’s complicated retractable roof, which is expected to remain closed indefinitely. There were no glitches in the stadium’s other bragging points, including a big halo video board.
Brown’s explosive showing confirmed his status as the Cardinals’ top downfield threat after he had been slowed by the injury. Last week, coach Bruce Arians said if Brown “can’t run long enough, we’ve got to replace him.”
Brown’s ability to recover quickly from injuries is affected by his 2016 diagnosis with sickle cell trait. He also left camp this week for a funeral in Miami and rejoined the team Friday night in Atlanta.
The Atlanta offense fell flat in the stadium unveiling. Matt Ryan’s pass on the Falcons’ first play was intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu.
RAVENS 13, BILLS 9
BALTIMORE -- The winless Buffalo Bills sent home defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, lost quarterback Tyrod Taylor to injury and made far too many mistakes against the Baltimore Ravens, who remained undefeated in the preseason with a victory.
Though starting quarterback Joe Flacco has yet to take a snap at camp this summer, the Ravens (3-0) have relied heavily on their retooled defense to win.
Baltimore has allowed only two touchdowns in three games — none by the starting unit — and now stands one victory short of completing a second straight unbeaten preseason.
Buffalo (0-3) is still looking for its first win under rookie coach Sean Mc-Dermott, who’s got far more important issues to address, such as the behavior of Dareus and the health of Taylor.
GIANTS 32, JETS 31
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Landon Collins and Donte Deayon scored on interception returns, Jason Pierre-Paul recorded a safety and Eli Manning and the offense showed a little life for the first time this preseason as the Giants turned the annual game for the braggin' rights of New York into an early laugher and late thriller with victory over the Jets.
COLTS 19, STEELERS 15
PITTSBURGH -- Scott Tolzien led a pair of long scoring drives to inch closer to the Colts' starting job for the season opener if Andrew Luck's shoulder isn't ready, and the Indianapolis defense kept Pittsburgh's high-powered offense in check.
BROWNS 13, BUCCANEERS 9
TAMPA, Fla. -- Rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer made his first start in the Cleveland Browns' preseason victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Playing the entire first half after a pregame downpour, Kizer completed 6 of 18 passes for 93 yards and an interception.
CHARGERS 21, RAMS 19
LOS ANGELES -- Philip Rivers capped the game's opening drive with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin and Joey Bosa's strip sack of Jared Goff led to Melvin Ingram's 76-yard fumble return for a score as the Chargers raced to a first-quarter lead and held on to beat the Rams at the Coliseum.
SAINTS 13, TEXANS 0
NEW ORLEANS -- An interception by Damian Swann, and sacks by Darryl Tapp, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Rafael Bush and Adam Bighill highlighted a defensive performance that lifted the New Orleans Saints to a preseason victory over the Houston Texans.
BRONCOS 20, PACKERS 17
DENVER -- Jamaal Charles' impressive Denver debut included four rushes for 27 yards in the Broncos' preseason victory over the Green Bay Packers. Trevor Siemian, in his first game since Coach Vance Joseph declared him the starting quarterback over Paxton Lynch, bounced back from an interception to lead Denver on three impressive drives. Lynch came in and got hurt on his only series.
Sports on 08/27/2017