Sunday, August 11, 2002
Saturday's NFL Preseason Games
The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Cleveland's offense worked well against the Minnesota Vikings in a 27-15 preseason victory Saturday night, but the Browns' defense suffered a major blow with the loss of Pro Bowl linebacker Jamir Miller to a torn right Achilles' tendon.
There was no immediate word on how long Miller, the first Browns player to be selected to the Pro Bowl since the team returned to Cleveland in 1999, would be sidelined.
He landed awkwardly after being blocked into Brant Boyer on Moe Williams' 4-yard touchdown run on Minnesota's opening possession. Miller stayed on the ground for several minutes before being carted off the field.
On a brighter note for the Browns, Tim Couch and Kelly Holcomb combined to go 14-of-19 for 238 yards and two touchdowns, and Jamel White rushed four times for 20 yards and caught three passes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
Eagles 20, Packers 13
PHILADELPHIA — Dorsey Levens ran for 64 yards and one touchdown against his former team, leading Philadelphia to a victory over Green Bay in the preseason opener for both teams.
Philadelphia fourth-string quarterback Tim Hasselbeck was 5-of-6 for 66 yards and one touchdown, Rod Smart — who wore “He Hate Me” on the back of his jersey in the defunct XFL — caught a 31-yard TD pass and Pro Bowl kicker David Akers picked up where he left off, converting both of his field-goal attempts.
Brett Favre and Donovan McNabb each played just three series, but neither was too impressive. Favre, a three-time NFL MVP, led the Packers on one touchdown drive, finishing 6-of-10 for 52 yards and one interception. McNabb was 5-of-5 for only 15 yards.
Texans 13, Saints 10
NEW ORLEANS — Houston won for the first time, beating New Orleans in the expansion team's second exhibition game.
Kris Brown scored the winning points, hitting a 27-yard field midway through the third quarter.
David Carr, the former Fresno State quarterback drafted first overall, was 9-of-14 for 95 yards. Jonathan Wells, a fourth-rounder from Ohio State, ran for 50 yards on 10 attempts and had a 1-yard TD run early in the third quarter to give the Texans a 10-7 lead.
Deuce McAllister, who moved into New Orleans' starting lineup after the Saints traded Ricky Williams to Miami, had eight carries for 21 yards and a TD and caught two passes for 21 yards.
Giants 22, Patriots 19
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Antonio Warren scored on a 30-yard run and a two-point conversion with 4:22 to play to give New York a victory over the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Kerry Collins added a 34-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer, and Ron Dayne scored on a 1-yard run as the Giants (2-0) won for the second time this week. New York beat Houston 34-17 in the Hall of Fame game Monday night.
Adam Vinatieri kicked field goals of 26, 50, 36 and 38 yards and backup quarterback Damon Huard threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Donald Hayes in the Patriots' first game since stunning the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl.
Titans 28, Rams 26
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Undrafted rookie John Simon scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter as the Tennessee edged the defending NFC champion Rams in the preseason opener for both teams.
The Titans, who lost the 2000 Super Bowl to St. Louis, have beaten the Rams in six consecutive exhibitions.
With 54 seconds left, Tennessee had to stop Lamar Gordon from the 1 on a second attempt at a two-point conversion after a penalty. The Rams recovered the onside kick but turned the ball over on downs with 13 seconds remaining.
St. Louis played it safe by keeping leading rusher Marshall Faulk off the field. Kurt Warner came in for only one series and tossed just one pass.
Tennessee's Eddie George, coming off his worst season as a pro, carried eight times for 44 yards in just over a quarter.
Redskins 37, Panthers 30
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Shane Matthews gave Washington an early lead, then Danny Wuerffel helped rally the Redskins to a victory over Carolina to ruin the head coaching debut of John Fox.
Randy Fasani, a rookie from Stanford, ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as the Panthers, 1-15 a season ago, rallied from a 13-point deficit to take a 30-23 lead with 4:37 left.
Wuerffel, who won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Washington coach Steve Spurrier at Florida, drove the Redskins 79 yards in less than three minutes to tie the score at 30.
Fox then pulled Fasani for Mike Watkins, who had a pass attempt batted in the air and returned 21 yards for the game-winning touchdown by lineman Carl Powell with 1:09 remaining.
Matthews, who also played for Spurrier at Florida, was 17-for-27 with two TDs.
Broncos 27, Bears 3
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Denver held Chicago to just 44 total yards in the Bears' first home game in Champaign while Soldier Field is being renovated.
Broncos quarterback Brian Griese was 7-of-9 passing for 48 yards, and backup Steve Beuerlein finished 9-of-12 for 78 yards and a 5-yard touchdown to tight end Dwayne Carswell.
The Bears had six first downs, two more than their number of turnovers. Running back Anthony Thomas lost two yards on four carries.
Tony Carter and reserve quarterback Jarious Jackson also had short touchdown runs for the Broncos. Rookie running back Clinton Portis rushed for 57 yards.
Chicago's only score was set up by star linebacker Brian Urlacher, who sacked Griese to force a fumble that Urlacher recovered.
Chiefs 17, 49ers 14, OT
SAN FRANCISCO — Terrell Owens made a spectacular 71-yard touchdown reception for San Francisco — and three hours later, Lawrence Tynes kicked a 29-yard field goal with 12:35 left in overtime to give Kansas City the victory.
After neither team managed to score in the final 17 minutes of regulation, Reggie Stephens intercepted Brandon Doman's wobbly pass at the 49ers 20 in overtime. Tynes, who bounced a 42-yard attempt off the right upright with 1:05 left in regulation, easily made the kick.
Kansas City won its exhibition opener over San Francisco (0-2) with a solid defensive performance, but Owens made a thrilling broken-field run before the game was six minutes old.
After catching a short slant from Jeff Garcia, Owens beat cornerback Ray Crockett around the corner, shoved away Jerome Woods with a vicious stiff-arm, bulled past Eric Warfield and dragged three defenders over the goal line.
Colts 28, Seahawks 10
SEATTLE — Trent Dilfer, given Seattle's starting quarterback job in the offseason, sprained his right knee in the Seahawks' loss to Indianapolis.
It was not immediately known how serious the injury was.
Playing in his third series against the Colts, Dilfer was hit by defensive tackle James Cannida and defensive end Chad Bratzke as he attempted a pass to Koren Robinson with 2:02 gone in the second quarter.
Indianapolis backup quarterback Brock Huard, acquired from Seattle in April for a fifth-round draft choice, passed for two touchdowns in front of a crowd of 52,902 in the inaugural game at 67,000-seat new Seahawks Stadium.
The Colts, who fired Jim Mora and hired Tony Dungy to be their coach after going 6-10 last season, scored the final 28 points.
Cardinals 24, Chargers 17
SAN DIEGO — Jake Plummer and Chris Griesen threw touchdown passes as Arizona opened the preseason by beating San Diego in Marty Schottenheimer's debut as coach of the Chargers.
Plummer threw a 66-yard scoring pass to David Boston, who beat Ryan McNeil by at least five yards, on the game's second play.
Griesen's 41-yard pass to Bryan Gilmore midway through the third quarter gave Arizona a 21-17 lead, and Tim Duncan's 26-yard field goal with 6:20 remaining completed the scoring.
Doug Flutie, competing with Drew Brees for the Chargers' starting job, completed 6 of 9 passes for 46 yards while playing two series. Brees was 8-of-13 for 60 yards while playing most of the second quarter.
Bengals Stories
Reds 9, Padres 0
Reds box, runs
Reds Q&A
Cinergy countdown - Sept. 17, 1983
Pain still afflicting Pineda
Astros 8, Braves 5
Cardinals 5, Mets 4
Notes from Saturday's games
John Fay's MLB power ratings
Lieberthal hits three homers against Dodgers
Little progress in labor talks
Williams' son ends his baseball experiment
Columbus 5, Louisville 2
Miami-UC meeting first since 1997 game
DAUGHERTY: Hewitt's spirit wins the match
For once, serve saves Hewitt
Present, past No.1s in final
Winning at mind game puts Spaniard Moya on a roll
American duo makes history in doubles
Five questions with Patrick McEnroe
Moya, Ferrero put aside their friendship on the court
Davenport reaches first final of year
One for the history books
Rudd looks to tie Gordon for road course wins
Stewart almost too competitive
Faltering Woods still leads by 1
Last chance to make a major impression
Miami No. 1 in AP preseason poll
Wildcats know 'bottom line'
Young says following McMahon prepared him for Montana
Enquirer's Page Two power rankings
The Tae kwon do Kid
3 GGCL volleyball teams in Top 25
Prep girls golf preview
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Saturday's NFL Preseason Games
