NFL Roundup: Bills score OT win over Jaguars Golf Tips

NFL Roundup: Bills score OT win over Jaguars

August 26, 2011, 3:31 pm

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Bills 35, Jaguars 32 (OT)

Orchard Park, N.Y. — Rian Lindell hit a 40-yard field goal with 3:04 left in overtime to lift the Buffalo Bills to a 35-32 preseason victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game nearly 4 hours long Saturday night.

Lindell’s kick came after Jacksonville’s Josh Scobee missed a 53-yard attempt.

It was a back-and-forth game in which Buffalo squandered a 17-point first-half lead and had to overcome a 15-point second-half deficit.

With much of the crowd gone by halftime, Tyler Thigpen forced overtime by hitting Paul Hubbard on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds left, then hooking up again for a 2-point conversion.

Jacksonville dropped to 1-2 this preseason, the same record as Buffalo.

Steelers 34, Falcons 16

Pittsburgh — Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown continued his electrifying preseason, catching four passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns as the Steelers beat Atlanta 34-16 on Saturday.

Brown scored on passes of 77 and 44 yards from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and set up another touchdown with a lengthy kickoff return as Pittsburgh’s starters looked sharp for the second straight week.

Roethlisberger finished 11 of 16 for 214 yards and the two touchdowns in one half.

Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan squeezed an entire game’s worth of action into two quarters, completing 22 of 42 for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception against a banged-up Pittsburgh secondary missing starting cornerbacks Bryant McFadden and Ike Taylor.

Cowboys 23, Vikings 17

Minneapolis — Gerald Sensabaugh had an interception and a hand in a special teams touchdown for Dallas, Tony Romo connected often with Dez Bryant, and the Cowboys beat the Minnesota Vikings 23-17 in a preseason game Saturday night.

Testing out the new turf under the replaced roof at the Metrodome in the first game here since a snowstorm last December severely damaged the 29-year-old stadium, Donovan McNabb and the rest of Minnesota’s offensive starters were sharp.

Lions 34, Patriots 10

Detroit — Matthew Stafford threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns in less than a half, leading the Detroit Lions to a 34-10 preseason win over the New England Patriots on Saturday night.

Tom Brady struggled, connecting on just over half of his passes for 145 yards with a TD and an interception.

The Lions and their sellout crowd at Ford Field were clearly fired up for the nationally televised game against the elite Patriots.

Stafford and Detroit’s defensive front were impressive in the third preseason game, one that both teams treated like a real game for much of the first half.

The Lions (3-0) know they can’t get too excited about exhibition results because they were undefeated in the 2008 preseason and went on to become the NFL’s first 0-16 team.

Texans 30, 49ers 7

San Francisco — Matt Schaub recovered after throwing an interception on the first play of the game, leading the Houston Texans on scoring drives in each of their next three series in a 30-7 exhibition rout of the rebuilding San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night.

Troy Nolan made two interceptions for new defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips, returning the first pick 73 yards for a touchdown to give the Texans 24 straight first-half points after they fell behind 7-0.

Schaub enhanced an already impressive pre-season, going 16 for 24 for 180 yards and a touchdown for the unbeaten Texans (3-0).

Titans 14, Bears 13

Nashville, Tenn. — Seventh-round draft pick Tommie Campbell returned an interception 90 yards for a touchdown, and the Tennessee Titans rallied to beat the Chicago Bears 14-13 on Saturday night.

The Titans (2-1) had trouble stopping Chicago (1-2) as the Bears outgained Tennessee 416-220. But the Titans came up with two interceptions, and the cornerback from Division II California (Pa.) picked off Caleb Hanie’s pass late in the third quarter and ran up the left sideline untouched to put Tennessee ahead to stay.

Cutler played one series into the third quarter and was 13 of 21 for 170 yards with his one interception coming on the opening drive. Matt Forte ran 17 times for 74 yards and a touchdown

Buccaneers 17, Dolphins 13

Tampa, Fla. — Rudy Carpenter threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Overbay with 3:11 remaining, giving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a 17-13 preseason victory over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday night.

Josh Freeman directed a TD drive just before the half to finish on a positive note, and Connor Barth kicked a 28-yard field goal for the Bucs. Tampa Bay overcame 15 penalties in a performance not nearly as crisp as they’d hoped for coming off last week’s sloppy, lopsided loss to New England.

Brandon Marshall scored on a 60-yard reception from Chad Henne and Dan Carpenter kicked field goals of 21 and 47 yards for the Dolphins (2-1), who were penalized 11 times themselves.

Broncos 23, Seahawks 20

Denver — Kyle Orton led Denver back from a shaky start with two touchdown drives and the Broncos’ defense throttled Tarvaris Jackson in a 23-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night.

Jeff Reed tied it at 20 with a 53-yard field goal with 1:16 left in regulation, but Tim Tebow had a 19-yard scramble in leading the Broncos downfield for Steven Haushka’s 51-yarder as time expired.

The Broncos (2-1) sacked Jackson five times, with Von Miller getting two and Elvis Dumervil 1 1/2 . Dumervil missed last season after tearing a chest muscle in training camp shortly after parlaying his 17-sack season into a big contract.

The Broncos sputtered without him and chose Miller out of Texas A&M with the second overall draft pick in April. Miller has three sacks in the preseason.

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