Edwards makes a splash for Browns
DETROIT — Former Michigan star Braylon Edwards leaped over a defender for a go-ahead 7-yard touchdown reception with 54 seconds left, lifting Cleveland past Detroit 21-13 Saturday in Edwards’ professional debut.
On fourth-and-7, Charlie Frye lofted a pass to Edwards in the corner of the end zone and the No. 3 pick in the draft outjumped Michael Echols to make the catch.
Michael Jameson made an interception to seal the victory for the Browns (2-0) and later, snatched a lateral out of the air with no time left and scored from midfield.
Bills 27, Packers 7
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Quarterback J.P. Losman, who has replaced Drew Bledsoe as the Bills’ starter, engineered scoring drives on each of his first three possessions to lead Buffalo (2-0).
Playing the entire first half, Losman finished 7-of-14 for 59 yards, energized by a sellout crowd in his first home preseason game. He added 36 yards rushing, scoring on a 1-yard keeper set up by ReShard Lee’s 69-yard kickoff return in the second quarter.
It was a much better performance after the 2004 first-round draft pick managed just one first down in his first four series.
Bills’ kicker Rian Lindell made two field goals, including a 54-yarder, and rookie Lionel Gates padded the lead over Green Bay (1-1) with a 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Jaguars 20, Bucs 17
TAMPA, Fla. — David Garrard and Derrick Wimbush ran for second-half touchdowns and Josh Scobee kicked one of his two 29-yard field goals at the end of a 17-play, 10-minute drive that was a reminder of how Jacksonville (2-0) struggled to get the ball into the end zone last season.
The Jaguars were last in the AFC and 29th in the NFL in scoring in 2004. They marched 77 yards against the Bucs’ No. 2 defense in the second quarter, with Byron Leftwich completing 9 of 10 passes for 73 yards before the drive stalled at the Tampa Bay 11.
That nevertheless was a big improvement over the previous week when the Jacksonville quarterback was sacked four times on 11 pass plays against Miami.
The Bucs dropped to 1-1.
Giants 27, Panthers 21
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Inserted into the first unit after an injury to starter Will Peterson, rookie cornerback Corey Webster had an interception and recovered a fumble as the Giants (1-1) forced five turnovers and snapped the Panthers’ 10-game preseason win streak.
Eli Manning threw two long scoring passes to overcome a subpar performance by the Giants’ first-team offense and defense, both of which were pushed around by the Panthers (1-1) in the first half.
Aside from the two touchdown passes, the Panthers’ starters virtually shut down the Giants’ offense. Defensive end Julius Peppers scored one of Carolina’s touchdowns on a 29-yard fumble return.
Texans 19, Raiders 17
HOUSTON — Receiver Doug Gabriel scored two first-quarter touchdowns and the Raiders’ starting offense moved the ball at will in the first half before the Texans (1-1) rallied to win on a pair of fourth-quarter field goals of 53 and 46 yards by Kris Brown. The winner came with eight seconds left.
Randy Moss, meanwhile, had another quiet game, catching two passes for 23 yards in the first half. The only ball thrown to him near the end zone was intercepted, and he has yet to score since putting on the silver-and-black uniform for Oakland (0-2) after his trade from Minnesota.
Gabriel, the all-but-forgotten wide receiver in an offense that should feature Moss and Jerry Porter catching passes, beat Texans cornerback Demarcus Faggins for both scores.
Eagles 20, Ravens 14
BALTIMORE — Dexter Wynn returned a punt 74 yards for a score, Donovan McNabb threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Brian Westbrook, and the Eagles benefited from three turnovers by Kyle Boller.
McNabb went 6-for-9 for 107 yards before leaving in the second quarter with the Eagles (1-1) leading 17-0. He also ran for 27 yards on his lone carry against the Ravens (0-2).
Terrell Owens missed a second straight preseason game because of a groin injury he aggravated on Thursday. The standout wide receiver hasn’t caught a pass this summer, but has made news by demanding a new contract, being sent home from training camp, calling McNabb ‘‘a hypocrite’’ and insulting offensive coordinator Brad Childress.
Bears 24, Colts 17
INDIANAPOLIS — Adrian Peterson and Antoineo Harris each ran for a touchdown, the Bears (2-1) returned a punt for another TD and the Colts’ high-scoring offense never got in sync.
The Bears played without injured quarterback Rex Grossman and their top two running backs — holdout Cedric Benson and incumbent starter Thomas Jones, whom the coaches kept out — and they were still better than the usually efficient Colts (0-3).
Chad Hutchinson, Grossman’s replacement, recovered from two early interceptions to finish 5-of-8 for 40 yards. He also led the Bears on one touchdown drive. Rookie Kyle Orton was 6-of-10 for 67 yards in relief and guided the Bears on their go-ahead drive, while Peterson carried 14 times for 60 yards and scored on a 4-yard run in less than a half.
Steelers 17, Dolphins 3
PITTSBURGH — The Dolphins lost five fumbles in the first half and seven overall in a miserably played game, exhibition or not, and the Steelers (2-0) had just enough offense to capitalize.
James Harrison, filling in for injured Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter, scored on a 69-yard return of quarterback Gus Frerotte’s fumble in the first quarter for the Steelers’ fourth return touchdown in two preseason games. But Pittsburgh’s only touchdown on offense — Ben Roethlisberger and the starters were shut out for a second consecutive game — was backup Verron Haynes’ 1-yard run in the third quarter set up by, of course, a Dolphins fumble.
Frerotte had moved ahead of A.J. Feeley in the race to be the Dolphins’ opening day quarterback, but it was hard to tell as Miami (0-3) lost nearly as many fumbles as Frerotte had completed passes.
Cardinals 24, Chiefs 17
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Josh McCown threw two touchdown passes in the second half in relief of Kurt Warner to rally the Cardinals. Damon Huard, who replaced Trent Green for Kansas City, was 1-for-12 for 11 yards and two interceptions. Huard was elevated to second team this week while regular backup Todd Collins nursed a hand injury.
In the battle of first-teamers, the Chiefs (0-2) were winners. Green hit Samie Parker with an 8-yard pass in the first quarter and engineered a 42-yard drive that resulted in Lawrence Tynes’ 31-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead that held up until the Cardinals (2-0) scored 10 points within less than a minute of the third quarter.
Broncos 26, 49ers 21
San Francisco offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed in the locker room and was rushed to the hospital Saturday night after the 49ers’ 26-21 preseason loss to the Denver Broncos.
Herrion was on the field during San Francisco’s frantic 14-play, 91-yard touchdown drive that ended with 2 seconds left in the game.
Shortly after the Niners entered the locker room, Herrion collapsed. Emergency workers were performing CPR on the lineman as he was being placed in an ambulance.
Coach Mike Nolan said he had no comments about the game.
‘‘There are more important things on our mind than the game,’’ he said.
Herrion, a first-year player with the 49ers, played college ball at Utah and spent part of last season on the Dallas and San Francisco practice squads. He played in NFL Europe earlier this year and was listed as a third-string left guard for the Niners.
Players said he collapsed just after coaches finished addressing players after the game.
‘‘All we could do is what we know how to do, and that was stand back and let the medical staff do their job,’’ Niners defensive lineman Marques Douglas said.
Before Herrion collapsed, the big story of the game for the Niners had been Tim Rattay’s performance and the possibility that he might win the starting quarterback job from Alex Smith, the first pick of this year’s draft.
For the second straight week, Rattay relieved Smith and outplayed him.
Rattay, who started nine games for the 49ers last season, went 7-for-11 for 91 yards and led them to two touchdowns, just like he did last week. He also ran a decent 2-minute drill at the end of the first half that resulted in a missed 55-yard field goal attempt.
In contrast, Smith was not sharp during his four series to start the game.
He went 2-for-7 for 22 yards and both completions were adventures: the first courtesy of a leaping, one-handed grab by Brandon Lloyd, the other resulting in Billy Bajema’s departure from the game after he was met by John Lynch, who hammered Bajema with a hard, but legal, helmet-to-helmet hit. Nolan would undoubtedly like to make Smith his starter, as the Niners start rebuilding from last year’s 2-14 debacle. But so far this preseason, Smith is looking every bit like the rookie he is.
and Rattay, the sixth-year veteran, is moving the offense.
His first touchdown drive included only one pass, but it came against Denver’s first-team defense and everything the 49ers did looked more crisp and confident than with Smith at the helm. The second touchdown was a 58-yarder to Arnaz Battle, who was wide open thanks to a blown coverage by Denver’s backup secondary. It gave the Niners a 14-10 lead early in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Broncos starter Jake Plummer rolled through San Francisco’s newly designed 3-4 defense to start the game, capping a five-play, 68-yard drive with Mike Anderson’s 2-yard touchdown catch.
The next drive started off almost as smoothly, but the Broncos bogged down inside the 20 with two holding penalties and a botched snap. They had to settle for a field goal — a familiar flashback to last season when Denver struggled mightily near the end zone.
‘‘It’s still an area we have to improve on,’’ Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.
Denver’s special teams also were far from perfect, much like last year. Todd Sauerbrun had a punt blocked by Keith Lewis, and normally dependable Jason Elam missed field-goal attempts of 48 and 46 yards. On the plus side, Charlie Adams had punt returns of 39 and 29 yards in the second half.
‘‘You can’t do anything about the field goals, but the punt block was just one guy,’’ Shanahan said.
Jerry Rice, playing as the No. 3 receiver, caught one pass for eight yards. The man he moved ahead of on the depth chart, Darius Watts, botched two balls in the end zone, dropping one and failing to get his second foot down inside the line on another.
Denver backup quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt finished 7-for-18 for 106 yards and led Denver to 10 points.
His highlight was a 32-yard completion to Todd Devoe, who again helped his chances by making the catch despite having a defender grabbing his left arm. Devoe, who began training camp listed ninth of nine receivers, had a 92-yard touchdown catch last week against Houston.
Notes: Broncos CB Brandon Browner broke his left forearm. ... Ron Dayne led the Broncos with 87 yards rushing on 18 carries. ... Kevin Barlow had 36 yards and one score on eight carries.