Flacco returns as Ravens roll
BALTIMORE — Joe Flacco went 11 for 16 for 94 yards in his first action since November, but the Baltimore Ravens lost tight end Benjamin Watson to a season-ending injury during a 30-9 preseason victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday night.
Coming off surgery to repair ligaments in his left knee, Flacco played in two series spanning the first quarter. He took the Ravens (3-0) to a field goal on their opening possession and ended his performance by misfiring on a fourth-down pass from the Detroit 43.
Linebacker Terrell Suggs also returned for the Ravens, participating in his first game since tearing his Achilles tendon in the season opener last year. He made two tackles.
Matthew Stafford played the first half for Detroit (1-2), completing 14 of 23 passes for 95 yards. He threw an interception and did not produce a touchdown.
Watson, 35, tore his right Achilles tendon on the game’s first play. He appeared to trip while running a pattern and slumped to the turf. He was helped off the field.
The Ravens pulled away in this one with a 17-point second quarter, fueled by the efficient play of backup quarterback and former Arkansas Razorback Ryan Mallett, and aided by an interception by Anthony Levine late in the half.
After Jeremy Butler made an outstanding catch of a 25yard touchdown pass from Mallett (10 for 15, 112 yards, 1 touchdown), Stafford threw his first interception of the preseason. Mallett also ran for a 1-yard touchdown.
Rookie running back Kenneth Dixon (Strong) rushed six times for 41 yards for Baltimore before hurting a knee.
Detroit ......................0 6 0 3— 9 Baltimore ..................3 17 3 7— 30 First Quarter Bal—FG Tucker 40, 10:58. Second Quarter Det—FG Prater 28, 12:09. Bal—FG Tucker 27, 8:15. Bal—J.Butler 25 pass from Mallett (Tucker kick), 2:55. Bal—Mallett 1 run (Tucker kick), 1:28. Det—FG Prater 60, :00. Third Quarter Bal—FG Lutz 39, 1:34. Fourth Quarter Bal—Jo.Johnson 1 run (Lutz kick), 7:52. Det—FG Bell 33, 2:41. Attendance—70,473. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Detroit, Riddick 3-35, Abdullah 4-16, Stafford 2-15, Zenner 3-13, Orlovsky 1-8, Tate 1-6, Winn 2-6, D.Washington 3-2. Baltimore, West 7-43, Dixon 6-41, Allen 8-15, Campanaro 1-11, Jo.Johnson 3-11, Houston 6-11, Mallett 2-2, Forsett 2-0.
PASSING—Detroit, Stafford 14-23-1-95, Orlovsky 4-7-0-49, Rudock 0-6-0-0. Baltimore, Flacco 11-16-094, Mallett 10-15-0-112, Jo.Johnson 4-6-0-29.
RECEIVING—Detroit, Tate 3-29, M.Jones 3-25, Boldin 3-22, Wick 2-20, T.Jones 1-29, Roberts 1-14, Riddick 1-7, O.Charles 1-5, Lee 1-1, Burton 1-1, Stafford 1-(9). Baltimore, J.Butler 4-43, Allen 4-17, Wallace 3-37, Waller 2-28, Moore 2-26, Aiken 2-24, Forsett 2-14, Collins 1-13, Matthews 1-13, Dixon 1-9, D.Brown 1-6, Juszczyk 1-3, Gillmore 1-2. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Detroit, Prater 53, Bell 47. CHIEFS 23, BEARS 7
CHICAGO — Alex Smith was sharp in leading three scoring drives in the first half and Kansas City got a preseason victory over Chicago.
Smith completed 20 of 30 passes for 181 yards before Nick Foles came in to start the third quarter. The defense strangled Chicago’s offense, and the Chiefs (1-2) came away with the victory after dropping their first two exhibitions.
Kansas City has one more tuneup against Green Bay before opening against San Diego on Sept. 11. But in what is generally the final dress rehearsal for the starters, the Chiefs dominated.
They got two second-quarter field
goals from Cairo Santos and a 1-yard touchdown run by Spencer Ware in the closing seconds of the half to take a 13-0 lead. But the score didn’t reflect just how lopsided the game was.
The Chiefs outgained the Bears 239-20 in the half, had 16 first downs compared to Chicago’s two and dominated time of possession 21:54 to 8:06. Kansas City ................0 13 7 3— 23 Chicago.....................0 0 0 7— 7 Second Quarter KC—FG Santos 20, 13:34. KC—FG Santos 28, 4:54. KC—Ware 1 run (Santos kick), :23. Third Quarter KC—Reaves 4 run (Santos kick), 6:47. Fourth Quarter KC—FG Santos 41, 9:09. Chi—Meredith 16 pass from Shaw (Gould kick), 5:49.
Attendance— 61,681. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Kansas City, A.Smith 2-25, Ware 9-24, K.Davis 5-14, Hill 1-11, Reaves 5-7, A.Wilson 1-1, Hogan 2-(-2). Chicago, Langford 6-17, Shaw 2-15, Cutler 2-9, Carey 4-9, Jo.Howard 4-8, Rodgers 1-1.
PASSING—Kansas City, A.Smith 20-30-0-181, Foles 2-5-0-65, A.Murray 7-9-1-55, Hogan 2-2-0-4. Chicago, Cutler 6-15-0-45, Hoyer 8-17-0-71, Shaw 5-6-0-68.
RECEIVING—Kansas City, Maclin 5-44, Ware 4-26, Hammond 3-50, Kelce 3-37, Conley 2-30, Harris 2-27, Sherman 2-12, O’Shaughnessy 2-11, Hill 1-58, Streater 1-7, B.Parker 1-7, A.Wilson 1-4, Travis 1-1, Carr 1-(-3), Thomas 1-(-3), Reaves 1-(-3). Chicago, Bellamy 5-38, Meredith 4-64, Jeffery 2-18, Braverman 2-16, Housler 1-17, Carey 1-10, Mariani 1-8, Moeaki 1-6, Jo.Howard 1-4, K.White 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS— Chicago, Gould 48. EAGLES 33, COLTS 23
INDIANAPOLIS — Sam Bradford continues making his pitch to be Philadelphia’s starting quarterback. On Saturday night, he threw mostly strikes.
With Carson Wentz missing a second consecutive game because of fractured ribs, Bradford led the Eagles on three touchdown drives and to a third consecutive preseason victory.
Bradford was 17 of 20 for 167 yards with 2 touchdown passes and 1 interception. He played into the third quarter and led the Eagles to scores on four of their first six possessions.
Philadelphia stuffed the run and put so much pressure on Andrew Luck in the first half that Coach Chuck Pagano held out Luck for the final two quarters. Philadelphia...............3 14 7 9— 33 Indianapolis ...............3 0 7 13 — 23 First Quarter Ind—FG Vinatieri 22, 8:40. Phi—FG Sturgis 32, 5:55. Second Quarter Phi—Huff 9 run (Parkey kick), 14:00. Phi—Green-Beckham 4 pass from Bradford (Sturgis kick), 4:33. Third Quarter Phi—Burton 3 pass from Bradford (Parkey kick), 10:33. Ind—Todman 0 blocked punt return (Vinatieri kick), 1:45.
Fourth Quarter Phi—FG Sturgis 47, 13:31. Phi—Watford 28 pass from Daniel (kick failed), 9:04. Ind—Morris 1 run (kick failed), 6:47. Ind—T.Williams 9 pass from Morris (Vinatieri kick), 1:26. Attendance—65,487. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Philadelphia, Marshall 10-40, Barner 6-39, Mathews 3-31, Smallwood 2-11, Huff 2-10, Daniel 1-(-1). Indianapolis, Turbin 4-24, Gore 4-6, Ferguson 5-4, Luck 1-2, Todman 3-2, Morris 1-1.
PASSING—Philadelphia, Bradford 17-20-1-167, Daniel 9-12-0-104. Indianapolis, Luck 13-18-0-134, Tolzien 5-9-1-55, Morris 7-11-0-144.
RECEIVING—Philadelphia, Burton 5-35, Ertz 5-25, Huff 2-60, Turner 2-21, Green-Beckham 2-15, Randle 2-13, Pantale 2-7, Watford 1-28, C.Jones 1-22, Givens 1-19, Marshall 1-13, Sproles 1-8, Smallwood 1-5.
Indianapolis, Moncrief 6-58, Dorsett 3-49, Hilton 3-38, Ferguson 3-28, Coffman 2-16, McKay 1-49, T.Smith 1-47, Reuland 1-10, T.Williams 1-9, Swoope 1-9, Anthrop 1-8, Turbin 1-6, Miller 1-6.
MISSED FIELD GOALS— None. GIANTS 21, JETS 20
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a touchdown pass to Eric Decker and the New York Jets’ defense stifled Eli Manning and the New York Giants’ starters in a preseason loss.
Fitzpatrick connected with Decker for a 22-yard score three plays after Darrelle Revis intercepted Manning in Giants territory in the second quarter.
Fitzpatrick finished 9 of 16 for 76 yards with the score and lost a fumble before being replaced by Geno Smith just before halftime.
Manning was 10 of 15 for 65 yards and an interception while playing one series into the third quarter. The Giants’ starters managed just 61 total yards against Todd Bowles’ defense. NY Giants ..................0 0 7 14 — 21 NY Jets .....................0 7 3 10 — 20 Second Quarter NYJ—Decker 22 pass from Fitzpatrick (Folk kick), 5:26. Third Quarter NYJ—FG Ros.Martin 55, 5:20. NYG—King 27 pass from Nassib (Brown kick), 1:55. Fourth Quarter NYG—Wynn 73 interception return (Bullock kick), 12:22. NYJ—Anderson 10 pass from Hackenberg (Ros. Martin kick), 9:08. NYJ—FG Ros.Martin 29, 6:29. NYG—King 11 pass from Nassib (Brown kick), 2:31. Attendance—78,160. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—New York Giants, King 1-20, Vereen 6-11, Nassib 1-8, Perkins 4-8, Jennings 6-(-1), Darkwa 1-(3), Manning 1-(minus 4). New York Jets, A.Smith 13-30, Forte 10-28, B.Powell 4-18, T.Williams 2-3, Bohanon 1-0. PASSING—New York Giants, Manning 10-15-1-65, Nassib 6-19-0-69. New York Jets, Fitzpatrick 9-16-076, G.Smith 3-5-0-14, Petty 5-10-1-59, Hackenberg 6-16-1-105. RECEIVING—New York Giants, King 2-38, Vereen 2-18, Jennings 2-14, Tye 2-(minus 2), Lewis 1-20, J.Adams 1-14, Beckham 1-8, Donnell 1-8, G.Davis 1-7, Rainey 1-4, Cruz 1-4, Shepard 1-1. New York Jets, Anderson 4-65, Sudfeld 3-32, J.Marshall 3-30, B.Powell 3-16, Ross 2-20, A.Smith 2-13, Forte 2-9, Peake 1-26, Decker 1-22, Worthy 1-12, Bostick 1-9. MISSED FIELD GOALS— None. TITANS 27, RAIDERS 14
OAKLAND, Calif. — Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr look ready for the season to start after a successful preseason dress rehearsal.
Mariota led Tennessee to scores on all four drives he played, and Carr threw two touchdown passes for Oakland as the Titans beat the Raiders.
Mariota had the Raiders scrambling all night, faking out DJ Hayden on an option run and beating Oakland’s top cornerback Sean Smith on a couple of plays.
Smith nearly intercepted a pass to Tajae Sharpe on the opening drive and
safety Nate Allen jumped in apparent celebration. But Sharpe caught the ball and got by the unsuspecting Allen for a 60-yard gain that set up DeMarco Murray’s 1-yard run.
After settling for field goals on Tennessee’s next two drives, Mariota led one more TD drive late in the half before calling it a night. He finished 9 for 16 for 170 yards and ran for 20 more. Tennessee ................ 10 10 7 0— 27 Oakland ....................7 7 0 0— 14 First Quarter Ten—D.Murray 1 run (Succop kick), 12:49. Oak—Washington 6 pass from Carr (Janikowski kick), 8:35. Ten—FG Succop 34, 3:39. Second Quarter Ten—FG Succop 30, 13:43. Oak—Cooper 29 pass from Carr (Janikowski kick), 10:21. Ten—Henry 3 run (Succop kick), 1:56. Third Quarter Ten—Bass 47 fumble return (Rosas kick), 8:58. Attendance—53,300. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Tennessee, Henry 12-49, D.Murray 8-40, Mariota 3-20, Andrews 4-9, Douglas 0-8, McCluster 2-3, Fowler 1-2, Cobb 2-1. Oakland, Washington 8-55, Atkinson 4-35, Richard 7-35, Carr 2-18, Holton 1-14, L.Murray 2-0, Olawale 2-0.
PASSING—Tennessee, Mariota 9-16-0-170, Cassel 2-3-0-16, Tanney 2-2-0-19. Oakland, Carr 12-18-0169, McGloin 8-13-1-71, Cook 3-6-1-51.
RECEIVING—Tennessee, An.Johnson 3-65, A.Ellis 2-22, McCluster 2-5, Sharpe 1-60, Matthews 1-19, Fasano 1-13, Henry 1-8, Supernaw 1-7, Hunter 1-6. Oakland, Brent 3-54, Holton 3-54, Cooper 3-52, Atkinson 3-40, Washington 3-(minus 2), L.Murray 2-19, Richard 2-7, Crabtree 1-41, S.Roberts 1-15, Olawale 1-8, O’Malley 1-3. MISSED FIELD GOALS— None. BRONCOS 17, RAMS 9
DENVER — Trevor Siemian threw his first touchdown pass of the preseason and tightened his grip on the Denver starting quarterback job in a victory over Los Angeles.
After showing off his strong right arm over a first half that included a 1-yard pass to Virgil Green, Siemian accepted hugs from his teammates and gave way to rookie Paxton Lynch, who was 6 of 13 for 57 yards.
Siemian completed 10 of 17 passes for 122 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception.
Siemian’s most impressive throw was a 43-yarder to Demaryius Thomas, who caught it in stride over his outside shoulder as he streaked down the Rams’ sideline in the final minute of the first half. That set up a 50-yard field goal by Brandon McManus that made it 10-9 at halftime. Los Angeles ...............3 6 0 0— 9 Denver......................0 10 7 0— 17 First Quarter LA—FG Zuerlein 29, 1:05. Second Quarter LA—FG Zuerlein 38, 11:36. Den—V.Green 1 pass from Siemian (McManus kick), 4:05. LA—FG Zuerlein 48, :57. Den—FG McManus 50, :17. Third Quarter Den—Hillman 7 run (McManus kick), 7:02. Attendance— 75,532. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Los Angeles, Magee 3-78, B.Cunningham 6-22, M.Brown 7-21, A.Green 6-18, Mannion 1-5, Keenum 1-4, Goff 2-2. Denver, C.Anderson 11-50, Hillman 5-45, Booker 8-13, Bibbs 5-11, P.Lynch 4-1.
PASSING—Los Angeles, Keenum 8-12-0-77, Goff 4-12-0-45, Mannion 6-12-0-43. Denver, Siemian 1017-1-122, P.Lynch 6-13-0-57.
RECEIVING—Los Angeles, Kendricks 3-36, Quick 3-15, Britt 2-20, C.Reynolds 2-13, A.Green 2-13, Cooper 1-19, M.Thomas 1-14, McRoberts 1-14, Higbee 1-11, A.Hill 1-7, Hemingway 1-3. Denver, D.Thomas 4-63, Sanders 3-45, V.Green 3-14, Booker 1-17, Frazier 1-16, Addison 1-9, J.Thompson 1-7, Posey 1-5, Taylor 1-3. MISSED FIELD GOALS— None.