49ers top Cowboys; Prescott plays well in brief cameo
49ERS 17, COWBOYS 9
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Dak Prescott completed all four of his pass attempts, caught one and led Dallas to a field goal in a brief cameo in the exhibition opener as the Cowboys went on to lose to the San Francisco 49ers 17-9 on Saturday night.
Prescott and the bulk of the Dallas offensive starters played one series, moving the ball 65 yards in nine plays. The drive stalled when his third-down pass in the red zone was batted at the line by Sheldon Day right back to Prescott, who lost a yard on the play before Brett Maher kicked the first of his three field goals.
Dallas didn’t have its entire first-team offense on the field as star running back Ezekiel Elliott remains a contract holdout. Rookie Tony Pollard got the nod and ran four times for 16 yards on his only drive of the game.
The Cowboys also played most of their starters on defense for the first two drives, while the Niners kept about 30 players out either with injuries or out of caution. Only a handful of projected starters played for San Francisco, with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo waiting until next week to make his return from knee surgery.
Despite that approach, San Francisco had three players go down with injuries in the first quarter, with swing tackle Shon Coleman (right ankle), running back Raheem Mostert (concussion) and defensive tackle D.J. Jones (knee) all getting hurt.
Nick Mullens got the starting nod at quarterback and threw for 105 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception in the first half in his attempt to win the backup job. C.J. Beathard threw for 141 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception in the second half before leaving with what appeared to be an injured hand.
CHIEFS 38, BENGALS 17
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes picked up where he left off from his record-breaking debut season as a starter, marching the Kansas City Chiefs downfield for a first-quarter touchdown in a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mahomes did a bit of everything on the only series by the Chiefs’ first-team offense, going 4 for 4 for 66 yards while adding a 10-yard scramble and inducing an an offside penalty.
Andy Dalton was nearly as sharp for Cincinnati, going 7 of 9 for 80 yards while leading his team on a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown march to open the game. Dalton did it without the services of injured wide receiver A.J. Green or his top two running backs, Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard.
RAIDERS 14, RAMS 3
OAKLAND, Calif. — Nathan Peterman scrambled 50 yards to set up his only touchdown throw and the Oakland Raiders beat the Los Angeles Rams.
Peterman entered in the third quarter and completed 9 of 12 passes for 66 yards. He also led both teams with 56 yards rushing.
Peterman is competing with Mike Glennon for the backup job to Derek Carr. Glennon started and went 17 of 25 for 200 yards, but threw 2 interceptions.
Blake Bortles started for the Rams and played one series in place of Jared Goff. Bortles completed 3 of 8 throws for 50 yards and had a 59.4 rating.