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Ben Roethlisberger played a nearly flawless first half in his first game since injuring his right foot, James Farrior had a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown and Buffalo's starting offense struggled yet again as the host Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Bills, 17-0, in a preseason game Saturday night.
Roethlisberger led two scoring drives while going 15-for-19 for 168 yards with a 103.5 passer rating before sitting out the second half - showing why coach Mike Tomlin didn't seem all that worried when his quarterback bruised his foot during the final training camp practice Aug 20. Roethlisberger didn't play in a 17-13 loss to the Washington Redskins two days later.
"You give him time in the pocket, and he'll usually make something happen," said left tackle Max Starks, who gave the Steelers a scare by falling on the quarterback's foot during camp.
Rashard Mendenhall ran 16 times for 48 yards with Willie Parker out with a hamstring injury, although the first-round pick from last season fumbled inside the Bills 30 on Pittsburgh's opening possession. Mendenhall came back to score from the 4 on a 13-play, 87-yard drive in which Roethlisberger looked ready for the regular season, finding Limas Sweed for 16 yards, Hines Ward for 19 and Heath Miller for 18.
"We put the ball on the ground, but I liked the way we moved it," Tomlin said.
Browns 23, Titans 17: One perfect pass might have pushed Brady Quinn over the top.
Quinn threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards and outplayed Derek Anderson in perhaps their final auditions for coach Eric Mangini to be host Cleveland's starting quarterback.
After coming off the bench last week, Quinn got the start and finished 11-for-15 for 128 yards. He led the Browns to one TD and two field goals in his four series.
Anderson went 7-for-11 for 77 yards and led the Browns to one field goal on two possessions. He didn't have an interception, but one poorly thrown ball was dropped by Tennessee cornerback Tenard Davis.
Seahawks 14, Chiefs 10: Matt Hasselbeck threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns, leading visiting Seattle to victory over Kansas City, which lost quarterback Matt Cassel, at least temporarily, with a leg injury.
Cassel was injured the first time he dropped back to pass, dragged down from behind by Brandon Mebane after the pocket collapsed. Cassel called timeout, then limped down the tunnel toward the locker room and didn't return.
Saints 45, Raiders 7: Drew Brees completed 14 of 17 passes for 179 yards and drove visiting New Orleans to touchdowns on all three drives he played.
Those three drives went so well that coach Sean Payton pulled most of his starters early in the second quarter instead of playing them into the third quarter as planned.
Lions 18, Colts 17: Daunte Culpepper threw for a touchdown and Matthew Stafford passed for 160 yards to help host Detroit to victory.
Culpepper started and completed seven of 12 passes for 67 yards. Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, was 13-for-19 but also threw an interception.
Falcons 27, Chargers 24: San Diego's Philip Rivers led touchdown drives in two of his three possessions in his first game since signing a contract extension before host Atlanta's backups rallied.
Jets 27, Giants 25: Mark Sanchez completed a spectacular 31-yard touchdown pass play to Chansi Stuckey and put 20 points on the board in 2 1/2 quarters as the Jets took the annual New York bragging-rights game.
49ers 20, Cowboys 13: Host Dallas rode Felix Jones and Marion Barber for most of a 94-yard touchdown drive, the highlight series during the first-half battle between the first-team units in a preseason game against San Francisco.
The 49ers won the game on a 9-yard touchdown run by Kory Sheets with 33 seconds left.
Roethlisberger led two scoring drives while going 15-for-19 for 168 yards with a 103.5 passer rating before sitting out the second half - showing why coach Mike Tomlin didn't seem all that worried when his quarterback bruised his foot during the final training camp practice Aug 20. Roethlisberger didn't play in a 17-13 loss to the Washington Redskins two days later.
"You give him time in the pocket, and he'll usually make something happen," said left tackle Max Starks, who gave the Steelers a scare by falling on the quarterback's foot during camp.
Rashard Mendenhall ran 16 times for 48 yards with Willie Parker out with a hamstring injury, although the first-round pick from last season fumbled inside the Bills 30 on Pittsburgh's opening possession. Mendenhall came back to score from the 4 on a 13-play, 87-yard drive in which Roethlisberger looked ready for the regular season, finding Limas Sweed for 16 yards, Hines Ward for 19 and Heath Miller for 18.
"We put the ball on the ground, but I liked the way we moved it," Tomlin said.
Browns 23, Titans 17: One perfect pass might have pushed Brady Quinn over the top.
Quinn threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards and outplayed Derek Anderson in perhaps their final auditions for coach Eric Mangini to be host Cleveland's starting quarterback.
After coming off the bench last week, Quinn got the start and finished 11-for-15 for 128 yards. He led the Browns to one TD and two field goals in his four series.
Anderson went 7-for-11 for 77 yards and led the Browns to one field goal on two possessions. He didn't have an interception, but one poorly thrown ball was dropped by Tennessee cornerback Tenard Davis.
Seahawks 14, Chiefs 10: Matt Hasselbeck threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns, leading visiting Seattle to victory over Kansas City, which lost quarterback Matt Cassel, at least temporarily, with a leg injury.
Cassel was injured the first time he dropped back to pass, dragged down from behind by Brandon Mebane after the pocket collapsed. Cassel called timeout, then limped down the tunnel toward the locker room and didn't return.
Saints 45, Raiders 7: Drew Brees completed 14 of 17 passes for 179 yards and drove visiting New Orleans to touchdowns on all three drives he played.
Those three drives went so well that coach Sean Payton pulled most of his starters early in the second quarter instead of playing them into the third quarter as planned.
Lions 18, Colts 17: Daunte Culpepper threw for a touchdown and Matthew Stafford passed for 160 yards to help host Detroit to victory.
Culpepper started and completed seven of 12 passes for 67 yards. Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, was 13-for-19 but also threw an interception.
Falcons 27, Chargers 24: San Diego's Philip Rivers led touchdown drives in two of his three possessions in his first game since signing a contract extension before host Atlanta's backups rallied.
Jets 27, Giants 25: Mark Sanchez completed a spectacular 31-yard touchdown pass play to Chansi Stuckey and put 20 points on the board in 2 1/2 quarters as the Jets took the annual New York bragging-rights game.
49ers 20, Cowboys 13: Host Dallas rode Felix Jones and Marion Barber for most of a 94-yard touchdown drive, the highlight series during the first-half battle between the first-team units in a preseason game against San Francisco.
The 49ers won the game on a 9-yard touchdown run by Kory Sheets with 33 seconds left.
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