Special start
Vick impressed by what he sees from new-look Eagles
Just one meaningless game in, Michael Vick already senses something special building in Philadelphia.
Vick threw for 74 yards and a touchdown pass in his only series and the new-look Eagles beat the visiting Baltimore Ravens 13-6 Thursday night in their preseason opener.
Nnamdi Asomugha, Vince Young and several other big-name acquisitions made their debuts for the Eagles, who’ve signed a slew of free agents with impressive resumes in the past two weeks.
“I feel that each and every guy in that locker room wants to be on this team,” Vick said. “We’ve enjoyed each other so much in training camp. Guys want to play for us and I wish every guy can make this team. I feel this is the best team I’ve been on and we definitely have something special.”
Joe Flacco played two series and led the Ravens to a field goal on the opening possession. He completed 3 of 6 passes for 60 yards. Ricky Williams, who signed with Baltimore on Monday, was inactive.
“I think we’re going to a good football team,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We have a chance to be great, but that is up to us. We should make our biggest improvements in the next week.”
Harbaugh has led the Ravens to a playoff victory in each of his first three seasons.
Vick, the runner-up to Tom Brady for NFL MVP, completed 4 of 6 passes, including a 3-yard TD toss to Brent Celek. He drove the Eagles right down the field against Ray Lewis and Baltimore’s vaunted defense.
Vick threw a 20-yard pass to Jason Avant on his first play. He later connected with Riley Cooper on a 42-yard pass over Ed Reed to the Ravens 2. An almost identical pass to Cooper in the final minute of last year’s wild-card playoff game against Green Bay was intercepted by Tramon Williams in the end zone to seal the Packers’ 21-16 win.
Two plays later, Vick hit Celek to give Philadelphia a 7-3 lead. Cooper and Avant started in place of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Jackson just joined the Eagles after a 12-day holdout and Maclin remains sideline by an undisclosed illness.
“I told him to get open and I’ll find him,” Vick said of Celek. “I went back and looked at film by myself in the offseason and a majority of the time last year Brent was open and I failed to throw to him because I was focused on DeSean and Jeremy.”
Cowboys 24, Broncos 23
Tim Tebow showed off his fancy moves on a wild play that didn’t even count.
Tebow’s failed scramble just before halftime stood as the play of the game, until Stephen McGee – another option quarterback in college – ran around to throw a 13-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion with 15 seconds left, giving the Dallas Cowboys a victory over the Denver Broncos at Arlington, Texas.
Tebow led the Broncos to two field goals in four drives.
His first scoring series started at Denver’s 10 and included a 43-yard pass perfectly lofted into double coverage. The other drive, however, started 7 yards from the end zone and wound up moving backward.
That series began with Tebow running it into the end zone on first down, but a holding penalty wiped it out, shoving the Broncos back to the 17. On third down, Tebow ran almost to the left sideline, back to the middle of the field, then tossed the ball to a waiting receiver for a short gain. However, Tebow crossed the line of scrimmage before ever cutting back, a lineman illegally went up the field to block and another teammate clobbered one of the Cowboys in the back. Dallas declined them all, forcing the Broncos to kick a field goal.
Tebow’s numbers were good. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 91 yards. He also ran twice for 15 yards. But it remains to be seen how much his overall performance helped in his bid to unseat veteran Kyle Orton.
Orton led the Broncos 74 yards on his lone series.
Patriots 47, Jaguars 12
Blaine Gabbert had an inconsistent NFL debut and his Jacksonville Jaguars teammates didn’t do any better as the New England Patriots won at Foxborough, Mass.
Playing against mostly backups as top players for both teams sat out the game, the Jaguars scored three field goals on Gabbert’s six possessions. The 10th pick of the draft from Missouri completed 9 of 16 passes for 85 yards.
Another rookie quarterback, third-rounder Ryan Mallett of the Patriots, did better.
The former Arkansas standout played the whole second half and drove the Patriots to touchdowns on his first four series, helping to turn a 19-9 halftime lead into a 35-point rout.
Cardinals 24, Raiders 18
Kevin Kolb found new favorite target Larry Fitzgerald twice in his Arizona debut but was unable to get his offense on the scoreboard in two drives before the Cardinals rallied to beat the Raiders at Oakland.
Arizona’s other three quarterbacks all threw touchdown passes, including a 28-yarder from Max Hall to Isaiah Williams with 39 seconds left for the win.
Around the league
The Tennessee Titans say they are ready to make Chris Johnson the highest-paid running back in NFL history – all he has to do is show up at camp so they can finalize the deal. Johnson has two years left on his current contract but has refused to report until he signs a new contract. … An MRI revealed Carolina Panthers starting wide receiver David Gettis tore the ACL in his left knee in practice and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. … The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to terms with former New York Jets wide receiver Jericho Cotchery.