Steelers take hit at QB
Pittsburgh quarterback Byron Leftwich, tuning up for his anticipated Sept. 12 start against Atlanta in place of the suspended Ben Roethlisberger, sprained his left knee in the second quarter as the Steelers beat the starter-less Carolina Panthers 19-3 on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Leftwich would undergo an MRI today, but the quarterback’s teammates sounded discouraged.
Lions 28, Bills 23: At Detroit, Matthew Stafford had an interception returned for a touchdown, but third-stringer Drew Stanton threw a pair of second-half touchdown passes to lift Detroit over Buffalo.
Giants 20, Patriots 17: At East Rutherford, N.J., Rhett Bomar may have nailed down the job as the New York’s backup quarterback, throwing a 60-yard scoring pass to Duke Calhoun with 1:49 to play as the Giants rallied over New England.
Bengals 30, Colts 28: At Indianapolis, Cedric Peerman had a 93-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Cincinnati beat Indianapolis. Peerman finished with 100 yards rushing.
Jaguars 13, Falcons 9: At Jacksonville, Fla., fullback Brock Bolen scored on a 16-yard run, Josh Scobee kicked two field goals and Jacksonville topped Atlanta.
Jets 21, Eagles 17: At Philadelphia, Michael Vick led the Eagles to a field goal in two series and Kurt Coleman scored on two fumble returns, but New York held on to beat Philadelphia.
Browns 13, Bears 10: At Cleveland, Montario Hardesty, the Browns’ highly touted rookie running back, hurt his left knee in the second quarter in a win over Chicago, a potentially major blow to the Browns’ running game.
Rams 27, Ravens 21: At St. Louis, rookie quarterback Sam Bradford made another favorable impression in his second preseason start, going 6 for 6 for 68 yards and a touchdown to open St. Louis’ victory over Baltimore.
Vikings 31, Broncos 24: At Minneapolis, Denver rookie Tim Tebow outplayed Minnesota’s Tarvaris Jackson in the backup quarterback comparison, but the Vikings forced four first-half turnovers and beat the Broncos.
Buccaneers 24, Texans 17: At Houston, Rudy Carpenter threw two touchdown passes to Arrelious Benn, Corey Lynch returned one of his two interceptions 91 yards for another score and Tampa Bay beat the Texans.
Titans 27, Saints 24: At Nashville, Tenn., Alvin Pearman’s 5-yard touchdown with 3:18 left helped Tennessee beat New Orleans.
Chiefs 17, Packers 13: At Kansas City, Mo., Matt Cassel and Brodie Croyle each led touchdown drives and Kansas City beat Green Bay for its first preseason victory since 2008.
Cowboys 27, Dolphins 25: At Arlington, Texas, Dallas kicker David Buehler showed he can handle place-kicks by making field goals of 51, 45 and 40 yards then nailing a 31-yarder as time expired to lift the Cowboys past Miami.
Cardinals 20, Redskins 10: At Glendale, Ariz., Cardinals quarterback Max Hall, the undrafted rookie from BYU, completed 7 of 9 passes for 126 yards and scored on a 6-yard run in Arizona’s victory over Washington.
49ers 17, Chargers 14: At San Francisco, Manny Lawson and rookie Taylor Mays each had interceptions and rookie Anthony Dixon ran 46 yards for a first-half touchdown in the 49ers’ victory over San Diego.