Vick shines as Eagles slam Ravens

Pats rout Jaguars

PHILADELPHIA, Aug 12, (AP): Michael Vick spent most of his night chatting and joking on the sideline - safe from harm. Vick threw for 74 yards and a touchdown pass in his only series and the new-look Philadelphia Eagles beat the 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. 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. 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 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 sidelined by an undisclosed illness. Tyrod Taylor, a rookie from Virginia Tech, took over for Flacco. He drove the Ravens to the Eagles 5 in the final minute before throwing an incompletion on fourth-and-8 from the 10. Taylor led the Ravens to the Eagles 8 late in the third quarter before throwing an interception to Jarrad Page. He finished 19 of 28 for 179 yards and two picks. The defending NFC East champion Eagles have been one of the most aggressive teams since the lockout ended. They’ve signed 14 free agents, including six players who’ve been to Pro Bowls.

Patriots 47, Jaguars 12
In Foxborough, Massachusetts, third-round draft pick Ryan Mallett played the whole second half and drove New England to touchdowns on his first four series, helping turn a 19-9 halftime lead into a 35-point rout. The former Arkansas star was 12 of 19 for 164 yards and a touchdown. Stevan Ridley, a third-round choice from LSU, scored three touchdowns on two one-yard runs and a 16-yard pass from Mallett. Richard Medlin, a rookie free agent from Fayetteville, had two two-yard touchdown runs.
Blaine Gabbert, the former Missouri quarterback drafted 10th overall, completed 9 of 16 passes for 85 yards for Jacksonville. 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. He played the entire first half with starting quarterback David Garrard unavailable because of a back injury.

Cowboys 24, Broncos 23
In Arlington, Texas, Tim 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 Dallas a victory over Denver. 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 seven 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 was 6 of 7 for 91 yards and ran twice for 15 yards. McGee threw three TD passes.

Seahawks 24, Chargers 17
In San Diego, Thomas Clayton scored on a 25-yard run with 3:05 left to lift Seattle past San Diego.
Tarvaris Jackson passed for 13 yards over two moderately successful series in his debut as Matt Hasselbeck’s replacement with the Seahawks. San Diego’s Phillip Rivers went 5 for 6 while leading an 89-yard scoring in his only series. Cornell graduate Bryan Walters returned a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter for the Chargers, and Mike Tolbert caught an eight-yard scoring pass to cap the only drive by Rivers. Leon Washington rushed for a one-yard score on the Seahawks’ opening drive of the second half, and Josh Portis Portis hit Anthony McCoy with a tying six-yard TD pass with 4:02 left. San Diego rookie Scott Tolzien’s fumble set up Clayton’s go-ahead score, but the former Wisconsin quarterback drove the Chargers to the Seattle five-yard line in the final minute before his final pass pinballed among several players and fell incomplete in the end zone.

Cardinals 24, Raiders 18
In Oakland, California, Kevin Kolb found new favourite 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. 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. Raiders third-stringer Trent Edwards threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to rookie David Ausberry, and Sebastian Janikowski kicked four field goals, including a go-ahead 57-yarder with 2:32 to play, but the Raiders lost in Hue Jackson’s head coaching debut. After a year of poor quarterback play following Kurt Warner’s retirement, Arizona made the big move to acquire Kolb from Philadelphia after the lockout ended last month. The Cardinals sent cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick to the Eagles and gave Kolb a five-year, US$63 million contract, with $21 million guaranteed.