Matt Schaub threw three touchdown passes in relief of Michael Vick, leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 27-24 preseason victory Friday night over the Minnesota Vikings.
The rookie from Virginia completed 16 of 19 passes for 205 yards and no interceptions.
Daunte Culpepper and Gus Frerotte had long TD passes for the Vikings (1-1), who had leads of 17-0 and 24-13 before the Falcons rallied behind Schaub and the rest of the reserves.
Randy Moss caught three passes for 89 yards for Minnesota, including a 67-yarder for a score in the second quarter.
After replacing Vick midway through the second quarter, Schaub connected on his first pass, an 11-yard screen to Warrick Dunn. Schaub fooled the defense with a pump fake on the next play and lofted a perfect pass to Michael Jenkins, who sprinted down the left sideline untouched to the end zone for a 47-yard TD.
Schaub added his second TD pass early in the third quarter, finding Stanley Pritchett alone in the corner to make it 24-20, then gave the Falcons (1-1) the lead for good with a 1-yarder to Jimmy Farris.
Jaguars 14, Bucs 6
In Jacksonville, Florida, John Henderson set the tone for a dominating first half by intercepting a pass on the first play from scrimmage, and the Jaguars shrugged off early mistakes on offense and special teams to beat Tampa Bay.
Quinn Gray threw a 48-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Hatchette, and Rich Alexis ran 1 yard for another TD for Jacksonville, which missed three field goals and failed to take advantage of two turnovers deep in Bucs territory in the first quarter alone.
Tampa Bay was limited to 21 yards on 19 offensive plays in the first half, yet only trailed 7-0 at that point because of Jaguars' miscues.
The Bucs were held without a first down until Chris Simms completed a 15-yard pass to Will Heller midway through the third quarter. The second-year quarterback led two scoring drives in the last 25 minutes, with Martin Gramatica finishing both with field goals of 43 and 44 yards.
Eagles 26, Ravens 17
In Philadelphia, Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens connected on an 81-yard TD pass on Philadelphia's first play, and rookie J.R. Reed returned a kickoff 88 yards for a score, leading the Eagles over Baltimore.
But the victory was costly for Philadelphia, which lost running back Correll Buckhalter after he tore the patella tendon in his right knee in the first quarter.
Will Demps returned a lateral for a TD, and quarterback Kordell Stewart ran for a score for Baltimore.
While preseason games usually attract little interest, most eyes focused on Owens and Lewis, who exchanged verbal jabs after the four-time Pro Bowl receiver spurned the Ravens, forcing a trade to the Eagles after the San Francisco 49ers initially dealt him to Baltimore.
Upset by Owens' rejection, Lewis warned the outspoken receiver not to go across the middle. Owens responded by saying Lewis isn't the hardest hitter to play in the league.
But the feud didn't live up to its hype as the players hardly crossed paths in just a half of work.
Suspension
New Orleans Saints linebacker Sedrick Hodge has been suspended for four games by the NFL for violating its substance abuse policy.
Hodge, a third-round draft selection by the Saints in 2001, was expected to start at strong-side linebacker this season. He will be unavailable for the first four games -- on Sept. 12 against Seattle, Sept. 19 against San Francisco, Sept. 26 at St. Louis and Oct. 3 at Arizona.
Hodge is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games, but must leave the team on Sept. 5.
The suspension will cost him four game checks for a total loss of US$147,764.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set