For the second straight week, Matt Schaub passed for three touchdowns, leading the Atlanta Falcons past the Cincinnati Bengals and their young quarterback, Carson Palmer, 37-10, in a preseason game on Saturday night.
Michael Vick, expected to play the first half, was held out after aggravating a hamstring injury during pregame warmups.
PHOTO: EPA
For the second straight week, Schaub was a winning backup plan.
Guiding the Falcons to a 27-7 halftime lead, Schaub completed 14 of 20 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns. The rookie from Virginia completed his first six passes.
Playing behind Vick in last week's 27-24 preseason win over Minnesota, Schaub passed for 205 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Vick first strained the hamstring on Aug. 5, and he irritated the injury in last week's win over Minnesota.
The Falcons' first-round draft pick, cornerback DeAngelo Hall, left the game late in the first half with a left hip injury.
Ravens 17, Lions 6
In Baltimore, Chester Taylor ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and the Ravens got a solid performance from their depleted defense.
Cornerback Chris McAlister remains a holdout, and the Ravens were without injured starters Anthony Weaver, Peter Boulware, Marques Douglas and Corey Fuller. But with middle linebacker Ray Lewis leading the way, Baltimore (2-1) did not yield a touchdown for the second time in three games.
Taylor ran for an 84-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, giving Baltimore a 10-6 lead. It was the first of 10 carries for Taylor, the backup to 2003 NFL rushing leader Jamal Lewis.
Using their starting offense only in the first half, the Lions (1-2) failed to reach the end zone, but got two field goals from Jason Hanson.
The crowd of 69,552 was the largest to see a preseason game in Baltimore.
Bucs 17, Dolphins 10
In Tampa, Florida, Chris Simms tightened his grip on Tampa Bay's backup quarterback job, and Ryan Nece returned a fourth-quarter interception 55 yards for a touchdown.
Simms completed 11 of 13 passes for 145 yards to remain well ahead of Brian Griese for the No. 2 spot behind Brad Johnson. The second-year pro was 4-of-4 for 76 yards in a 78-yard drive that Earnest Graham finished with a 2-yard TD run.
Nece's interception off Sage Rosenfels snapped a 10-10 tie midway through the fourth quarter. The son of Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott raced up the right sideline untouched with help from Corey Ivy's block on Rosenfels near the goal line.
A.J. Feeley scored on a 1-yard dive and Olindo Mare kicked a 28-yard field goal for Miami (1-2).
Receiver Marty Booker, acquired from Chicago last week in a trade for defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, made his debut for the Dolphins. He had two receptions, including a 17-yarder from Feeley in the second quarter.
Colts 30, Bills 17
In Indianapolis, Mike Doss recovered a fumbled punt return and blocked another punt that went for a touchdown, Dominic Rhodes returned a kickoff 84 yards to set up another score and Mike Vanderjagt kicked three field goals.
The victory was hardly by design. Again the Colts' high-octane offense frequently backfired, generating just one scoring drive. Again Peyton Manning looked out of sync. And again Indianapolis (2-1) committed far too many mistakes with two interceptions, two fumbles and seven penalties, three on the game's first series.
About the only thing that went right for the Colts was their special teams' play, which made a huge difference.
Buffalo (1-2) lost its second straight game. Making matters worse was that Buffalo's projected backup quarterback, Travis Brown, left on a golf cart after taking a hit to his left knee. It was the second major injury to a Bills quarterback this week. First-round pick J.P. Losman broke his left leg in practice Tuesday.
There was no immediate word on the severity of Brown's injury.
Browns 21, Chiefs 19
In Kansas City, Missouri, rookie quarterback Luke McCown hit rookie Richard Alston with a 34-yard TD pass with no time left. McCown, a fourth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech, engineered an eight-play, 80-yard drive in the final 1 minute, 39 seconds. He also hit C.J. Jones for 37 yards in the drive.
The Browns also got a 7-yard TD pass from McCown to backup tight end Darnell Sanders with 3:40 to go.
Before McCown's final march, Kansas City's second team offense had come to the top after the starters failed for the first time in three exhibition games to score a TD.
Backup quarterback Todd Collins hit 12 of 14 passes for 145 yards and engineered two third-quarter TD drives to put the Chiefs on top 19-14.
The Chiefs (1-2), weakened by injuries to starting wide receivers Eddie Kennison and Johnnie Morton, lost backup Marc Boerigter to a knee injury in the first half. Boerigter was helped off the field, as was Browns tight end Steve Heiden, who sustained a sprained knee a short time later.
Panthers 20, Patriots 17
In Charlotte, North Carolina, the Panthers got a measure of revenge for their Super Bowl loss to New England -- even if they again struggled to stop Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense.
Rodney Peete found Walter Young for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:48 to play.
Jake Delhomme threw for 201 yards and a touchdown for Carolina, which has won eight straight preseason games. Linebacker Brandon Short added a key interception to set up the winning drive.
Brady again stung the Panthers' defense, throwing for 217 yards and two touchdowns in the rematch of last year's thrilling Super Bowl. Adam Vinatieri, who won that game with a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left, missed a 56-yard attempt to tie it as time expired.
Both teams played their starters for three quarters, with Brady and the Patriots getting the best of their counterparts heading into the fourth.
Carolina Pro Bowler Stephen Davis missed the game to rest a sore knee, and reserve DeShaun Foster had no luck running behind a patchwork offensive line that was without starters Tutan Reyes and Matt Willig. Foster fumbled twice, including deep in Patriots' territory just before halftime, and finished with 16 yards.
Raiders 17, Cardinals 16
In Tempe, Arizona, Kerry Collins, the backup to Rich Gannon, rallied Oakland from a 13-3 deficit and the Raiders held on.
The Cardinals' first-string offense scored its first touchdown on a 2-yard run by Josh Scobey with 2:55 left in the third quarter, but that and three field goals by Neil Rackers didn't earn Arizona its first preseason win in its third game.
Last week, Collins threw an 89-yard scoring pass to Doug Gabriel, igniting a controversy among fans who believe Collins has a better chance of answering coach Norv Turner's call to "become a big-play, big-strike team."
This time, he threw a 45-yarder to Gabriel on a three-play drive that began with Gabriel's 15-yard catch. Gabriel's over-the-shoulder reception just ahead of cornerback David Macklin and subsequent dash into the end zone late in the third quarter cut the Raiders' deficit to 13-10.
Seconds later, Grant Irons sacked Josh McCown, forcing a fumble that Maugaula Tuitele recovered on the Arizona 27.
Justin Fargas covered the distance in four carries.
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