Atlanta newcomer Todd Peterson made three field goals and Ty Detmer threw an 18-yard pass to Mark Anelli for the lone touchdown in the Falcons' 16-3 exhibition victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night.
Michael Vick played two series in the first quarter, then called it a night. Two years ago, the star quarterback broke his leg in a preseason game against the Ravens, costing him the first 11 weeks of the regular season while Atlanta tumbled to 5-11.
Vick directed a 78-yard drive on the Falcons' second possession. He completed two passes for 32 yards and benefited from a 32-yard pass-interference call on Chris McAlister. But Deion Sanders caught Vick on a blitz, knocking the ball loose and recovering it himself at the Baltimore 18.
Peterson, a former Georgia kicker who signed with the Falcons during the offseason to replace Jay Feely, connected from 29, 34 and 27 yards. He missed a 46-yarder.
Jaguars 27, Dolphins 17
At Jacksonville, Florida, David Allen returned a punt 76 yards for a score, and Ernest Wilford caught a 19-yard touchdown pass that ricocheted off a teammate to help Jacksonville beat Miami.
Byron Leftwich was 3-of-7 in a little more than a quarter of work. Good thing, too. Had he played any longer, he might have gotten hurt. Leftwich was sacked four times on 11 pass plays, a bad sign for a unit that vowed to score more points after finishing last in the AFC and 29th in the league in scoring last season.
Miami had limited success on offense, with Ricky Williams running six times for 39 yards and Chris Chambers making a 16-yard circus catch. Quarterbacks Gus Frerotte and A.J. Feeley did little to separate themselves in the team's most hype position battle, and the offensive line continued to look lost against stunts and blitzes.
Frerotte was 6-of-14 for 51 yards, and Feeley was 6-of-13 for 60 yards with an interception. Sage Rosenfels and Brock Berlin each directed a fourth-quarter TD drive.
Broncos 20, Texans 14
At Houston, Todd Devoe broke free with a short pass from Matt Mauck, then scampered 92 yards late in the fourth quarter to lift Denver past Houston.
Devoe, who spent his rookie year last year on Baltimore's practice squad, broke a tackle inside his own 20, then raced down the sideline with 4:18 to go.
The score came after quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt, who played more than half the game, improved his chances to secure a backup spot in Denver by leading the Broncos to a pair of field goals by Jason Elam.
Van Pelt, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 107 yards, spent all of last season on the practice squad and hadn't appeared in a game since last preseason. He took over early in the second quarter for Jake Plummer, who played three series and tossed a 3-yard TD pass to tight end Stephen Alexander that tied the game at 7.
Panthers 28, Redskins 10
At Charlotte, former Washington receiver Rod Gardner had a 21-yard touchdown catch on Carolina's first drive to help the Panthers extend their preseason winning streak to 10 games.
Unhappy with his role in Washington's offense, Gardner asked the Redskins to trade him in January. It took them until late last month to pull off a deal with the Panthers, who gave up a sixth-round pick for him just days before training camp opened.
Gardner opened the game with a 10-yard catch to start Carolina's drive, then Steve Smith added two catches for 18 yards. Gardner put the Panthers on the board on their ninth play when he raced into the end zone as Jake Delhomme was under pressure.
Gardner, who played just the first quarter, caught both balls thrown to him and finished with 31 yards receiving.
Bills 17, Colts 10
At Indianapolis, J.P. Losman threw a TD pass and Buffalo's Lauvale Sape returned a blocked punt for a score in the Bills' victory over the Colts, who used Peyton Manning for just three snaps in an ugly preseason game.
The teams combined for 26 penalties and four fumbles. The first quarter took nearly an hour. The officials messed up the game's first touchdown call -- first ruling Sape's blocked punt return was a safety.
The loudest cheers came when a Pee Wee football player scored on a long touchdown run during halftime.
Browns 17, Giants 14
At Cleveland, First-year Cleveland coach Romeo had his debut diluted by some severe weather that caused a lengthy delay in the first quarter, but he got his first exhibition win when the Browns rallied to beat New York.
Rookie Tyler Jones kicked a 41-yard field goal with 6:18 left. Another rookie, quarterback Charlie Frye, a Browns fan since he was a kid, threw a 19-yard TD pass to tight end Paul Irons in the third quarter to put Cleveland up 14-7.
New York's Tim Hasselbeck tossed a 9-yarder to Ataveus Cash to tie it.
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
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Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried