MIAMI — Tampa Bay swarmed Miami’s struggling quarterbacks, and Michael Bennett had 68 yards rushing and a touchdown to lead the Buccaneers to a 17-6 win over the Dolphins on Saturday night in the preseason opener for both teams.
Chad Pennington flipped through play charts on the sideline in his new Dolphins jersey, watching his fellow quarterbacks audition for their jobs — and observing why Miami signed him.
Second-year man John Beck, rookie Chad Henne and Josh McCown alternated play at quarterback for the Dolphins. None led the offense to a touchdown, struggling to even get first downs.
Henne was the most effective Dolphins quarterback, throwing for 67 yards on 5-for-10 passing. He also led Miami’s two scoring drives, and perhaps most importantly, he didn’t throw an interception.
Pennington, cut by the New York Jets after they signed Brett Favre, signed an $11.5 million, two-year contract with Miami on Friday. He is expected to be the starting quarterback for the Dolphins this season.
Jaguars 20, Falcons 17
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars rested Fred Taylor and lost three fumbles but still had enough offense in the preseason opener for both teams.
Matt Ryan, this year’s No. 3 overall draft pick, entered the game with 6:41 left in the first period and led an 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive on his second series. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 56 yards on the drive, including a 25-yard scoring pass to Roddy White, who had to twist to catch the ball.
The Falcons scored only three points off lost fumbles by three Jacksonville rookies — running backs Lavarus Giles and Chauncey Washington and return specialist Brian Witherspoon.
New Falcons coach Mike Smith, who came to Atlanta after five years as the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator, played each of his four quarterbacks.
Redskins 17, Bills 14
LANDOVER, Md. — Redskins quarterbacks Jason Campbell and Todd Collins combined to go 15-for-21 in the first half as they continue to look sharp under new coach Jim Zorn.
Campbell played the first quarter and went 7-for-10 for 71 yards — and two of the incompletions were batted at the line of scrimmage. He led a 12-play drive that was nearly derailed by a pair of 10-yard penalties before Clinton Portis’ 1-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal.
Collins was 8-for-11 for 77 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to running back Ladell Betts. Collins did have one major miscue — a pass picked off by Ashton Youboty that set up a Bills touchdown in the final two minutes of the first half.
Including the 30-16 win over Indianapolis in last weekend’s Hall of Fame game, Campbell and Collins have combined to go 25-for-32 for 241 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
The Bills, playing their preseason opener, did not fare as well with starter Trent Edwards, who was 1-for-5 for 18 yards.
Titans 34, Rams 13
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Keith Bulluck intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown, and rookie Chris Johnson zipped up the middle 66 yards for a TD in the exhibition opener for both teams.
With St. Louis running back Steven Jackson holding out, the Rams had little offense. Tennessee picked off Marc Bulger once, sacked his backups three times and held the Rams to 76 yards rushing
Tennessee moved the ball at ease, running for 340 of its 495 yards of offense. Johnson had 100 yards combined himself.
Panthers 23, Colts 20, OT
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Starting his second straight game as Peyton Manning recovers from knee surgery, backup Jim Sorgi lost a fumble and threw an interception on the Colts’ first two possessions under constant pressure from Julius Peppers.
DeAngelo Williams converted both miscues into touchdown runs, finishing with nine carries for 55 yards.
After a miserable 2½-sack season in 2007, Peppers had a sack, a forced fumble and quarterback hurry to give the Panthers the ball inside the 20 on their first two possessions. In his first game after undergoing ligament-replacement surgery in October, Jake Delhomme threw just one pass, an incompletion in the end zone.
Texans 19, Broncos 16
HOUSTON — Texans backup receiver David Anderson caught six passes for 67 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown from Sage Rosenfels.
Kris Brown kicked four field goals, including the 25-yard winner on the game’s final play. Rosenfels completed 10 of 15 passes for 137 yards in relief of starting quarterback Matt Schaub, who played only one series.
Denver’s Jay Cutler went 8-for-10 for 59 yards and ran for a touchdown in his one quarter of work.
The Texans have good depth at receiver, and the 5-foot-10, 196-pound Anderson is fighting for a roster spot. He had only 12 receptions in 2007, his second season, and was inactive for the final five games.
Chargers 31, Cowboys 17
SAN DIEGO — Rookie Jacob Hester scored two rushing touchdowns to make a strong case for one of the Chargers’ few open roster spots.
Hester, the team’s third-round draft pick out of LSU, scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards. He gained 49 yards on 13 carries.
Hester is competing with Darren Sproles to replace Michael Turner as the backup for two-time defending NFL rushing champ LaDainian Tomlinson. Sproles gained 7 yards on 5 carries and had a 5-yard touchdown run, one of three first-half rushing TDs for San Diego.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo looked sharp in his only series as he led Dallas to the game’s first touchdown on an 8-play, 54-yard drive. Romo completed all three passes for 33 yards.
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