NFL Exhibition Roundup : Tatupu Scores 3 Touchdowns as Patriots Win

Former USC fullback Mosi Tatupu scored three touchdowns, and Rod McSwain scored on a 48-yard pass interception to lead the New England Patriots to a 31-13 National Football League exhibition victory over the Kansas City Chiefs Saturday night at Kansas City.

Tatupu scored twice on one-yard plunges in the second quarter as the Patriots, 1-1 in Coach Raymond Berry’s first exhibition season, took a 14-6 halftime lead. Tatupu added a two-yard scoring burst in the third quarter during a brief, heavy rain.

McSwain’s interception return put New England on top, 30-6, with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.

Dallas 27, San Diego 24--Rafael Septien kicked a 48-yard field with 8:06 remaining in overtime at San Diego as the Cowboys improved to 2-0.

Dallas cornerback Dexter Clinkscale’s interception of a Bruce Mathison pass gave the Cowboys the ball on the San Diego 32-yard line to set up the winning score.

The Cowboys had a chance to win the game three minutes earlier, but Septien missed a 39-yard attempt, wide to the left.

The Cowboys forced the game into overtime when quarterback Gary Hogeboom threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Duriel Harris with 11 seconds left in regulation play. Harris caught the ball on the rebound after it deflected off defensive back Gil Byrd’s shoulder pads.

Dallas drove 78 yards in 12 plays for the tying touchdown after San Diego (1-1) had taken a 24-17 lead with 2:39 remaining on Mathison’s four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Eric Sievers.

Cleveland 28, Philadelphia 14--Veteran quarterback Gary Danielson relieved rookie Bernie Kosar and threw three second-half touchdown passes to lead the Browns at Cleveland.

Danielson, acquired from the Detroit Lions in an off-season trade, completed 12 of 16 passes for 160 yards, including touchdown passes to Kevin Mack (formerly with the Los Angeles Express), Ozzie Newsome and Willis Adams.

Kosar, playing the entire first half, completed only 6 of 22 passes for 97 yards.

Eagle rookie quarterback Randall Cunningham, the first quarterback taken in the regular NFL draft and the 37th player chosen overall, completed 8 of 13 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. He also ran five times for 47 yards.

Indianapolis 24, Chicago 13--Robbie Martin, a 5-8 wide receiver, took a reverse handoff and ran 32 yards for the clinching touchdown at Chicago.

The play came in the closing seconds of the third quarter and clinched the outcome after the Bears had pulled within four points at 17-13.

Quarterback Mike Pagel directed the Colts (2-0) to a 17-3 halftime lead by setting up two touchdowns with his passes. Playing only the first half, Pagel completed 9 of 19 attempts for 133 yards.

In the second quarter, after the Colts had stretched their lead to 14-3 on George Wonsley’s 17-yard run, Raul Allegre kicked off into the wind, and the Bears’ deep receivers, Ken Taylor and Dennis Gentry, were slow coming up. The ball hit the field, bounced high, and Indianapolis’ Mark Kafentzis recovered the free ball on the Chicago 20-yard line.

Indianapolis’ Pat Beach caught a 19-yard pass from Pagel but committed penalties before and after the catch, and the Colts had to settle for a 44-yard field goal into the wind by Allegre.

New York Giants 10, Green Bay 2--At East Rutherford, N.J., Maurice Carthon ran two yards for a touchdown, Ali Haji-Sheikh kicked a 30-yard field goal and the Giants’ defense forced three turnovers.

The Giants improved to 3-0. Green Bay (0-2) has not scored a touchdown in its two games. The Packers lost, 27-3, to Dallas last week.

The only offensive bright spot for Green Bay was second-year quarterback Randy Wright, who played the entire second half and hit 17 of 22 passes for 203 yards. After missing his first attempt, he completed his next 14.

Giant quarterback Phil Simms, who cut a finger on his throwing hand two weeks ago in the Hall of Fame game and sat out last week’s victory over Denver, played the entire first half. He completed 12 of 22 for 157 yards, was intercepted once and was nailed for a safety on his first passing attempt.

Houston 23, New Orleans 20--Mike Akiu returned a blocked punt 17 yards with 1:35 remaining at New Orleans to give the Houston Oilers their first exhibition win of the season after losing two by a total of five points. New Orleans is 1-1.

Warren Moon, going almost three full quarters, led the Oiler offense in both rushing and passing. Moon completed 11 of 20 passes for 200 yards and ran 6 times for 50 yards before giving way to Oliver Luck late in the third quarter.

Cincinnati 24, New York Jets 20--Boomer Esiason passed for two touchdowns and 251 yards in the first half as the Bengals (1-1) beat the Jets (0-2) at Cincinnati.

Esiason, the Bengals’ third-string quarterback, connected on 11 of 17 passes that included completions of 62, 44 and 43 yards. The second-year left-hander from Maryland threw scoring passes of 22 yards to Stanford Jennings and 12 yards to Cris Collinsworth.

Minnesota 41, Pittsburgh 34--Rookie Eric Robinson’s 68-yard punt return with 1:43 to play at Minneapolis led the Vikings to a come-from-behind victory.

Minnesota spotted Pittsburgh leads of 24-3 and 34-20 but rallied to tie the game at 34-34 with 2:49 to go on Wade Wilson’s 44-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Buster Rhymes.

Miami 27, Buffalo 17--The Miami Dolphins, showing that their passing game can function without holdout quarterback Dan Marino, got two touchdown passes from Don Strock and one from Bryan Clark to beat the Bills at Miami.

Strock, who started and played the first half, tossed scoring passes of 41 yards to Mark Clayton and six yards to Vince Heflin. Clark then came on to fire a three-yard pass to rookie Ron Davenport in the third quarter.

Vince Ferragamo started at quarterback for Buffalo and completed only 5 of 17 passes for 33 yards.

Atlanta 23, Tampa Bay 17--Steve Bartkowski passed for one touchdown, Gerald Riggs ran for another, and Mick Luckhurst kicked three field goals to lead the Falcons at Tampa, Fla.

Bartkowski, the first of four Atlanta quarterbacks, tossed an 18-yard scoring pass to Billy Johnson in the first quarter, when Riggs also scored on a 17-yard run.

The victory was Atlanta’s first in an exhibition game on the road since 1978. The Falcons are 1-1, while Tampa Bay is 0-2 under Leeman Bennett, the one-time Atlanta head coach and Ram assistant.