NFL Exhibition Roundup : Giants Hit 18 Straight Passes, Beat Steelers

Quarterbacks Phil Simms and Jeff Rutledge completed 18 straight passes Saturday night to lead the New York Giants to a 28-17 exhibition victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at East Rutherford, N.J.

Simms completed 10 straight passes, including two for touchdowns to Zeke Mowatt, before leaving midway through the second quarter. Rutledge completed seven straight, including a 12-yard touchdown to Phil McConkey that with one second left in the half to give the Giants (3-0) a 21-17 lead.

Simms completed his first pass of the second half before halfback Joe Morris dropped his next one.

Simms finished 14 of 17 for 126 yards, and Rutledge was 7 of 7 for 57 yards. Jeff Hostetler played the fourth quarter and completed 1 of 4 for 27 yards.

Pittsburgh (2-1) took a 10-0 first-quarter lead on Warren Williams’ 8-yard scoring run and Gary Anderson’s 35-yard field goal. The Steelers added a 1-yard rollout touchdown run by quarterback Bubby Brister with 3:49 left in the half.

San Francisco 34, San Diego 27--Harry Sydney ran 4 yards for a touchdown with 2:04 left as the 49ers rallied to beat the Chargers at San Diego.

Mark Malone connected with Jamie Holland on a 69-yard touchdown pass play to give the Chargers (1-2) a 27-10 lead early in the third quarter, but Steve Young guided the 49ers (2-2) to four scores in the second half.

San Francisco tied the score, 27-27, with 7:36 remaining on Terrence Flagler’s 27-yard run.

Young, who completed 11 of 15 passes for 134 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown to ex-Raider Dokie Williams.

Babe Laufenberg completed 13 of 24 passes for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns while leading the Chargers to a 20-10 halftime lead.

New England 24, Philadelphia 21--Steve Grogan threw for one touchdown and backup quarterback Doug Flutie ran for another to lead the Patriots past the Eagles at Philadelphia.

Grogan, who played the first half, completed 12 of 21 passes for 204 yards, including a 21-yard scoring pass to Stanley Morgan.

Flutie capped a 63-yard, 17-play drive with a 1-yard scoring run to give the Patriots a 24-7 lead early in the second half.

New England (1-2) added a 3-yard run by John Stephens and Teddy Garcia’s 39-yard field goal.

Philadelphia (1-2) got touchdowns on a 74-yard pass play from Randall Cunningham to Mike Quick, a 43-yard fumble return by Joe Schuster and a 10-yard pass from backup quarterback Matt Cavanaugh to Gregg Garrity.

Atlanta 19, Tampa Bay 14--Chris Miller completed 16 of 22 passes and lift the Falcons a victory over the Buccaneers at Atlanta.

The victory was costly for the Falcons. Starting running back Kenny Flowers and backup quarterback Scott Campbell were carried off the field after suffering knee injuries.

Miller passed for 139 yards and guided the Falcons to a 19-0 advantage during his three quarters of play. He threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to rookie James Milling of Maryland with eight seconds left in the first half.

The Falcons (2-1) had four field goals, two by Greg Davis from 23 and 27 yards in the first half, and two by rookie P.J. Broussard of Southwestern Louisiana from 30 and 44 yards in the third quarter.

Vinny Testaverde completed only 17 of 42 passes for 273 yards for the Buccaneers (0-3).

Cincinnati 24, Detroit 7--Rookie Ickey Woods ran for two touchdowns, and the Bengals intercepted four of Chuck Long’s passes while coasting to a victory at Cincinnati.

Long had two passes intercepted by Lewis Billoups in the first five minutes and also had passes intercepted by Barney Bussey and Daryl Smith in the third quarter.

Long completed 16 of 27 passes for 162 yards, including a 7-yarder to Pete Mandley for the only points by the Lions (0-3).

Boomer Esiason hit 7 of 11 passes for 119 yards, including a 34-yard scoring pass to halfback James Brooks in one half of work for Cincinnati (3-1).

Woods, college football’s leading rusher last year at Nevada Las Vegas, scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards. Cincinnati’s Jim Breech added a 42-yard field goal.

Indianapolis 18, New Orleans 6--Gary Hogeboom completed 12 of 17 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown as the Colts downed the Saints at Indianapolis.

Jack Trudeau added an 8-yard touchdown pass to Aatron Kenney for the Colts (3-0).

New Orleans (2-1) got two field goals from Morten Andersen.