NFL EXHIBITION ROUNDUP : Hebert Can’t Play, So Walsh Goes Marching In

Steve Walsh gained a leg up in New Orleans’ quarterback derby Saturday, guiding three touchdown drives in a little under two quarters of play as the Saints beat the Green Bay Packers, 31-20, at New Orleans.

Walsh completed 10 of 15 passes for 131 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Bobby Hebert, a five-year starter who sat out last season in a salary dispute, did not play because of a strained groin muscle.

The Saints’ starting defense, meanwhile, manhandled Green Bay quarterbacks Steve Dilweg and Don Majkowski. Pat Swilling was especially effective, sacking Dilweg twice and leveling him two other times as he threw.

Buffalo 21, Detroit 16--Jim Kelly, who missed the Bills’ first two exhibition games because of a hamstring injury, made a smooth return to the lineup against the Lions at Orchard Park, N.Y.

“It’s nice to get back with it,” said Kelly, who finished the night completing six of 11 passes for 43 yards and a touchdown in about a quarter and a half.

Andre Ware, subbing for injured Rodney Peete, was inconsistent as the Lions’ quarterback. He completed 16 of 28 for 138 yards in almost three quarters of work.

Cleveland 16, New York Giants 10--Mike Oliphant ran around two defenders for a 14-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter at Cleveland as the Browns gave Bill Belichick his first victory as an NFL head coach.

Belichick was an assistant with the Giants for 12 years until the Browns hired him to turn around last year’s 3-13 season.

In the battle for New York’s starting quarterback job, Phil Simms got the better of Jeff Hostetler. Simms was four of seven for 35 yards and one touchdown. Hostetler, who started, was five of 10 for 42 yards, and his fumble on a scramble set up the Browns’ first touchdown.

Miami 29, Tampa Bay 13--The Dolphins struggled offensively without Dan Marino and five other starters at Tampa, Fla., but capitalized on Buccaneer errors in the first exhibition game between the intrastate rivals in five years.

The victory improved Miami’s lead in the exhibition series to 6-1. The teams have played only three times since 1979 because Joe Robbie, the late Dolphins owner, felt the expansion Buccaneers approached the exhibitions too seriously in the early years of the rivalry.

With Marino taking the night off, Scott Mitchell and Scott Secules took most of the snaps at quarterback for the Dolphins (2-1), who took advantage of an interception, two pass interference penalties and a fumble to score most of their points.

Philadelphia 29, Cincinnati 24--Keith Jackson caught two touchdown passes and William Thomas returned an interception 20 yards for another score as the Eagles overcame a 14-point deficit at Cincinnati.

The Eagles (2-1) fell behind as Boomer Esiason passed 45 yards to Eddie Brown and one yard to Eric Ball for touchdowns on Cincinnati’s first two possessions.

Kansas City 19, New York Jets 10--Mark Vlasic threw two second-half touchdown passes to rookie Tim Barnett to lead the Chiefs to victory in an error-filled game at St. Louis.

A crowd of 52,935 attended the game, the second exhibition held in three seasons in St. Louis by a group trying to get an expansion franchise for the city.

The fans didn’t see a well-played game. Jet quarterback Troy Taylor was intercepted twice as New York had five of the game’s seven turnovers.

Washington 27, New England 6--Terry Hoage scored on a 45-yard interception return 1:31 into the game, and the Redskins rolled over the Patriots at Foxboro, Mass.

Only 16,757 spectators showed up, the smallest exhibition crowd in the 21 years the Patriots have played at Foxboro Stadium. The previous low was 17,992 in 1974.

Seattle 17, Indianapolis 7--John L. Williams, who didn’t join Seattle until Monday because of a contract dispute, scored one touchdown and set up another as the Seahawks defeated the Colts at Indianapolis.

Dave Krieg, seeing his first exhibition action, completed nine of 10 passes for 90 yards in the first half.

Minnesota 34, Pittsburgh 24--Herschel Walker had his first 100-yard rushing game since his Minnesota debut and also caught a touchdown pass as the Vikings defeated the Steelers at Minneapolis.

Minnesota’s new one-back attack sputtered in last week’s 18-3 loss at New Orleans. But Walker, playing only the first half, had 15 carries for 107 yards and five catches for 41 yards.