NFL EXHIBITION ROUNDUP : Young Gets Off to Good Start

Steve Young threw his first two touchdown passes, both to Jerry Rice, and ran for another touchdown as the San Francisco 49ers concluded an unbeaten exhibition season by defeating the Seattle Seahawks, 24-17, Friday night at San Francisco.

Young, named starting quarterback this week over Steve Bono and injured Joe Montana, directed the 49ers to 24 first-half points after generating only three points in three exhibitions.

“I felt good all preseason, but it was nice to get the points up on the board,” Young said.

Rice dropped a pass in the end zone during the second quarter, but otherwise looked good in his first game since ending a 37-day holdout on Tuesday.

Kevin Lewis of the 49ers sustained a neck injury when he was hit while returning a punt. Lewis was sandwiched among three tacklers and appeared to strike his head hard on the turf when knocked to the ground near the Seattle 40-yard line with 1:39 left in the second quarter.

Lewis was put on a stretcher with an immobilizing brace about his neck and was taken to Stanford Medical Center. X-rays, however, showed no broken vertebrae. Team officials said that Lewis was conscious and moving and that he had full motor movement in his muscles and his arms and legs.

Montana, who missed all of last season because of a torn right elbow tendon, had been expected to play Friday. But he did not suit up and threw only a few passes on the sidelines.

The 49ers open the regular season against the New York Giants next Sunday at the Meadowlands.

The Seahawks (2-2) open at home against Cincinnati.

Buffalo 27, Atlanta 21--Jim Kelly passed for 100 yards and two touchdowns in one quarter to lead the Bills (2-2) at Atlanta.

Kelly, who completed six of seven passes, connected with Andre Reed on a 41-yard touchdown pass play with 9:22 left in the first quarter. Kelly also passed one yard for a touchdown to Ed Thomas.

The Falcons (1-3) pulled to within 24-7 with 4:48 left in the third quarter on Billy Joe Tolliver’s 10-yard scoring pass to Jason Phillips.

Chicago 20, Dallas 13--Jim Harbaugh threw a touchdown pass, Mark Green scored on a short run and Kevin Butler kicked two field goals at Irving, Tex., to give the Bears their only exhibition victory.

The Bears (1-3) open the season at home against Detroit.

The Cowboys (2-3) open against Washington.

Indianapolis 21, Kansas City 10--Mark Herrmann and Tom Tupa, playing for injured Colt quarterback Jeff George, each threw a touchdown pass at Kansas City.

Tupa passed 17 yards to Kerry Cash in the third quarter to give the Colts (2-2) a 14-10 lead. Herrmann connected with Albert Bentley on a one-yard touchdown pass play in the second quarter.

Cleveland 24, Tampa Bay 3--Terry Taylor intercepted two passes by Vinny Testaverde to set up 10 first-quarter points for the Browns at Tampa Bay.

Randy Baldwin returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and Bernie Kosar and Todd Philcox each passed for touchdowns as the Browns (2-2) rebounded from a 56-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Tampa Bay (1-3) finished with four turnovers and 15 penalties.

Cincinnati 34, Detroit 17--Carl Pickens caught two touchdown passes for the Bengals (2-2) at Detroit.

Mel Gray returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown for the Lions (1-3).

Phoenix 21, Denver 17--Timm Rosenbach passed for two touchdowns and Ivory Lee Brown scored on a 36-yard run to lead the Cardinals (3-1) at Denver.

The Broncos (1-4) endured their worst exhibition season in Dan Reeves’ 12 years as coach.