PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : EXHIBITION GAMES : Elway Leads Broncos Past Dolphins

John Elway threw three touchdown passes, directing Denver to four scores in a span of nine minutes, and the Broncos defeated the Miami Dolphins, 34-24, at Denver.

Denver (2-1) rallied from a 7-0 deficit to take a 24-10 lead with the scoring flurry late in the second quarter and early in the third.

Elway completed touchdown passes of 12 yards to Shannon Sharpe, 35 yards to Arthur Marshall and 23 yards to rookie Glyn Milburn. Rookie Jason Elam, who appears to have beaten out incumbent kicker David Treadwell, added a 35-yard field goal during the spurt.

Elway and Dan Marino of Miami (2-1) dueled to a 10-10 halftime tie, but after Marino headed to the bench for the second half, Elway came out for the first two series and produced touchdowns on both.

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Drew Bledsoe staked a strong claim to the New England Patriots’ quarterback job, throwing for two touchdowns and 245 yards during a 21-17 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Foxboro, Mass.

With poise and precision, the top pick in this year’s NFL draft played the entire game. He capped his performance with a 17-yard scoring pass to Mike Farr that erased a 17-14 deficit with 4:58 to play.

“A lot of people are going to draw some conclusions,” Patriot Coach Bill Parcells said, “but it could be erroneous to do that.

“He helped his chances tonight, but I think he’s going to have to play a couple of more games before we put him in Canton, OK.”

Bledsoe, who completed only nine of 23 passes during his first two exhibition games, connected on 19 of 29 with no interceptions against the Packers (0-4). The Patriots improved to 1-2.

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The Detroit Lions remained unbeaten in preseason play as Rodney Peete passed for 137 yards and one touchdown and Jason Hanson kicked three field goals during a 30-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Pontiac, Mich.

Detroit (3-0-1) took advantage of key turnovers by the Bengals (1-2). Peete, selected as the No. 1 quarterback by Coach Wayne Fontes on Thursday, completed 10 of 20 passes with one interception--all in the first half. Hanson kicked field goals of 35, 21 and 37 yards.

David Klingler, playing into the fourth quarter for the Bengals, completed nine of 21 passes for 54 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown pass to Carl Pickens during the second quarter.

Barry Sanders of the Lions, playing only the first half, ran nine times for 52 yards. He also caught two passes for 20 yards.