Blake Steals Show From Shuler, Frerotte

Jeff Blake threw three touchdown passes behind a second-string offensive line as the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Washington Redskins, 28-7, in Washington.

His counterparts, Heath Shuler and Gus Frerotte, both struggled in the game that was supposed to decide their three-year quarterback battle.

Shuler, seven of 13 for 65 yards, was intercepted once and should have been picked off a second time before leaving to chants of “We want Gus” midway through the second quarter.

Frerotte, four for 16 for 48 yards, was hurt by a couple of dropped passes and was under heavy pressure after third-string guard Ron Lewis replaced injured Joe Patton at right tackle. But Frerotte also had his share of chances and failed to make the big play that would have given him a clear lead in the duel. For the first time, he heard the boos usually reserved for Shuler.

It was the first off night for either quarterback in the exhibition season, but it came at a bad time. Coach Norv Turner has said he will name his No. 1 quarterback either Sunday or Monday.

Meanwhile, Blake, 10 for 14 for 162 yards and one interception, found Carl Pickens for two touchdowns and Darnay Scott for another. Corey Sawyer returned a fumble 51 yards for the final touchdown, and also intercepted third-stringer Trent Green late in the game as the Bengals forced five turnovers.

Bengal running back Ki-Jana Carter, trying to make his mark after sitting out his rookie year because of an injured knee, rushed for 25 yards in 10 carries.

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Glyn Milburn’s 80-yard punt return and Antonio London’s 33-yard fumble return highlighted a 28-point fourth quarter, rallying the Detroit Lions to a 34-23 exhibition victory over the Oilers at Houston.

Milburn had a 96-yard kickoff return nullified by a penalty in the second quarter but his fourth quarter thriller stood as the Lions made a big fourth-quarter rally for the second straight week. The Lions scored 17 fourth-quarter points to rally past Washington, 34-25, last week.

With Detroit trailing 16-6 going into the fourth quarter, Eric Lynch scored on a one-yard dive with with 11:57 left. After Milburn’s return, Johnny Johnson completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Diriki Mose with 3:31 remaining and London grabbed Steve McNair’s fumble for a touchdown with 2:01 to go.

A crowd of 12,879 saw the game, only 28 more than the 12,851 that watched last week’s game, which was the smallest to see an Oiler game in the Astrodome. Fans have been slow to purchase season tickets because of the Oilers’ planned move to Tennessee.