Detmer Stars as Eagles Hold Off Steelers

Ty Detmer, starting for the injured Rodney Peete, completed 13 of 20 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns, both to Irving Fryar, as the Philadelphia Eagles held off the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-19, in an NFL exhibition game Friday night at Philadelphia.

Kordell Stewart, who lost the starting quarterback battle to Jim Miller earlier in the week, nearly led the Steelers to a victory, throwing a seven-yard touchdown pass to Andre Hastings with four seconds left in the game. The Steelers’ two-point conversion try failed. Stewart finished 18 for 28 for 231 yards and two touchdowns to Hastings.

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Dan Marino only played one series, but the Miami Dolphins still defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 19-7, at Tampa, Fla. Joe Nedney, whose job was secured when Johnson traded Pete Stoyanovich this week, kicked four field goals and the Buccaneers had four turnovers.

Marino was two for five for 23 yards in his brief appearance, driving the Dolphins to their first field goal. Tampa Bay’s Trent Dilfer was five for 15 for 44 yards and was booed throughout.

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Wide receiver Jermaine Ross, fighting to make the St. Louis Rams, tied the score with a 28-yard touchdown catch and had two more big plays in the late going in a 37-34 victory over the visiting San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers’ Raylee Johnson forced Ram rookie quarterback Tony Banks, who is from San Diego, to fumble twice. Johnson scored on the first fumble and one play after the second, Sean Salisbury passed to Charlie Jones for a 52-yard touchdown pass play.

Salisbury had an interception returned 59 yards for a touchdown by Anthony Parker and also fumbled on a botched handoff.

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Former USC quarterback Rob Johnson threw three touchdown passes, helping rally the Jacksonville Jaguars from an early 17-point deficit to a 31-24 victory over the Broncos at Denver. The touchdown passes were Johnson’s first of the exhibition season. The Jaguars converted four Denver turnovers into 24 points in the second half. . . . Curtis Martin rushed for 61 yards and two touchdowns as the New England Patriots beat the Washington Redskins, 27-19, at Foxboro, Mass. Starting quarterback Gus Frerotte played well for the Redskins and Scott Zolak secured the backup job with the Patriots. . . . Craig Heyward scored three touchdowns and the Falcons held off an Arizona rally in the fourth quarter for a 31-30 victory at Atlanta. Trailing 31-10, the Cardinals’ backup quarterback, Kent Graham, threw three touchdown passes, the last a two-yarder to Duane Young with 18 seconds remaining.

Billy Joe Hobert threw a touchdown pass in the first half and David Klingler threw two in the second as the Oakland Raiders beat the New York Jets, 44-27, at Oakland. The Jets’ Keyshawn Johnson caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Frank Reich in the second quarter. . . . Backups John Friesz and Stan Gelbaugh passed for second-half touchdowns, leading the Seattle Seahawks to a 20-3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers at Seattle. The 49ers (1-3) had their first losing exhibition season since 1990 and lost for the second consecutive week after being tied at halftime, 3-3. . . . The Baltimore Ravens scored 30 consecutive points in the first three quarters en route to a 37-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Orchard Park, N.Y.

Linebacker Sam Mills and tackle J.C. Price scored for the Carolina Panthers on interception returns and defensive end Mark Thomas set up another touchdown by running 40 yards with another errant pass in a 34-7 victory over the bumbling New York Giants at East Rutherford, N.J. . . . Richard Woodley returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown and recovered a fumble to set up another, leading the Detroit Lions to a 24-17 victory over the Bengals at Cincinnati. . . . Doug Brien kicked a 53-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to give the New Orleans Saints a 16-13 victory over the visiting Minnesota Vikings.