A Knockout for Leaf in Round One
Round One went to Ryan Leaf and the San Diego Chargers. The rematch with the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning will be in October, when it counts.
The meeting Saturday night at Indianapolis between Leaf, the second pick in the NFL draft, and Manning, the No. 1 pick, was only the second time in NFL history quarterbacks picked 1-2 in the draft had faced each other as rookies.
Leaf was 15 for 24 for 172 yards, set up one touchdown and ran for a score as the Chargers broke a 3-3 tie at halftime and beat the Colts, 33-3.
It was only an exhibition game, but after a shaky first half, Leaf looked sharp in leading the Chargers to their third straight victory.
Manning, playing into the third quarter for the first time in the exhibition season, was 11 for 21 for 123 yards but twice had passes intercepted by Mike Dumas.
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John Kasay missed a 43-yard field goal with five seconds left--his first miss in 12 attempts during the exhibition season, and the Carolina Panthers lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 25-22, in overtime at Charlotte, N.C. Viking backup quarterback Steve Beuerlein played three quarters and was 15 for 24 for 240 yards. Rookie Randy Moss continued to impress, catching four passes for 77 yards for the Vikings. . . . One day after he was claimed off waivers, Phil Dawson kicked a 41-yard field goal with 2:30 remaining to give the New England Patriots a 20-17 victory over the Washington Redskins at Landover, Md.
Neil O’Donnell made his claim on the Cincinnati Bengals’ starting quarterback job, completing 15 of 18 passes in a 33-19 victory over the Detroit Lions at Cincinnati. Incumbent Jeff Blake, who played only two series in the second half, threw a 45-yard pass to Chris Doering that set up a touchdown, but he completed only two of three passes for 51 yards. . . . Richard Huntley, vying to become Jerome Bettis’ backup in Pittsburgh, rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns in six carries in a 28-22 victory over the Atlanta Falcons at Morgantown, W.Va. . . . For the winless Dallas Cowboys (0-4), there were a few bright spots in a 22-14 loss to the Rams at St. Louis. Emmitt Smith ran for 110 yards and a touchdown and Troy Aikman was 10 for 14 for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception while playing for one half. The Rams were trailing 14-9 at halftime, but their backups outscored the Cowboy backups, 13-0, in the second half.
Backup quarterback Rich Gannon threw for one second-half touchdown and ran for one as the Kansas City Chiefs rallied for a 22-21 victory over Jacksonville at Kansas City. . . . Tennessee Oiler quarterback Steve McNair completed 11 of 24 for 200 yards and had two runs for 24 yards in about a half as the Oilers beat the Saints, 26-24, at New Orleans. . . . Warren Moon, playing for the first time since he ended his holdout Aug. 12, beat Arizona’s young secondary for two long touchdown passes in the second quarter, and the Seattle Seahawks held on to defeat the Cardinals, 31-24, at Tempe, Ariz. The Seahawks built a 31-7 lead before Arizona’s Jake Plummer threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Rob Moore with 1:02 left in the second quarter. Plummer, who completed his first 11 passes, also had an 18-yard scoring toss to Larry Centers in the third quarter.