Leftwich Leads Jaguars, 27-23

Byron Leftwich spent more than three quarters on the sideline Friday night, wearing his helmet, pacing back and forth and trying to stay loose.

When he finally entered his first NFL exhibition game, he got comfortable quickly and threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Donald Hayes with 1:02 left to give the Jacksonville Jaguars a 27-23 victory over the Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville, Fla.

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Leftwich showed a strong arm, good decision-making ability and lots of mobility, completing seven of 10 passes for 84 yards. He drove the Jaguars 70 yards in 10 plays in 3:11 for the game-winning touchdown.

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Green Bay 38, Cleveland 31 -- Kelly Holcomb and Tim Couch didn’t make it easier for Brown Coach Butch Davis to choose a starting quarterback.

Holcomb started and threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter at Cleveland before being replaced by Couch, who completed his first four passes -- the last going to Kevin Johnson for a 20-yard touchdown play.

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Dallas 34, Houston 6 -- Playing the entire first half, quarterback Quincy Carter overcame a slow start to lead a 96-yard touchdown drive in the exhibition victory at Irving, Texas. Carter completed 10 of 17 for 141 yards and a touchdown and left with a 17-3 lead. Also competing for the starting quarterback job, Chad Hutchinson suited up but didn’t play. Houston starting quarterback David Carr completed his first seven passes and finished 12 of 16 for 96 yards. He was sacked twice.

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Indianapolis 21, Seattle 7 -- Playing in front of the smallest crowd to watch a game in Indianapolis, the Colt defense forced five turnovers, had four sacks, scored one touchdown and set up another. Although more than 37,000 tickets were sold, only 26,741 came to the home exhibition opener. The worst previous crowd in Indianapolis was 34,927 against the New York Jets in the strike-shortened season of 1987.

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Carolina 20, New York Giants 10 -- Safety Mike Minter scored on 43-yard fumble return in the second quarter and the Panthers defeated the Giants as Coach John Fox returned to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., for the first time since resigning as the team’s defensive coordinator to become the Panther coach last season.

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Wide receiver Todd Pinkston signed a six-year contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles. Financial terms weren’t announced for a deal that runs through 2008. Pinkston would have been eligible for free agency after the 2004 season.... Deliberations began in the hit-and-run manslaughter trial of former Dallas Cowboy defensive back Dwayne Goodrich, who is facing two counts in regard to the Jan. 14 deaths of two Plano, Texas, men who had stopped along the highway to free a motorist from a burning car.