Falcons Don’t Miss Vick Much in Their 37-10 Victory

The less the Atlanta Falcons see of Michael Vick, the more they like Matt Schaub. For the second game in a row, Schaub passed for three touchdowns, leading the Falcons past the Cincinnati Bengals and Carson Palmer, 37-10, in an exhibition game Saturday night at Atlanta.

Vick, expected to play the first half, was held out after aggravating a hamstring injury during pregame warmups.

“Michael’s hamstring was tight during warmups, and we decided as a staff not to play him,” Falcon Coach Jim Mora said. “We feel having a healthy Michael Vick going into the regular season is the way to go.”

Guiding the Falcons to a 27-7 halftime lead, Schaub completed 14 of 20 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns. The rookie from Virginia completed his first six passes.

Palmer completed 12 of 26 passes for 171 yards with one interception. He directed an 87-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter. The big play was a 52-yard completion to T.J. Houshmandzadeh that set up a two-yard touchdown run by Rudi Johnson.

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Kerry Collins proved better at playing long ball again, rallying the Oakland Raiders to a 17-16 exhibition victory over the Arizona Cardinals at Phoenix.

The backup to Rich Gannon rallied Oakland from a 13-3 deficit to a 17-13 lead in a span of 2 minutes 17 seconds. Collins completed three of seven passes for 79 yards.

The Cardinals’ first-string offense scored its first touchdown on a two-yard run by Josh Scobey with 2:55 left in the third quarter, but that and three field goals by Neil Rackers didn’t earn Arizona its first win.

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Mike Doss blocked a punt that went for a touchdown, Dominic Rhodes returned a kickoff 84 yards to set up another score and Mike Vanderjagt kicked three field goals to send the Colts to a 30-17 exhibition victory over Buffalo at Indianapolis.

Peyton Manning looked out of sync, completing 11 of 20 passes for 148 yards with two interceptions, as he led the offense to one scoring drive. Indianapolis committed far too many mistakes, with two interceptions, two fumbles and seven penalties.

Buffalo running back Willis McGahee, who made his first start, rushed 16 times for 57 yards.

Buffalo’s projected backup quarterback, Travis Brown, left on a golf cart after taking a hit on his left knee. The Bills already lost first-round pick J.P. Losman to a broken left leg.

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Chris Simms tightened his grip on Tampa Bay’s backup quarterback job, and Ryan Nece returned a fourth-quarter interception 55 yards for a touchdown to give the Buccaneers a 17-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins at Tampa, Fla.

Simms completed 11 of 13 passes for 145 yards to remain ahead of Brian Griese for the No. 2 spot behind Brad Johnson.

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Rookie quarterback Luke McCown connected with rookie Richard Alston on a 34-yard scoring pass with no time left to lift the Cleveland Browns past Kansas City, 21-19, in an exhibition game at Kansas City, Mo.

McCown, a fourth-round pick from Louisiana Tech, engineered an eight-play, 80-yard drive in the final 1:39. McCown connected with tight end Darnell Sanders for a seven-yard scoring pass with 3:40 to play. Backup quarterback Todd Collins completed 12 of 14 passes for 145 yards and engineered two third-quarter touchdown drives to put the Chiefs on top, 19-14. It was the first exhibition game in which the Chief starters didn’t score a touchdown.

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Rodney Peete found Walter Young for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:48 to play, rallying the Carolina Panthers past the New England Patriots, 20-17, in an exhibition game at Charlotte, N.C., that was a rematch of last year’s thrilling Super Bowl.

Jake Delhomme passed for 201 yards and a touchdown for Carolina, which has won eight consecutive exhibition games. Linebacker Brandon Short had a key interception to set up the winning drive, which erased a 17-10 lead built by New England’s starters.

Tom Brady again stung the Panther defense, throwing for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Adam Vinatieri, who won the Super Bowl for the Patriots with a 41-yard field goal with four seconds left, missed a 56-yard attempt to tie the score as time expired Saturday night.

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Chester Taylor ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and the Baltimore Ravens got a solid performance from their depleted defense in a 17-6 exhibition victory over the Detroit Lions at Baltimore.

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Eli Manning and Kurt Warner probably are going to have to wait until after the final preseason game to find out who will start at quarterback for the New York Giants.

While Warner had the better game against the New York Jets on Friday night, Coach Tom Coughlin continued being coy when it came to selecting a starter for the regular-season opener at Philadelphia on Sept. 12.

“I am on course with what the decision will be, [but] I am not going to announce it,” Coughlin said in a conference call on Saturday.

Coughlin even refused to say who will start the preseason finale against Baltimore on Thursday at Giants Stadium.

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San Diego Charger Coach Marty Schottenheimer sounded a familiar tone when discussing his quarterback situation.

It’ll be either returning starter Drew Brees, who has completed 26 of 40 passes for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in three exhibition games, or rookie Philip Rivers, who made his debut Friday after ending a contract holdout and completed five of 14 passes for 79 yards with two interceptions.

“We’ll make a judgment on who we think gives us the best chance to win the game, and that’s the way we approach it,” he said.

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In other NFL news:

* Right tackle Kyle Turley will sit out the season after he was put on injured reserve by the St. Louis Rams, who continue to have problems with their offensive line. Ram linebacker Jeremy Loyd also was placed on injured reserve.

* Minnesota Viking running back Michael Bennett will sit out one to three weeks after spraining his right knee in Friday’s exhibition win over San Francisco.