Thursday's NFL roundup, Aug. 15

PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Vick was nearly flawless, Nick Foles looked sharp and the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback competition remains close.

Vick and Foles each led touchdown drives in a 14-9 exhibition victory over Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night.

Vick completed his first nine passes before throwing an interception on a desperation heave at the end of the second quarter after the Eagles (1-1) got the ball with 24 seconds left in the half. He finished 9 of 10 for 105 yards and also ran for 20.

Foles was 6 of 8 for 53 yards. He had 13 yards rushing, including a 7-yard TD scamper. But Foles made a big mistake on his first series when he tried to throw the ball out of the end zone and had the pass picked off.

Newton had a so-so effort against a defense that was picked apart last week by New England's Tom Brady. Newton was 8 of 17 for 112 yards. He played the first half and led the Panthers (1-1) to a pair of field goals.

Ravens 27, Falcons 23: At Baltimore, Matt Ryan threw for 97 yards and a touchdown in four series, and Atlanta limited Baltimore's starting offense to three first downs in the first half before the Ravens' backups rallied.

Atlanta's starters bounced back nicely from a 34-10 loss to Cincinnati one week earlier. Under Ryan's direction, the Falcons pierced Baltimore for 11 first downs in 16½ minutes and built a 20-7 lead at halftime.

It was 23-7 before Baltimore (2-0) scored 20 fourth-quarter points, including a 78-yard punt return by Asa Jackson with 6:18 remaining.

Ryan went 8 for 15 and threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones. Steven Jackson had 42 yards rushing against the defending Super Bowl champions.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco played the first half, completing 7 of 9 passes for 118 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith.

Bears 33, Chargers 28: At Chicago, Jay Cutler looked shaky again and the Chicago defense made up for it, harassing Philip Rivers early on and setting the tone for the Bears in a preseason victory over San Diego.

All eyes remain on the quarterback after the Bears made some big changes on offense in the offseason, hiring coach Marc Trestman to replace Lovie Smith and revising their line.

So far, the results are mixed at best.

Cutler played a quarter and completed 4-of-5 passes for 38 yards and a touchdown, but the only receiver he targeted was Brandon Marshall. That's not a good sign for the Bears, considering they want to distribute the ball more evenly this year. Nor was Cutler getting intercepted trying to hit Marshall in double coverage.

On a more positive note for the Bears' offense, Matt Forte ran for 74 yards and a touchdown on eight attempts after carrying just once in a loss at Carolina in the preseason opener.

His 58-yard run around the left end set up the game's first touchdown, a 5-yard strike from Cutler to Marshall.

Devin Hester also showed a spark, returning the game's opening kickoff 45 yards. And reserve Michael Ford ran one back 100 yards in the third quarter, leading to a 3-yard scoring run by Michael Bush.

The first-team defense sacked Rivers three times and forced two turnovers, even though star defensive end Julius Peppers (hamstring), defensive tackle Henry Melton (concussion) and linebacker D.J. Williams (strained right calf) sat out with injuries.

Rivers got swarmed as soon as he stepped on the field, and the Chargers fell again after getting pounded by Seattle last week. He was 5 of 9 for 50 yards with an interception, and he lost a fumble on a sack by Shea McClellin, leading to a 3-yard run by Forte that made it 14-0 near the end of the first quarter.

Backup Charlie Whitehurst came in early in the second quarter and was 6 for 9 for 69 yards and a touchdown. He fumbled away his first snap, leading to a field goal by Robbie Gould, but he also led the Chargers on an 80-yard TD drive late in the half.

Cutler got sacked twice on the opening drive, an ominous start after he threw an interception on Chicago's first play from scrimmage the previous week.

Notable: Tom Brady returned to practice one day after hurting his knee. The New England Patriots quarterback participated fully in the team's walkthrough Thursday. It was the third day of joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It isn't known if he'll play tonight when the teams meet in an exhibition game. ... New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton says veteran linebacker Jonathan Vilma has traveled to Philadelphia to have arthroscopic knee surgery. Payton is not offering any timeline for Vilma's return, saying only that the linebacker is expected back and that the Saints would "kind of go from there."

-- from wire reports

Source: http://www.goerie.com/article/20130816/FOOTBALL04/308169916/Thursday's-NFL-roundup-Aug-15

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