Cowboys 23, Colts 10

Cowboys 23, Colts 10

IRVING, Texas — Tony Romo and Keith Davis kept Wade Phillips smiling throughout his first game coaching the Dallas Cowboys. The replacement for Bill Parcells, Phillips was jovial as ever taking his place on the home sideline at Texas Stadium long before kickoff. His mood only improved seeing Romo complete 10 of 11 passes while leading two long scoring drives and watching Davis intercept a tipped pass and return it 41 yards for a touchdown in a victory over the Colts. Of course, this is only preseason so don’t read too much into things. But Phillips and the Cowboys will take it — and the Colts surely won’t be bothered by it. Indianapolis went 1-3 in the preseason last year and wound up winning the Super Bowl; the Colts were 0-5 in 2005 exhibition games then won their first 13 regular-season games. Romo christened the work of new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett with a quick 8-yard pass to Terrell Owens. He also completed his next three throws and his last six, missing only with an overthrow of Owens. His passes went for 93 yards and they went to six different receivers. However, Romo missed a wide-open Jason Witten on the overthrow of T.O. and he threw to Marion Barber instead of wide-open Anthony Fasano on his final pass. The Cowboys had to settle for field goals on both drives, getting a 24-yarder from Martin Gramatica and a 25-yarder by Nick Folk. Peyton Manning played just one drive this time, going 3-for-5 for 37 yards. Most of it came on a 28-yard strike to Marvin Harrison, made possible by rookie left tackle Tony Ugoh holding off Dallas’ best rusher, DeMarcus Ware.

Lions 27, Bengals 26

DETROIT — Calvin Johnson showed a glimpse of what’s to come from the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft. Johnson caught two passes for 45 yards late in the first half to set up a score and the Detroit Lions rallied late to beat the Bengals in the exhibition opener for both teams. The 6-foot-5, 239-pound receiver displayed his speed and savvy on his first catch, sprinting and settling into a spot behind a cornerback and in front of a safety. On the next play, Johnson used his body and leaping ability to shield first-round pick Leon Hall for a 21-yard reception that was the second and final ball thrown to him. Cincinnati led 26-17 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Lions won the battle of third- and fourth-string players. Dan Orlovsky threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Kasper with 50 seconds left after Detroit recovered an onside kick following Kenny Byrd’s field goal. Cincinnati got in position to win the game, stopping the clock with 1 second left, but Shayne Graham, who kicked four field goals, was wide left on a 48-yard attempt.

Associated Press