SUNDAY’S NFL PRESEASON GAMES

Bengals 26, Bills 13

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton celebrated a warm reception in Buffalo by completing two touchdown passes. Dalton began the day by making a donation to Buffalo’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute, then received two standing ovations from Bills fans before kickoff. Once the game began, he proceeded to complete 11 of 16 attempts for 180 yards over five series. Linebacker Carl Lawson had 21/2 of the Bengals five sacks in the first half, during which Cincinnati’s defense overwhelmed Buffalo’s starting offense and rookie quarterback Josh Allen. The Bengals improved their preseason record to 3-0, and Buffalo dropped to 1-2. While Dalton earned most of the cheers, Allen took a step back in his bid to win a three-way competition and become the Bills’ season-opening starter. Buffalo’s first-round draft pick finished 6 of 12 for 34 yards passing, and was sacked five times for 39 yards in his first preseason start. Allen was also fortunate he wasn’t intercepted on an underthrown pass.

Cardinals 27, Cowboys 3

ARLINGTON, TEXAS

Patrick Peterson hasn’t faced a starting quarterback in the preseason. The three-time All-Pro cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals is getting himself in regular-season form anyway. Peterson returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown after Dallas decided to sit quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott in what was supposed to be the dress rehearsal, and the Cardinals rolled over the Cowboys. The Cardinals (3-0) forced eight turnovers to give them 16 takeaways in the preseason. That included two muffed punts by Dallas (0-3), the second recovered for a touchdown by Trent Sherfield to open the scoring in the first quarter. Prescott’s absence made it three straight weeks that Arizona didn’t face the opposing starter. San Diego’s Philip Rivers skipped the opener, and Drew Brees sat for New Orleans last week. Sam Bradford led two largely ineffective series for the Cardinals after completing all seven of his passes in the first two preseason games. He was 1 of 4 for 6 yards as Arizona generated just one first down.

Associated Press