August 2007 Archives

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Brooks Bollinger had to feel the heat.

Two days after his shaky performance in Seattle, the Minnesota Vikings traded for veteran Kelly Holcomb, putting Bollinger's status as backup quarterback in jeopardy.

In the Vikings' preseason finale against Dallas on Thursday night, Bollinger made his case for the job.

Bollinger threw for 109 yards and a touchdown in just under two quarters of Minnesota's 23-14 victory over the Cowboys.

"You know at that position you're going to have some ups and downs," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "The biggest thing in this deal was how he was going to bounce back. You get measured more by that than getting knocked down. It's how you get up. So I was happy for him that he had some success."

Cowboys quarterback Matt Moore was also impressive after fumbling the exchange on his second snap of the game. He completed nine of his first 10 passes and finished with 94 yards and a touchdown in a performance that may have won him the No. 3 job.

"With the time that I had in there, I think I made some plays," Moore said. "I made some mistakes, but they're things I can learn from."

The rookie from Oregon State lost two fumbles, but showed impressive poise and an accurate arm throughout, completing 14 of 19 passes. He entered the game leading the race for the final quarterback spot against Richard Bartel, who completed his first six passes, but lost a fumble and threw an interception in the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter.

"He's done a lot of good things and learned a lot here in training camp," said veteran Brad Johnson, who started the game for Dallas. "He's made a lot of plays, and it's good for those guys to get a chance to play."

Bollinger's status was, and probably still is, much more tenuous.

Last week against Seattle, he threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and had a quarterback rating of 27.7.

"I really felt in control and pretty similar both weeks," said Bollinger, who had a rating of 104.6 against the Cowboys. "This week I was just able to protect the ball better and score some touchdowns."

The Vikings brought in Holcomb on Monday to give them another veteran behind young starter Tarvaris Jackson. Holcomb went 5-for-8 for 59 yards and one interception in one quarter.

"It's been a crazy week. I was in Philadelphia on Monday and I'm playing a ballgame in Minnesota on Thursday with the Vikings," Holcomb said. "So it's been a little tough. A little sleep deprived, but hey, that's the way the game goes."

After Jackson played the first series, Bollinger came in and finished the first half. He helped turn two Dallas fumbles into touchdowns, including a 4-yard scoring pass to Sidney Rice that gave the Vikings a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Ryan Longwell kicked three field goals for the Vikings (2-2), who recovered four fumbles by the Cowboys (2-2) and finished with 14 takeaways in the preseason.

Moore's second pass of the game was nearly intercepted by safety Patrick Body. But Moore settled down and completed his next 12 passes, including a 6-yarder to Tony Curtis that tied the game late in the second quarter.

Jerheme Urban returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter for the Cowboys, who played very few starters, especially on offense in the final game before they open against the Giants on Sept. 9.

"You never want to be tackled by the punter," Urban said.

Romo, Terrell Owens, Marion Barber III, Terry Glenn and Julius Jones all sat out for Dallas, which committed five turnovers and looked sloppy for the second week in a row.

The Vikings played their starters sparingly, holding out defensive linemen Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, cornerback Antoine Winfield and linebacker E.J. Henderson. Running back Chester Taylor also sat this one out, while Jackson only played the first series.

Johnson returned to where he spent nine of his 15 seasons in the league. His second stint with the Vikings ended when he struggled last season and didn't see eye to eye with Childress.

Several Vikings fans wore purple No. 14 jerseys to the game, and Johnson was 5-of-7 for 44 yards before yielding to Moore.

"I spent nine years of my life here," Johnson said. "So it was great to come back and see a lot of people."

Notes

The Vikings deactivated WR Bobby Wade (ankle), S Mike Doss (calf), S Tank Williams and DE Darrion Scott (shoulder) all for precautionary purposes. ... Dallas K Martin Gramatica (hamstring) did not make the trip and is a candidate to be cut in favor of rookie Nick Folk.

HOUSTON (AP) -- Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans became the first team to score a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys' starters this preseason on Saturday night.

They didn't stop at just one.

Schaub connected with Andre Johnson early in the second quarter and found speedy rookie Jacoby Jones just before halftime to lead the Texans to a 28-16 win over the Cowboys.

"When you go out and execute the offense, what more can you ask for?" Johnson said. "We went out and did what we were supposed to do."

Schaub, in his first starting job after backing up Michael Vick for three seasons in Atlanta, looked sharp against a defense that flustered Denver last week.

"We're really comfortable in what we're doing and we're really comfortable in one another," he said. "Without a doubt, I think it was a great test for us."

Jones was the star of this one though, returning a punt 91 yards for a score early in the first quarter before leaping for the touchdown grab in the second quarter. It was the second week in a row that Jones, a third-round pick from Division II Lane College, returned a punt for a touchdown after returning one 80 yards last week.

On Saturday he busted through the pack and then outran his last defender and began holding out the ball in front of him at the 10-yard line before flipping into the end zone.

Jones said coach Gary Kubiak had a message for him about that when he got back to the sidelines: "He said 'Don't ever do that again,"' Jones said.

The Texans led 7-0 when Schaub delivered a nifty pass between two defenders to Johnson for a 6-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. That play was set up by a 46-yard run by Ahman Green two plays earlier. Green finished with eight carries for 65 yards.

Johnson led the Texans with four receptions for 39 yards.

The second touchdown came when Jones, the former track star, got in front of his defender for the 19-yard reception which made it 21-6 at halftime.

Schaub was 12-of-16 for 109 yards in 2 1/2 quarters of play.

"They came out with a really quick game, and a lot of running and power, and they did that well," Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "In trying to do what we've been working on this preseason, they really hurt us."

Tony Romo and the Cowboys offense were shaky at best. He threw two touchdown passes but also fumbled, threw an interception and bobbled a snap that it appeared he wasn't ready for.

"As a team I didn't see many good things on our part," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said. "Offense, defense, we just didn't play well."

Phillips said he was worried about how his team would react in front of the Texans crowd.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "It's the first time we've been in a hostile environment and we didn't react well."

On their second possession, the Cowboys had two straight offsides penalties, but dug out of it when Romo found Sam Hurd for 18-yard pass.

But Dallas was flagged for holding on the next play and three plays later Romo fumbled the snap and was drilled by 2006 No. 1 pick Mario Williams while chasing it down, forcing a punt.

After the hit, Williams jumped up and put a finger to his lips, as if to silence his many detractors who believe the Texans should have picked Vince Young or Reggie Bush instead of drafting him.

In the second quarter Romo engineered a 9-play, 74-yard drive that ended when Terrell Owens grabbed a short pass and wriggled away from three Texans defenders for a 35-yard touchdown. He sat the ball down just inside the end zone and jawed at Houston fans who responded with a loud chorus of boos. It was his only catch of the game.

He dropped a pass on third down on the next series, but it was negated by an offsides penalty on the Texans.

Martin Gramatica missed the extra point to bring the Cowboys within 14-6.

"We didn't come out and play like we wanted to in the first half," Owens said. "The offense still needs some work ... the chances were there, but the penalties really stopped us."

Romo's second touchdown pass was for 18 yards to Jason Witten and made it 21-13 in the third quarter.

Late in the third quarter against Houston's backups, Romo badly underthrew Owens and was picked off by rookie Fred Bennett. It was Romo's last play of the night and he finished 14-of-22 for 197 yards.

The Texans defensive line, led by Williams and featuring two other first-round picks, finally got the pass rush going. Houston sacked Romo twice and hurried him several other times.

"It looked like we did some better things," Kubiak said. "We were more disruptive making their quarterback move around a little bit."

Last year's Defensive Rookie of the Year, DeMeco Ryans, led the Texans with eight tackles and Williams, who entered the game with no tackles, had four and pressured Romo a couple of times.

"It was good, but we didn't do as much as we wanted to," Williams said. "There were some times that we -- that I -- missed some opportunities. But we will get better at it and keep going."

Williams said he did something different in this game, but wouldn't disclose what it was saying only it had to do with his approach. Whatever it was, he said it made him feel "a lot more comfortable."

Julius Jones and Marion Barber combined for 16 carries and 48 yards rushing for Dallas. Jones had a long run of 12 yards.

Nick Folk added a 23-yard field goal for Dallas in the fourth quarter. The Texans' last score came on a 17-yard pass from Sage Rosenfels to David Anderson with 2:57 to play.