Brady Quinn's biggest throw could turn out to be a monkey wrench. With flashbulbs popping all around the stadium, Cleveland's rookie quarterback tossed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in his first NFL exhibition game and looked better than any Browns quarterback in a 23-20 loss to Detroit on Saturday night.

It's up to Michael Vick now. His last two co-defendants pleaded guilty Friday and implicated Vick in bankrolling gambling on dogfights. One of them said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback helped drown or hang dogs that didn't do well. With his NFL career in jeopardy and a superseding indictment adding more charges in the works, that left Vick with a hard choice: Cutting his own deal to hold jail time...

The Battle of the Bay had plenty of empty preseason drama, keeping the bipartisan crowd enthralled until a sure touchdown pass bounced off Alvis Whitted's hands with 5 seconds left. The most important developments in the 49ers' friendly rivalry game with Oakland were less theatrical. Daunte Culpepper looked ready to run the Raiders, but San Francisco put a good start and a better finish on its win.

Over four practices with the Denver Broncos this week, the Dallas Cowboys either held back on defense or figured something out. Because they sure had no problem getting into the backfield Saturday night. The attacking, pressure-seeking front being implemented by new Dallas coach Wade Phillips throttled Denver's starting offense for two quarters, paving the way for the Cowboys to beat the Broncos...

For all of Brett Favre's questions about the readiness of some of his younger teammates, only one question mattered Saturday night: To leap or not to leap? Rookie receiver James Jones did a "Lambeau leap" into the grandstands after scoring a touchdown early in Green Bay's 48-13 preseason rout of Seattle.

Matt Schaub looked at ease and Matt Leinart responded to a week of "tough love"' from his coach. The starting quarterbacks were terrific in the preseason game between the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals. The defense, well, that's another matter. Schaub was 9-of-12 for 108 yards and ran 5 yards for a score and the Texans went on to beat Arizona 33-20 on Saturday in new Cardinals coach Ken...

Jason Campbell limped down the hallway outside the Washington Redskins' locker room, favoring his bruised left knee and feeling a bit lucky. Inside, Marcus Washington wore a blue sling on his dislocated right elbow and tried to keep smiling. Out of sight was Mike Espy, out for the season with a ruptured kneecap.

Drew Brees needed only six on-target passes to show that he's ready -- and the Cincinnati Bengals' defense isn't. Brees led New Orleans to a touchdown in his only series Saturday night, completing every throw he made and giving the Bengals a half-dozen more reasons to worry in the Saints' 27-19 preseason victory.

The referees union maintained Friday that Tim Donaghy is known to be the only referee involved in gambling activities, despite a report that said he was about to provide names of colleagues who also may have violated NBA rules. The report on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York said Donaghy will provide prosecutors as many as 20 names of other NBA officials and will detail their involvement in some form of...