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Texas NFL Capsules: McGee, Buehler lead Cowboys over Dolphins 27-25
ARLINGTON (AP) — David Buehler was going to be on the Dallas Cowboys this season, even if it was only to keep whacking kickoffs deep into the end zone.
Now the Cowboys feel good about him kicking field goals, too.
After not getting a chance for two weeks, Buehler made kicks from 51, 45 and 40 yards — all with plenty of room to spare — then nailed a 31-yarder as time expired to lift the Cowboys past the Miami Dolphins 27-25 in the preseason finale Thursday night.
"We've got us a kicker!" crowed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's woes.
"What a game he had," added Dallas coach Wade Phillips. "No matter what you say, the last kick to win the game is pressure in any game. I think that inspired our whole football team."
Even Buehler feels inspired. This was his first last-second, game-winning field goal on any level.
"I'm glad I had the performance I did today and I'm glad I had the opportunities I had today," said Buehler, who was 6 of 7 the first two preseason games but became a curiosity as the 0 of 0s mounted. "Going into the regular season, I couldn't have had a better game to get ready."
Third-string quarterback Stephen McGee also gave the club reason to believe, throwing a perfect 43-yard touchdown pass to Sam Hurd against Miami's starting defense, then leading Dallas on a go-ahead drive midway through the fourth quarter, then again in the final 2 minutes.
McGee played the entire game, with Tony Romo and Jon Kitna watching from the sideline. He misfired on some relatively easy passes, but last year's fourth-round pick almost certainly secured a roster spot. He was 27 of 42 for 304 yards with a sack and no turnovers. He had a quarterback rating of 93.8.
"I've had a lot of critics, people who've told me I can't do whatever, so there was a lot of pressure on me to perform," he said. "I know in my heart how good a quarterback I am."
The Cowboys (3-2) used only one likely starter, fullback Deon Anderson, but held their own while the Dolphins (2-2) used many of their starters into the second quarter.
Dallas reserve linebacker Victor Butler showed how much he's learned after playing behind DeMarcus Ware last season, swatting two of Chad Henne's passes, then sending him to the bench for good with fumble-causing sacks on consecutive plays.
"When you get a chance to show what you can do against the other team's 1s, it makes you better in the coaches' eyes," Butler said. "So when D-Ware needs a blow, you can come in and the defense doesn't miss a beat. That's what you want to do as a backup in this league."
Henne was 6 of 11 for 53 yards. He led three drives, reaching the Dallas 7 on the opening series before settling for a 28-yard field goal. He also saw Ricky Williams go 42 yards up the middle on one of his two carries.
"We definitely wanted to improve on last week against the Falcons and I think in some areas we did," Henne said. "We scored points on the first drive there, but obviously we want touchdowns. We need to protect the ball and score more points."
Chad Pennington was 7 of 10 for 40 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown pass to Brian Hartline that put Miami up 10-7.
Tyler Thigpen played the second half and was 10 of 18 for 160 yards and an interception. He also made things pretty interesting at the end of this meaningless game, when it was being contested almost entirely by deep reserves.
On his final two drives, Thigpen racked up 15 points, snatching the lead both times. He took the Dolphins 63 yards in eight plays, then 72 yards in seven plays, capping both with short touchdown passes. The latter was capped by a 2-point run.
McGee came through in the clutch, too.
He took Dallas on a 64-yard touchdown drive also capped by a 2-point conversion run, then a 70-yarder that ended with Buehler's winning kick.
"We know there are things we have to get better at," Miami coach Tony Sparano said. "I know that. I just can't trust that we're going to put these (questions) to be bed."
Tony Romo and the rest of the Cowboys' first-teamers suited up and went through warmups, then watched from the bench. They enjoyed this one more than any since the opener, between all the big plays and the fact the starting offense wasn't out there struggling to score.
Before the game, Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland and Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant shook hands and spoke for about a minute, seemingly having patched things up since Ireland asked during a pre-draft interview whether Bryant's mother was a prostitute. Ireland already had apologized, but this was their first face-to-face meeting since.
Notes: Miami's Jake Long, the starting left tackle, left with a knee injury. He was treated on a table behind the bench and didn't return. ... The Cowboys didn't have any injuries. Rookie safety Akwasi Owusu-Ansah walked away from a punt return in which he was clotheslined and lost his helmet, then later intercepted Thigpen.
Cowboys WR Bryant, Dolphins GM Ireland shake hands
ARLINGTON (AP) — Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland and Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant have made amends.
About an hour before their teams played Thursday night, they shook hands and had what looked like a brief, pleasant conversation.
They spoke for less than a minute, with Ireland patting Bryant's chest when they finished.
"It went well," Bryant said following Dallas' 27-25 victory. "We shook each other's hand, hoped the best for each other and that was it."
Ireland already had apologized to Bryant for having asked whether his mother was a prostitute during a pre-draft interview. This was their first face-to-face meeting since then.
"It's not a problem," he said.
Ireland used to work for the Cowboys and was on the Dallas sideline talking to team vice president Stephen Jones when Bryant jogged past during warmups. The receiver came right over and immediately greeted Ireland.
Carpenter leads Bucs to win in preseason finale
HOUSTON (AP) — Rudy Carpenter hopes he showed Tampa Bay's coaches what they needed to see. So did several young receivers hoping to make the team.
Carpenter threw two touchdown passes to Arrelious Benn, Corey Lynch returned one of his two interceptions 91 yards for another score and the Buccaneers beat the Houston Texans 24-17 on Thursday night.
Tampa Bay (2-2) rested starter Josh Freeman and backup Josh Johnson, giving Carpenter a chance to atone for a poor outing against Jacksonville on Saturday. Carpenter played into the fourth quarter and completed 15 of 22 passes for 203 yards without an interception.
But Carpenter, who spent most of last season on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad, wasn't certain that his performance locked up a spot for him on the final 53-man roster.
"Truthfully, this position is crazy and anything can happen," he said. "I just wanted to go out there and put together the best tape that I can, and if for some reason I can't stay here, then somebody else will take a chance on me."
The Buccaneers also got solid performances from some young receivers as they look to build depth. Benn and Reggie Brown caught three passes apiece, and Preston Parker pulled down a 29-yard reception, Tampa Bay's longest of the game.
"It's a great group of guys," Benn said. "We are all pulling for each other. We go out there and do the best that we can. We want to come into the league and make a statement."
Texans coach Gary Kubiak, meanwhile, was disappointed with backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky, who started and threw both interceptions to Lynch. Third-stringer John David Booty played the second half and threw touchdown passes to Bobby Williams and Derek Fine.
Booty completed 17 of 37 passes for 209 yards, opening the possibility that he could supplant Orlovsky as Houston's No. 2 quarterback. Kubiak wouldn't say if Orlovsky lost his job, but acknowledged that he wasn't pleased with the turnovers.
"The bottom line when you're playing quarterback in this league is you've got to protect the ball, and that's something that I've been battling him on," Kubiak said. "I just hate for him to end the preseason that way. I've got confidence in him. I think he's grown up a lot. But obviously those things can't happen, they just can't happen."
Nearly all the starters sat out for the Texans (1-3), including quarterback Matt Schaub, receiver Andre Johnson, defensive end Mario Williams and linebackers Brian Cushing and DeMeco Ryans.
After Tampa Bay took a 3-0 lead, Orlovsky completed 5 of his first 6 passes on Houston's initial drive of the second quarter. On second down from the Buccaneers' 21, Lynch intercepted Orlovsky's pass into double coverage and raced down the sideline for a touchdown.
The Texans got the ball back at their own 17 with just over two minutes left in the half.
Lynch picked off another Orlovsky pass on third down and returned it to the Houston 7. Carpenter threw a short TD pass to Benn for a 17-0 lead. Carpenter went 9-for-13 for 101 yards in the first half.
"I was just trying to go out there and make completions, put the ball where it needs to go," Carpenter said. "I feel pretty good about the way I played later on in the preseason."
Houston's Kris Brown came up short on a 56-yard field-goal try on the final play of the half. It was a potentially pivotal miss, as Kubiak decides whether to keep Brown or free-agent acquisition Neil Rackers.
Brown, the last player remaining from the Texans' inaugural 2002 season, missed 11 field-goal tries last season, prompting the team to bring in Rackers to compete for the job. Neither missed a kick in the first three preseason games.
Kubiak plans to trim his roster to 53 on Friday, and called the decision on the kickers one of the toughest of his career.
"The hard thing is, you have to make a decision and you go with what you think is best for the football team," Kubiak said. "But the hard thing is how well they've both done and how classy they've both been. It will be difficult."
Booty replaced Orlovsky in the third quarter and guided the Texans on a 64-yard touchdown drive. He took a hard hit as he threw a 32-yard scoring pass to Williams.
The former Southern Cal star went 6-for-11 on Houston's next series, and Rackers kicked a 21-yard field goal to cut Tampa Bay's lead to 17-10.
Benn made an acrobatic touchdown catch midway through the fourth quarter, reaching over Houston cornerback Jacques Reeves and hanging onto the ball as he hit the ground in the end zone.
Fine, a tight end, made a one-handed catch for a 17-yard touchdown with 4:26 left in the game.
The Texans drove to the Tampa Bay 26 in the final two minutes, but on fourth down Dorin Dickerson couldn't catch Booty's pass to the end zone.
-- Chris Duncan
