Best of NFL: Rookies Help Give Lions Win Over Steelers

PITTSBURGH -- A pair of draft picks helped the Detroit Lions defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-17 Friday.

Chris Boswell briefly put Pittsburgh in front with a 37-yard field goal, but Dwayne Washington, the Lions' seventh-round pick, gave Detroit the lead for good with a 96-yard kickoff return.

Quarterback Jake Rudock, the Lions' sixth-round pick, later led an 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive. Rudock, who finished 8 of 11 for 72 yards and a score, hit Jace Billingsley with a 27-yard touchdown on third-and-9.

The Steelers sat Ben Roethlisberger, running backs Le'Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams, wide receivers Antonio Brown and Markus Wheaton, and center Maurkice Pouncey. First-round pick cornerback Artie Burns missed the game with a nagging thigh injury, while linebackers Bud Dupree and Jarvis Jones -- former first-round picks -- also sat out.

Detroit's Matthew Stafford went 4 of 6 for 58 yards in his only series. Stafford converted three third downs -- one a 30-yard pickup to the newly acquired Anquan Boldin -- before James Harrison's sack and forced fumble halted the drive.

Lions tight end Eric Ebron, who suffered an undisclosed injury to his lower right leg last week, was in street clothes. Cornerback Darius Slay missed Wednesday's practice and sat out Friday's game. Starting running back Ameer Abdullah and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata were also out.

Doran Grant opened the scoring when he picked off Dan Orlovsky's throw and returned the interception 39 yards. Steelers receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey made it 14-3 in the second quarter when he hauled in a 29-yarder in the corner of the end zone from Landry Jones.

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Jones finished 6 of 12 for 55 yards and a score.

Andre Roberts scored on a 28-yard pass from Orlovsky before the two-minute warning. Orlovsky finished 16 of 25 for 164 yards with a touchdown and an interception (see full recap).

Shorthanded Packers top Browns
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Even without Aaron Rodgers and several other key players, the Green Bay Packers started their delayed preseason schedule with a 17-11 win over the Cleveland Browns on Friday night.

The Packers also played without top receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, and linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers as they held off the Browns, who are starting anew with Hue Jackson as coach and Robert Griffin III at quarterback.

Mason Crosby made a pair of 54-yard field goals, and undrafted rookie Joe Callahan threw a touchdown pass as the fill-in for Rodgers.

Griffin, the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner who signed with the Browns after being dumped by the Redskins in March, went 4 of 8 for 67 yards with an interception.

Jackson selected Griffin as the team's starting quarterback on Monday as the Browns look to end a slide of eight straight losing seasons, including a last-place finish in the AFC North the past five years.

Coach Mike McCarthy decided to rest the 32-year-old Rodgers even after the Packers' matchup with the Indianapolis Colts in the Hall of Fame game Sunday was canceled because of poor field conditions.

The Packers also were without Rodgers' top backup, second-year QB Brett Hundley, who suffered an ankle injury in practice last week (see full recap).

Dolphins run away with sloppy win over Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Ryan Nassib had a big chance to show everyone what he could do as New York Giants quarterback with Eli Manning getting the night off. He blew it after a good first quarter.

Nassib was consistent in leading the Giants on a game-opening touchdown drive and cashing in on an interception in staking New York to a 10-point lead. But his three second-quarter turnovers led to 17 points in the Miami Dolphins' 27-10 victory in the preseason opener Friday night.

The start of the game was delayed 51 minutes by weather, pushing back the coaching debuts of Ben McAdoo of the Giants and Adam Gase of the Dolphins.

Neither coach had a lot to be happy about in a game marked by turnovers and penalties.

A 3-yard run by Rashad Jennings and a 20-yard field goal by Josh Brown following an interception by Jonathan Casillas staked New York to its first-quarter lead.

Nassib turned over the ball on three consecutive second-quarter possessions to give the Dolphins the lead (see full recap).

Bobby McCain's interception led to a 49-yard field goal by Andrew Franks. A fumble and return by Spencer Paysinger set up Damien Williams' 5-yard TD run, and an interception by A.J. Hendy led to a 51-yard TD pass from Matt Moore to Matt Hazel.

Marshall Koehn added a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter and Zac Dysert capped the scoring with a fourth-down, 16-yard pass to Thomas Duarte, a score that followed a fumble by third-string quarterback Logan Thomas.

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