Friday, August 26, 2011

NFL news, Aug. 26


Graham Harrell led Green Bay to 11 points in the final 35 seconds, rallying the defending Super Bowl champs to a 24-21 preseason victory at Indianapolis on Friday night.

Harrell threw an 11-yard TD pass to Ryan Taylor with 35 seconds left, then connected with Taylor again on the two-point conversion to make it 21-21. After the Packers recovered an onside kick, Harrell set up Mason Crosby for a 50-yard field goal as time expired.

Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers was in midseason form, hitting on 19 of 23 passes for 204 yards with one TD to give Green Bay a 10-0 second-quarter lead.

Colts backup Curtis Painter also played well, going 11-for-21 for 171 yards.

Rams 14, Chiefs 10: Sam Bradford led visiting St. Louis to two touchdowns, and its defense harried Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel.

Bradford was 8-for-8 for 76 yards on his first two series, with scoring passes of 6 yards to Mike Sims-Walker and 11 yards to rookie tight end Lance Kendricks. Bradford finished with 95 yards passing, going 9-for-16.

Cassel went 6-for-13 for 59 yards and was sacked for an 11-yard loss.

Big deal for Bills' Williams: Kyle Williams' career season certainly paid dividends. The Buffalo defensive lineman agreed to a six-year contract extension that is potentially worth $39 million.

Williams will become one of the NFL's top-paid defensive linemen, as the extension is similar to the five-year, $40 million deal New England defensive tackle Vince Wilfork reached in March 2010. Williams had two years left on his contract, with the extension going through the 2016 season.

He'll average between $7.5 million and $8.2 million a year depending on if he meets all the contract incentives.

Williams has been a starter since his rookie season in 2006, when the Bills drafted him in the fifth round out of LSU. He is coming off a season in which he had a team-leading and career-best 5 1/2 sacks.

Redskins' rookie done for season: Jarvis Jenkins, Washington's second-round draft pick, is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Jenkins received the news Friday, a day after he injured his right knee in the first quarter of a 34-31 loss to Baltimore.

The defensive end from Clemson had a strong training camp and was slated to be a major part of the defensive-line rotation.

Back home in dome: The Minnesota Vikings are ready to play under their new roof.

More than eight months after the Metrodome ceiling partially collapsed during a heavy snowstorm, the Vikings will be in action at Mall of America Field. They host Dallas tonight in a preseason game.

Head coach Leslie Frazier says he's excited to be back in front of the team's fans. He also says it's a relief "not to have to wonder" where the Vikings will play next. They had games relo- cated to Detroit's Ford Field and TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota in December after the roof fell down.

Donation: The NFL is donating $1 million to the new memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. on Washington's National Mall.

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