It wasn’t a game for the ages by the Buffalo Bills, as they blew much of a 17 point lead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still, they did what they had to do and put some offense on the board en route to a 33-20 National Football League victory. The Bills shot out to a 17-0 first quarter lead before Tampa Bay answered with 14 of their own in the second quarter. After a scoreless third quarter they outscored Tampa 13-6 in the final stanza to seal the win.

The New York Giants jumped out to a 17-0 lead against their NFC East rivals from Washington, and were never threatened as they went on to beat the Redskins by a final score of 23-17. Defensive stalwart Osi Umenyiora returned from a serious knee injury and scored a touchdown on a fumble return, while the Giants offense controlled the ball well and completely dominated the time of possession. The Giants held a lopsided edge of 36:08 to 23:52 in that department, which helped them overcome a couple of turnovers. Eli Manning played well, throwing for 259 yards and a touchdown to counteract one interception.

Success in the NFL mandates that even when teams aren’t playing their best they need to find a way to win. The Miami Dolphins found a way to win ugly in their NFL preseason battle of Florida on Thursday night. After spotting the Bucs a 6-0 lead, Miami used a late first half field goal and scored the only touchdown of the second half to comeback for the 10-6 win.

A starting QB battle in Tampa was the biggest storyline of the game and veteran Byron Leftwich appears to have gained the edge over Luke McCown. Bucs coach Raheem Morris gave little indication as to his preference in postgame comments:

Even when the games don’t count and the starters play little, if at all, the Baltimore Ravens hate to lose. Despite the Atlanta Falcons starting QB Matt Ryan playing only one series and with the Ravens third string signal caller John Beck playing the entire game it was apparent that Baltimore wanted the victory more. The former BYU standout threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdown passes as the Ravens easily beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-3 at the Georgia Dome.

Despite the fact that neither their starting QB Carson Palmer nor his Indy counterpart Peyton Manning saw action, the Cincinnati Bengals will take their wins however and whenever they can get them. For that reason, they had to be heartened by their NFL preseason ending 38-7 home rout of the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals rushing game put 296 yards on the board and Cincinnati trounced Indianapolis in every significant offense statistical category.

The Bengals easily covered as a -3 home favorite, evening their NFL preseason record against the spread at 2-2. The Colts ATS mark also matched their SU record, dropping to 1-3 on the exhibition season. The combined 45 points went OVER the posted total of 36.

Undrafted Brian Hover played the entire game for the Patriots and may have earned himself a position as Tom Brady’s backup with a solid all around performance as New England topped the New York Giants 38-27 in the NFL preseason finale for both clubs. Hover passed for 242 yards and no interceptions on 18 of 25 passing. Most impressively, he didnt get rattled as the Giants broke from the gate quickly to post a 21-0 first quarter lead. The Patriots finished their NFL preseason slate at 3-1, while the Giants slumped to a 1-3 mark in exhibition play.

The Kansas City Chiefs have had an awful preseason, primarily due to their inability to put points on the board. This liability cost offensive coordinator Chan Gailey his job earlier in the week, but in the first game with head coach Todd Haley calling the plays it was more of the same as the Chiefs couldn’t find the end zone. St. Louis scored an offensive touchdown late in the first half and used a third quarter interception return for a score to beat Kansas City 17-9. The Chiefs finished the NFL preseason with a winless 0-4 record, while St. Louis posted a 3-1 mark.

Ben Roethlisberger looked sharp in his return to the Pittsburgh Steelers lineup from injury, while the Buffalo Bills offense continued to sputter as the Steelers topped the visiting Bills 17-0 in NFL preseason action. The victory improved Pittsburgh’s NFL preseason record to 2-1, while Buffalo dropped to 1-3.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who backed the Steelers cashed their tickets as Pittsburgh covered the -6 price as home favorites. The Steelers are now 2-1 against the number in the NFL preseason, while Buffalo dropped to 1-2-1 ATS. The 17 points went UNDER the total of 36 and represented the Steelers third UNDER in three games.

The Dallas Cowboys used their running game to take a 10-3 halftime lead, but the San Francisco 49ers reserves made the most of their opportunity in the second half. San Francisco outscored Dallas 17-3 after the break to win the NFL preseason contest by a 20-13 final score. The victory improved the Niners NFL preseason mark to a perfect 3-0, while Dallas dropped to 1-2 in their exhibition games.

The Baltimore defense shut down the Carolina attack, and QB Joe Flacco played a virtually mistake free game as the Ravens built a 14-3 halftime lead before going on to beat the Panthers 17-13. The banged up Panthers scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable.

Both teams played their starters well into the third quarter. Second year QB Joe Flacco looked sharp, throwing for 247 yards and a touchdown on 23 of 28 passing before leaving the game with Baltimore holding a 17-3 advantage. After the game, Flacco said simply: