Dallas is the world champion of pro football. Houston, however, is the champion of Texas.
With a pro-Cowboys crowd of 63,285 looking on in the new Alamodome on Saturday, Warren Moon threw two touchdown passes and Al Del Greco kicked three field goals as the Oilers edged Dallas 23-20 in an NFL exhibition game on Saturday.Troy Aikman, getting his first action after back surgery this summer, played the first half for Dallas and completed 12 of 17 passes for 141 yards.
With Houston leading 23-6 after three quarters, the Cowboys made it close at the end on Jason Garrett's 7-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Gainer and a 1-yard touchdown run by Michael Beasley with 1:32 to play.
"I thought the offense wasn't that sharp in the first quarter but in the second we picked it up," Aikman said. "In the second quarter, I just thought I saw the field better."
Although Houston trains at San Antonio's Trinity University, the Oilers were booed and the Super Bowl champion Cowboys cheered during pre-game introductions.
Moon, who completed 14 of 21 passes for 151 yards, hit Reggie Brown with an 8-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and threw 14 yards to Pat Coleman early in the third quarter.
Aikman completed his first pass of the game, a 25-yarder to Michael Irvin, but the Cowboys' first three drives ended in turnovers, with Aikman having a pass intercepted and losing a fumble.
Del Greco kicked field goals of 36, 27 and 22 yards. Dallas' Lin Elliott connected from 28 and 23 yards.
Chiefs 27, Vikings 20
At Kansas City, backup quarterback Dave Krieg drove the Chiefs 99 yards for a fourth-period TD that handed Minnesota its first exhibition loss in eight games.
The Chiefs had turned two fumbles by Roger Craig early in the third quarter into 10 points and a 20-6 lead, but Krieg threw two interceptions and the Chiefs fumbled away another ball to let the Vikings tie it 20-20.
Joe Montana completed 12 of 16 passes for 101 yards in the first half, leading two KC scoring drives for a 10-0 lead.
Seahawks 30, 49ers 0
At Seattle, Rick Mirer put his contract situation on hold and passed for two first-half touchdowns in his first NFL exhibition start as the win-hungry Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers.
All of Seattle's points came with Mirer at quarterback in the first half.
It was the first exhibition shutout for the Seahawks since they beat Tampa Bay 38-0 in 1984. The 49ers were shut out in an exhibition game for the first time since Denver beat them 21-0 in 1979.
The loss to the lowly Seahawks - even in an exhibition game - frustrated the 49ers to the point where starting running back Ricky Watters could be seen yelling and gesturing on the sidelines in the first half.
Bucs 32, Bills 12
At Orlando, Fla., Anthony McDowell scored twice on 1-yard runs as Tampa Bay, using its defensive starters most of the way, beat a Buffalo team that mostly used reserves.
Michael Husted kicked field goals of 37 and 43 yards and Eddie Murray booted a 38-yarder for Tampa Bay. Buffalo was limited to four field goals by Steve Christie.
Browns 21, Rams 10
At Cleveland, Vinny Testaverde directed the Browns' only two touchdown drives as he strengthened his status as Bernie Kosar's backup. Randy Baldwin scored twice for the Browns, on a 5-yard run in the third quarter and a 100-yard kickoff return in the fourth. Testaverde completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to defensive lineman James Jones on a trick play just before halftime.
Giants 14, Jets 13
At East Rutherford, N.J., rookie fullback Kenyon Rasheed scored from 3 yards on a third-down draw with 24 seconds to play as the Giants beat the Jets for the 10th time in their last 12 exhibition meetings.
The Giants got the break they needed when Marvin Washington was called for a face-mask penalty while sacking Giants quarterback Kent Graham. Instead of facing fourth and 20, the Giants had a first down at the 7 and got the deciding TD three plays later.
Eagles 37, Falcons 20
At Philadelphia, Jeff Sydner returned a kickoff 94 yards to set up Casey Weldon's 5-yard pass to Aaron Emanuel for the winning TD with 5 minutes left. The Eagles padded the 24-20 advantage with two 1-yard scoring runs by Markus Thomas in the last three minutes, each after a Falcons turnover.
Chargers 10, Cardinals 3
At San Diego, Stan Humphries threw a 5-yard pass to Shawn Jefferson for the game's only touchdown.