Raiders 21, Cowboys 14
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jerry Rice made his preseason debut with the Oakland Raiders on Saturday night, but former San Francisco teammate Charlie Garner caught the first pass.
Rice, the NFL's most prolific receiver, never did get his hands on the ball as the Raiders beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-14 in their exhibition opener.
Chris Howard's 8-yard touchdown run with 2:52 left broke a 14-all tie.
Rookie Quincy Carter, the Cowboys' top draft pick and 53rd overall, threw a pair of scoring passes in his pro debut. It was Dallas' seventh straight preseason loss.
After 16 seasons, Rice was let go by the salary cap-strapped 49ers in June. He signed with the Raiders the next day.
Rice, wearing his familiar No. 80, gamely shook hands with the fans in the Raiders' notorious Black Hole end zone section before he was introduced to a standing Coliseum crowd.
On their first possession, the Raiders opened with a four-receiver set featuring Rice, 12-year veteran Tim Brown, James Jett and Jerry Porter.
But quarterback Rich Gannon aimed for running back Garner, who also left the 49ers for the Raiders in the offseason.
Gannon's first pass to Garner fell incomplete, but then he hit him with an 8-yard toss.
Rice, who holds NFL records for career receptions (1,281) and touchdowns (186), was only on field for two plays, then watched the rest of the game from the sidelines.
Gannon, who led the Raiders to a 12-4 record and the AFC championship game last season, played for just the first series, completing 2-of-4 passes for 15 yards.
Tony Banks made his debut for the Cowboys, completing 5-of-9 passes for 36 yards. He was replaced in the second quarter by Carter.
Banks, who started for the Baltimore Ravens in their first eight games last season, signed with Dallas after Troy Aikman's retirement
Running back Emmitt Smith and receivers Joey Galloway and Raghib Ismail were all declared inactive for the game as Cowboys coach Dave Campo put the emphasis on scouting his less experienced players.
Campo also moved Larry Allen from left guard to left tackle.
BEARS 16, BENGALS 13: Paul Edinger kicked a 48-yard field goal with 41 seconds left in overtime as the Chicago Bears opened the exhibition season with 16-13 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday night.
Edinger missed from 39 yards with 4:46 left in overtime. But the Bears got the ball back and moved into range, thanks to a 31-yard pass from Danny Wuerffel to Dustin Lyman.
The Bengals appeared on the way to victory in the final seconds of regulation when Robert Bean intercepted Wuerffel's pass at the Cincinnati 25 and was racing toward a game-winning TD.
But Glyn Milburn, the intended receiver, and Anthony Thomas overtook Bean and stripped him of the ball after he'd run 66 yards. Bernard Robinson recovered for the Bears at the 9 with eight seconds left and Chicago ran out the clock.
Akili Smith drove Cincinnati on a game-tying, 85-yard, nine-minute drive, carrying the final 8 yards for a TD with 1:53 left.