NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints may have plucked another exciting young running back from the ranks of the undrafted.
Rookie Chris Ivory turned a swing pass into a tackle-breaking, zigzagging, 76-yard score in New Orleans' 36-21 preseason victory over the San Diego Chargers on Friday night.
Ivory's 45 yards rushing and 76 yards receiving were the most of any player in the game. Essentially, he played like Pierre Thomas, who joined the Saints as an undrafted rookie in 2007.
Drew Brees set the tone for New Orleans (2-1) with 240 yards passing, including touchdowns to Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem.
Philip Rivers led two touchdown drives for the Chargers (1-2). His 167 yards passing included a 9-yard TD toss to Malcom Floyd.
Ivory, who is a broad-shouldered 6 feet and 222 pounds, finished his college career with an injury-plagued season at Division II Tiffin.
REDSKINS 16, JETS 11: At East Rutherford, N.J., Mark Sanchez connected with Dustin Keller for a 10-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Larry Johnson, competing with Clinton Portis and Willie Parker for a spot in the backfield for the Redskins (2-1), caught a screen pass from Richard Bartel and rumbled 15 yards for the winning score with 2:13 left.
EAGLES 20, CHIEFS 17: At Kansas City, Mo., Mike Kafka's 18-yard pass to Riley Cooper in the closing seconds boosted Philadelphia past Kansas City, making Todd Haley 0-7 in preseason games as the Chiefs' head coach. The Chiefs' offense got off to a horrendous start, and the Eagles' Kevin Kolb sputtered most of his time on the field. Chiefs rookie linebacker Cameron Sheffield was immobilized and had to be taken away on a cart after a helmet-to-helmet tackle on Mike Bell left him motionless on the field.
FALCONS 16, DOLPHINS 6: At Miami, the Atlanta defense gave up only a field goal while Miami starting quarterback Chad Henne was in the game and beat the Dolphins. Middle linebacker Curtis Lofton led the Falcons' defensive charge with 11 tackles, two for losses. Erik Coleman intercepted a pass in the end zone, and the Dolphins (2-1) converted only one of eight third-down situations with Henne.