ARLINGTON, Texas — Felix Jones got the Dallas Cowboys away from their goal line and, 13 plays later, into the opposing end zone. Marion Barber did most of the hard work in between.

No wonder the Cowboys are so excited about their 1-2 punch in the backfield.

Dallas rode Jones and Barber for most of a 94-yard touchdown drive, the highlight series during the first-half battle between the first-team units in a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers last night. The 49ers took the battle of the backups in the second half, winning 20-13 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Kory Sheets with 33 seconds left.

The Cowboys (1-2) outplayed the 49ers (3-0) when the starters were in, with Tony Romo getting the offense into scoring position on three of four drives, but led only 10-3 at halftime.

Shaun Hill and the 49ers sure could have used Michael Crabtree.

Playing in the hometown of their holdout wideout, the 49ers had only 36 yards over their first three drives. They even used their version of the Wildcat formation twice to try getting something going, with little success. On their final drive of the half, Hill finally completed some passes to a receiver — three to Arnaz Battle — and got a 42-yard field goal.

"I would have liked for it to have gone a bit smoother than it did," said Hill, who was 9 of 17 for 79 yards. "You can't tell a whole lot right now. I just wish we could have put a few more points on the board. ... There's just certain plays out the board."

Sheets turned 11 carries into 42 yards and two touchdowns.

Romo, who finished 11 of 17 for 125 yards, guided Dallas' starters to 195 yards and 13 first downs despite being without starting receiver Roy Williams (shoulder) and reserve receiver Sam Hurd (thigh). Miles Austin caught three passes for 44 yards and undrafted rookie Kevin Ogletree had two catches for 36 yards.

"The guys are working hard and playing at a fast tempo," Romo said. "Mistakes have been kept to a minimum."

Jones had 23 yards on five carries and Barber 47 on 13.

STEELERS 17, BILLS 0

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger played a nearly flawless first half in his first game since injuring his right foot, James Farrior had a 22-yard interception for a touchdown and Buffalo's starting offense struggled yet again.

Roethlisberger led two scoring drives while going 15 of 19 for 168 yards and 103.5 passer rating before sitting out the second half. He looked regular-season ready, finding Limas Sweed for 16 yards, Hines Ward for 19 and Heath Miller for 18.

In three games, the Steelers' top-ranked defense from a season ago has yet to allow a touchdown. In four games — the Bills played in the Hall of Fame game — Buffalo's starters have only 303 yards, 15 first downs, a field goal and five turnovers.

BROWNS 23, TITANS 17

CLEVELAND — Brady Quinn threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards and outplayed Derek Anderson in perhaps their final auditions for coach Eric Mangini to be Cleveland's starting quarterback.

Quinn got the start and finished 11 of 15 for 128 yards. He led the Browns to one TD and two field goals in his four series. Anderson went 7 of 11 for 77 yards and led the Browns to one field goal on two possessions.

Tennessee's Kerry Collins went 11 of 14 for 102 yards and threw a 6-yard TD pass to Justin Gage in the first quarter.

SAINTS 45, RAIDERS 7

OAKLAND, Calif. — Drew Brees completed 14 of 17 passes for 179 yards and drove New Orleans to touchdowns on all three drives he played.

Brees completed his first eight passes, as he had receivers open all over the field. Lance Moore, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, had four catches for 29 yards, including a 5-yarder in the back of the end zone on Brees' final pass.

That touchdown gave the Saints a 21-0 lead with 13:53 left in the half and brought loud boos from a Raiders crowd that has seen plenty of bad football during a six-year stretch.

LIONS 18, COLTS 17

DETROIT — Third-stringer Drew Stanton threw a 21-yard pass to rookie Dan Gronkowski and a 2-point conversion to John Standeford with 4:13 left to lift Detroit.

Daunte Culpepper started for the Lions and completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards and a TD. Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 pick overall in the NFL draft, was 13-of-19 for 160 yards and an interception.

Three-time MVP Peyton Manning looked sharp, connecting on 12 of 15 passes for 123 yards in two-plus quarters for the Colts.

JETS 27, GIANTS 25

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Rookie Mark Sanchez completed a spectacular 31-yard touchdown pass play to Chansi Stuckey and put 20 points on the board in 2 1/2 quarters as the Jets took the annual New York braggin' rights game.

Sanchez finished 13 of 20 for 149 yards.

Thomas Jones scored on a 1-yard run, Jay Feely kicked two field goals and Erik Ainge threw a late 70-yard scoring pass to Aundrae Allison for the Jets, who survived two potential game-tying 2-point conversion attempts by the Giants in the final minutes.

Eli Manning threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs for the Giants.

RAVENS 17, PANTHERS 13

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joe Flacco threw for 247 yards and a touchdown and the Baltimore defense shut down Carolina's first unit.

The Panthers, playing without their top two running backs and three starters on defense, were overwhelmed early by Flacco, who completed 23 of 28 passes.

Carolina's Jake Delhomme finished 11-of-16 for 180 yards, with 48 coming against the Ravens' second-stringers.

SEAHAWKS 14, CHIEFS 10

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Matt Hasselbeck threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns as Seattle edged Kansas City, which lost quarterback Matt Cassel to a leg injury.

Cassel was injured the first time he dropped back to pass, dragged down from behind by Brandon Mebane after the pocket collapsed. Cassel called timeout, then limped down the tunnel toward the locker room and didn't return.

Hasselbeck led the Seahawks on scoring drives to end the first half and open the second.

FALCONS 27, CHARGERS 24

ATLANTA — Philip Rivers completed 10 of 15 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown, leading San Diego to a 21-10 lead before Atlanta's backups rallied the Falcons to victory.

Atlanta's Matt Rayn was 14 for 20 for 140 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brian Finneran in the first quarter.

Chris Redman completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Eric Weems with 9 seconds remaining to give the Falcons the win.

PATRIOTS

BELICHICK ISN'T SHARING DETAILS ON BRADY'S INJURY

If there's anything wrong with Tom Brady's throwing shoulder, New England coach Bill Belichick isn't saying.

Belichick said yesterday that Brady came out of Friday night's game after a crushing hit from Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth because it was time for the coaching staff to take a look at the backups. He lumped any problem with Brady's right shoulder into the category of normal "bumps and bruises" from a physical game.

"I'm saying that we made the decision to play other quarterbacks in the Washington game because we wanted them to play," Belichick said. "Tom had a desire to play, but we made a football decision to play other players because we needed to see them at that position and make an evaluation there. That's what I'm saying."

Asked whether Brady had an X-ray, Belichick said, "I'm not really comfortable getting into a public diagnosis."