Chris Simms spent the night walking the sideline, leaving Luke McCown and Bruce Gradkowski to state their final cases for being Tampa Bay's backup quarterbacks. McCown threw for 203 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, and Gradkowski threw a 31-yard scoring pass to Paris Warren with three minutes remaining to give the Buccaneers a preseason-ending 31-24 victory over the Houston Texans on Thursday night.

Matt Schaub and the Texans became the first team to score a touchdown against the Cowboys' starters this preseason on Saturday night. Schaub connected with Andre Johnson early in the second quarter and found speedy rookie Jacoby Jones just before halftime to lead the Texans to a 28-16 win over the Cowboys.

Texans running back Ahman Green said he is getting closer to where he needs to be when the Texans open the season against Kansas City on Sept. 9. Green had six carries with the first-team offense Saturday and finished with 19 yards for an average of 3.2 yards per carry. He also had two catches for nine yards. "I was in there a little longer," said Green, who had three carries for seven yards last week. "I could get the feel of the O-line. Could get a feel for the defense and what they were going to throw at us ? blitzes and read their eyes and their mannerisms on if they were going to blitz. Being out there longer, you feel a lot better about yourself." Green, who ran behind fullback Vonta Leach at Green Bay, said he still is working on getting comfortable with his new offensive linemen. He also is trying to get used to taking handoffs from quarterback Matt Schaub.

The starting quarterbacks looked great in the preseason game between the Texans and Cardinals. Houston's Matt Schaub was 9-of-12 for 108 yards and ran 5 yards for a score and the Texans went on to beat Arizona 33-20 on Saturday in the home debut of new Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt. Matt Leinart, who coincidentally wears No. 7 for Arizona, went 7-for-7 for 70 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Edgerrin James.

The Texans' secondary took a major hit in its first preseason game. Glenn Earl, projected to be the starting strong safety, suffered a foot injury in Saturday night's loss to the Bears and will be lost for the season.

Matt Schaub's first pass for the Texans was for 2 yards. His second one was dropped. This revamped Texans offense sure looks a lot like the old one. Schaub, who replaced David Carr after backing up Michael Vick for three years in Atlanta, had an inauspicious debut going 3-for-5 for 25 yards. But the defending NFC champion Bears scored 13 fourth quarter points, including a 47-yard go-ahead field goal by Robbie Gould with 36 seconds remaining to beat the Texans 20-19 in the exhibition opener for both teams Saturday night.