EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It didn’t matter if it was Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow at quarterback. The New York Jets could do little against the New York Giants’ relentless defense.
Rookie Jayron Hosley returned an interception of Sanchez 77 yards for a touchdown, and the defending Super Bowl champions stifled the Jets in a 26-3 preseason victory over the hometown rivals on Saturday night.
Tebow, making his home debut for the Jets (0-2), led his team to its only points of the night on a 30-yard field goal by Josh Brown. But he, like Sanchez, struggled to get much of anything going while working with the second-team offense.
Lawrence Tynes kicked four field goals, and former Rutgers fullback Joe Martinek had a 14-yard touchdown catch for the Giants (1-1). Eli Manning and the Giants (No. 3) starters were mostly quiet, too, with the Super Bowl MVP going 7 of 14 for 62 yards and an interception, but they didn’t need much to win on this night.
Sanchez finished 9 of 11 for 59 yards and the costly interception, but was under pressure on nearly every play. He was sacked three times, including twice by Jason Pierre-Paul. The Jets were without injured wide receivers Santonio Holmes, Jeremy Kerley and Chaz Schilens, and it showed.
Tebow had a shot at his first touchdown on second-and-20 from the 29 and short-hopped a pass to a wide-open Stephen Hill in the end zone. The Jets settled for Brown’s field goal that bounced off the right upright and over the crossbar to cut the deficit to 16-3 with 3:26 left in the third quarter.
Tebow was 4 of 5 for 52 yards on the drive, and had two runs for 5 yards, but finished 5 of 14 for 69 yards.

TEXANS 20, 49ERS 9
HOUSTON — Matt Schaub threw a touchdown pass to Lestar Jean, Trindon Holliday returned a punt for another score, and Houston’s defense stifled San Francisco in a preseason win.
Schaub completed 11 of 14 passes for 128 yards in two quarters, looking sharp in his second game since fracturing his right foot in Week 10 last season. The 5-foot-5 Holliday, who returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score in the Texans’ preseason opener, scored in the fourth quarter.
The Texans (No. 6 in the AP Pro32) held the 49ers to 267 yards and 13 first downs. Alex Smith completed 5 of 9 passes for 49 yards for the 49ers (No. 4). He was sacked twice by the Texans’ first-string defense.

FRIDAY
JAGUARS 27, SAINTS 24
NEW ORLEANS — Jordan Palmer hit Kevin Elliott with an 11-yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 13 seconds left, lifting the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 27-24 preseason victory over the New Orleans Saints on Friday night.
Blaine Gabbert completed 13 of 16 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns, the first a 16-yard strike to rookie Justin Blackmon, who was making his preseason debut.
Brees was 10 of 13 for 133 yards and one touchdown, an 8-yard pass to Devery Henderson.
Undrafted rookie Travaris Cadet had 90 yards from scrimmage and a TD for New Orleans.

LIONS 27, RAVENS 12
BALTIMORE — Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes, Calvin Johnson had five catches for 111 yards and a score, and Detroit topped Baltimore.
Stafford went 12 for 17 for 184 yards in four possessions.
Stafford threw an 18-yard TD pass to Johnson and connected with Titus Young for a 24-yard score to help Detroit take a 17-9 halftime lead.
Operating under first-year coordinator Dean Pees, Baltimore’s defense gave up 254 yards in the first half.
Baltimore’s points came on four field goals, two apiece by Billy Cundiff and Justin Tucker. Joe Flacco went 7 for 12 for 79 yards.
The Ravens had two kick returns for touchdowns called back because of penalties.

PANTHERS 23, DOLPHINS 17
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cam Newton outplayed rookie Ryan Tannehill in a matchup of young quarterbacks as Carolina defeated Miami.
Newton looked extremely sharp, completing 8 of 11 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown as the Panthers jumped all over the injury-depleted Dolphins defense early, scoring on their first three possessions to take a 17-0 lead.
Last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year threw a touchdown pass to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart scored on a 2-yard plunge for the Panthers. Newton had been expected to play into the second quarter, but was removed with 1:12 left in the first after a solid night’s work.
Tannehill, making his first preseason start for the Dolphins, played the entire first half and led six possessions — four of which ended in three-and-out. He found himself under heavy duress for most of the game as the Panthers sacked him three times and batted down three balls at the line of scrimmage.
He finished 11 of 23 for 100 yards passing.

TITANS 30, BUCCANEERS 7
TAMPA, Fla. — Chris Johnson ran for two touchdowns and Rob Bironas kicked three field goals as Tennessee capitalized on early turnovers and beat Tampa Bay.
The Titans got an early boost from their defense and made the most of two first-half turnovers by the Bucs.
Tennessee second-year quarterback Jake Locker completed 4 of 11 for 21 yards and an interception.
His counterpart, Josh Freeman, also looked shaky, completing 4 of 10 for 21 yards in five series of work.
Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount left the game in the first half with a left leg injury.

VIKINGS 36, BILLS 14
MINNEAPOLIS — Christian Ponder threw a first-quarter touchdown pass in a sharp three-possession appearance, and Minnesota breezed past Buffalo, which received a decent performance from backup quarterback candidate Vince Young.
Young’s competitor for the No. 2 spot behind Ryan Fitzpatrick is former Vikings draft pick Tyler Thigpen, who threw an interception late in the fourth quarter that was returned 20 yards for a touchdown by rookie linebacker Audie Cole. On the next play from scrimmage, Cole picked off Brad Smith’s pass to the same place on the field and ran 30 yards for a score.
Rookie Blair Walsh made five of his six field goal attempts for the Vikings, who got 64 yards rushing on two scrambles by backup quarterback Joe Webb. Ponder was 10 of 13 for 136 yards and no turnovers.
Young went 8 for 14 for 123 yards and no turnovers for the Bills, including a 64-yard strike to T.J. Graham to open the second half, and set up a short touchdown run by Tashard Choice.

CARDINALS 31, RAIDERS 27
GLENDALE, Ariz. — John Skelton made a brief appearance in his battle with Kevin Kolb for Arizona’s starting quarterback job, and threw a 3-yard toss to Anthony Sherman as part of a 17-point second quarter by the Cardinals in a win over Oakland.
Skelton entered after Oakland fumbled the ball away at its 23. He completed 3 of 3 passes for 23 yards.
Raiders backup quarterback and former Cardinals starter Matt Leinart left the game in the third quarter with a finger injury to his right (non-throwing) hand after he took a late hit from Arizona’s Ricky Lumpkin.
Oakland had a 184-52 advantage in yards at halftime but trailed 24-11, thanks to two turnovers that resulted in 10 Arizona points.