Happy Returns for Packers

Darren Sharper swears he’s not trying to become the next Desmond Howard, but he’s playing like him. The rookie punt returner set up three touchdowns, and the Packers scored on three of their first four possessions en route to a 35-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday at Toronto.

Brett Favre threw two touchdown passes to Antonio Freeman, and Dorsey Levens scored on a 25-yard touchdown run as the Packers built a 21-0 first-half lead and improved to 4-0 in the exhibition season. The Bills are 1-3.

Sharper set up the first touchdown after slicing through the middle for 23 yards and helped put Buffalo away with a 43-yard return in the second quarter. His 26-yard return in the fourth quarter led to Aaron Hayden’s 15-yard touchdown run with 12:22 left in the game.

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Terrell Fletcher scored on a one-yard touchdown run and Jim Everett added a touchdown pass as the San Diego Chargers beat the Tennessee Oilers, 21-7, at Nashville despite losing running back Gary Brown to a knee injury on the second play.

Brown, who gained 101 yards in eight carries last week, sprained his right knee when Oiler tackle Gary Walker brought him down from behind.

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Cole Ford kicked three field goals, including the game-winning 39-yarder in the fourth quarter, to lead the Oakland Raiders to an 18-16 victory over the New Orleans Saints at Oakland.

Ford, who broke a knuckle on his left hand in the Raiders’ first exhibition game against the Dallas Cowboys, also kicked field goals of 50 and 40 yards in the second half.

The Saints (2-1) had a 16-15 edge in the fourth quarter after rookie Troy Davis scored on an eight-yard run. But Ford’s field goal with 4:44 left gave the Raiders (2-1) the victory.

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Glenn Foley threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to rookie sensation Dedric Ward and the New York Jets overcame a 10-point second-half deficit by scoring on four consecutive long drives to beat the Giants, 27-17, at East Rutherford, N.J.

Adrian Murrell scored on a one-yard run to start the comeback and John Hall kicked field goals of 23 and 29 yards as the Jets (3-0) put together scoring drives of 77, 75, 65 and 51 yards.

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The Atlanta Falcons, behind Chris Chandler’s three touchdown passes, built a 28-6 lead in the first half at Atlanta, but the Washington Redskins’ reserves rallied for a 35-31 victory as Mark Hartsell threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Christopher Sanders in the fourth quarter.

Gus Frerotte, playing into the opening minute of the fourth quarter, passed for 248 yards and three touchdowns, pushing the Redskins to 3-0 in the exhibition season for the first time since 1985.

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Charlie Garner had 72 total yards and a touchdown as the Philadelphia Eagles won their first exhibition game, 24-13, over the Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia.

Ty Detmer, in his first start since being named the Eagles’ opening day quarterback, completed 13 of 20 passes for 113 yards, with a touchdown pass to Irving Fryar.

The Ravens, who dropped to 0-3 in the exhibition season, didn’t have an offensive touchdown, scoring on Jermaine Lewis’ 74-yard punt return and two Matt Stover field goals.

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The Cincinnati Bengals returned a fumble and an interception for touchdowns in a 37-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Cincinnati.

Brad Johnson threw two interceptions and fumbled in little more than a half, accounting for three of the Vikings’ five turnovers. Minnesota (2-2) finally broke the shutout on Randall Cunningham’s touchdown pass with five minutes to play.

James Francis went 41 yards with Johnson’s fumble for a 16-0 lead in the first half, and Corey Sawyer intercepted Cunningham and went 33 yards for a 37-0 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Bengals are 2-1.

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Tampa Bay ended a preseason touchdown drought, scoring twice in the first half on the way to a 24-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins at Tampa, Fla.

Trent Dilfer ran two yards on a perfectly executed quarterback bootleg play for the Buccaneers’ first touchdown in three exhibitions. Dilfer later threw seven yards to Karl Williams for a 14-10 halftime lead.

Miami scored on Karim Abdul-Jabbar’s 35-yard run and Olindo Mare’s 25-yard field goal set up by Dan Marino’s 23-yard completion to Fred Barnett, who had his first receptions (two for 45 yards) since returning from knee surgery.

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John Friesz threw three first-half touchdown passes at Seattle as the Seahawks routed the Indianapolis Colts, 45-3.

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Heavy rain and lightning forced the postponement of the game between the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears in Chicago.

The game was rescheduled for tonight. The Cardinal players voted Saturday night to accept the rescheduling.