Pittsburg ? Back at LSU, coach Nick Saban’s solution for this type of problem would have been to pull one or two of his highly recruited players and plug in a couple of others. In the NFL, it’s not quite that easy.

The Miami Dolphins lost five fumbles in the first half and seven overall in a miserably played game, exhibition or not, and the Pittsburgh Steelers had just enough offense to capitalize in a 17-3 victory Saturday night.

James Harrison, filling in for injured Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter, scored on a 69-yard return of quarterback Gus Frerotte’s fumble in the first quarter for Pittsburgh’s fourth return touchdown in two preseason games. But the Steelers’ only touchdown on offense – Ben Roethlisberger and the starters were shut out for a second consecutive game – was Verron Haynes’ one-yard run in the third quarter set up by, of course, a Dolphins fumble.

“We had too many mistakes. Turnovers killed us,” Frerotte said. “We were trying to do some things and we missed some big plays. We had stuff that didn’t go our way. We just missed some deep throws.”

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looks for a receiver in the first quarter of the Steelers' 17-3 victory over Miami. The Steelers won the exhibition game Saturday in Pittsburgh.

And missed and missed and …

Frerotte had moved ahead of A.J. Feeley in the race to be the opening-day starter, but it was hard to tell as Miami lost nearly as many fumbles as Frerotte had completed passes. Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller supposedly talked to the agent for unsigned quarterback Tim Couch last week, and the way Frerotte and Feeley played couldn’t have convinced Mueller and Saban the offense was in good hands.

Especially on a night the Dolphins barely kept the ball in their hands for more than a couple of plays without turning it over in their third consecutive exhibition loss.

Browns 21, Lions 13

Detroit – Former Michigan standout Braylon Edwards leaped over a defender for a go-ahead seven-yard touchdown reception with 54 seconds left, lifting Cleveland past Detroit in Edwards’ professional debut.

Bills 27, Packers 7

Orchard Park, N.Y. – Quarterback J.P. Losman, who has replaced Drew Bledsoe as the Bills’ starter, engineered scoring drives on each of his first three possessions to lead Buffalo (2-0). Playing the entire first half, Losman finished 7-of-14 for 59 yards.

Jaguars 20, Bucs 17

Tampa, Fla. – David Garrard and Derrick Wimbush ran for second-half touchdowns, and Josh Scobee kicked one of his two 29-yard field goals at the end of a 17-play, 10-minute drive that was a reminder of how Jacksonville (2-0) struggled to get the ball into the end zone last season.

Giants 27, Panthers 21

East Rutherford, N.J. – Inserted into the first unit after an injury to starter Will Peterson, rookie cornerback Corey Webster had an interception and recovered a fumble as the Giants (1-1) forced five turnovers and snapped the Panthers’ 10-game preseason win streak. Eli Manning threw two long scoring passes to overcome a subpar performance by the Giants’ first-team offense and defense, both of which were pushed around by the Panthers (1-1) in the first half.

Texans 19, Raiders 17

Houston – Receiver Doug Gabriel scored two first-quarter touchdowns, and the Raiders’ starting offense moved the ball at will in the first half before the Texans (1-1) rallied to win on a pair of fourth-quarter field goals of 53 and 46 yards by Kris Brown. The winner came with eight seconds left.

Eagles 20, Ravens 14

Baltimore – Dexter Wynn returned a punt 74 yards for a score, Donovan McNabb threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Brian Westbrook, and the Eagles benefited from three turnovers by Kyle Boller. McNabb went 6-for-9 for 107 yards before leaving in the second quarter with the Eagles (1-1) leading 17-0. He also ran for 27 yards on his lone carry against the Ravens (0-2).

Bears 24, Colts 17

Indianapolis – Adrian Peterson and Antoineo Harris each ran for a touchdown, the Bears (2-1) returned a punt for another TD, and the Colts’ high-scoring offense never got in sync. The Bears played without injured quarterback Rex Grossman and their top two running backs – holdout Cedric Benson and incumbent starter Thomas Jones, whom the coaches kept out.

Broncos 26, 49ers 21

Denver – Jake Plummer was close to perfect for Denver. Tim Rattay, meanwhile, looked more than good enough to keep San Francisco’s starting quarterback job in limbo for a while longer. Plummer completed seven of nine passes for 95 yards and a score to lift the Broncos to 10 early points en route to a preseason victory.