Toronto fits the Bills

Edwards: Two touchdown passes in Buffalo's victory

Thursday's NFL results:
Buffalo 24-21 Pittsburgh
Philadelphia 24-13 Carolina

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The Buffalo Bills made a winning start to life in Toronto with a 24-21 result against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Quarterback Trent Edwards threw two touchdowns to tight end Robert Royal while first-round pick Leodis McKelvin returned a kick-off for a touchdown in the Rogers Centre.

The contest was the first of eight games, five of which will be regular season contest, that the Bills will stage north of the border in Canada.

Edwards got Buffalo off to a perfect start in their home away from home, finding Royal with a seven-yard pass just over five minutes into the first period.

The pair repeated the trick in the second and although Santonio Holmes did catch a 40-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger, the Bills extended their lead after half time with a Rian Lindell field goal.

Rookie Rashard Mendenhall, who carried 11 times for 30 yards, scored from six yards out in the third quarter to get the Steelers back to within three points at 17-14.

However, McKelvin's electrifying 95-yard kick-off return made sure the Bills had a comfortable cushion again, meaning Dennis Dixon's 47-yard run into the end zone was no more than a consolation for Pittsburgh.

Eagles soar

The Philadelphia Eagles scored 24 unanswered points to stun the Carolina Panthers in Thursday's other fixture, despite a delay for 58 minutes when lightning struck.

Having beld held scoreless until past the midway point in the fourth quarter, the home side exploded into life to turn the game upside down and triumph 24-13 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Quarterback Kevin Kolb threw a 33-yard touchdown pass and Tony Hunt ran 51 yards for another score as the Eagles overturned the deficit to move to 1-1 in the pre-season.

The Panthers had held a comfortable lead thanks to two field goals from John Kasay and a 78-interception return to the end zone by Richard Marshall.

Most importantly for Carolina, starting quarterback Jake Delhomme complete nine-of-14 passes for 54 yards and an interception during the first half as he continues his comeback from an elbow injury.

He did have a touchdown pass to veteran receiver Muhsin Muhammad ruled out. Instead it took a Marshall interception of a shovel pass on a fake field goal attempt to break the deadlock in the final minute of the first quarter.

Kasay's two three-pointers made it 13-0 to the Panthers at the start of the fourth until Philadelphia finally came to life right at the death.

Kolb, who took over from starter Donovan McNabb at half time, found tight end Greg Lewis in the end zone and that was followed by a field goal from Richmond McGee just 30 seconds later.

When hunt galloped clear for a second touchdown the Eagles were ahead for the first time and they sealed the victory when Justin Roland recovered a Panthers' fumble before going 74 yards to the end zone.