Sunday's NFL roundup

[rwilli1]

Sunday's NFL roundup



2 hours, 19 minutes ago

By The Associated Press


MINNEAPOLIS - The Detroit Lions' losing run is over.

Matthew Stafford threw an early 21-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson and the two connected to draw a key penalty that set up a TD in the fourth quarter as the Lions ended a 19-game losing streak.

They beat the Redskins 19-14. Detroit (1-2) had not won since Dec. 23, 2007 and their skid matched the second longest in NFL history.

Washington (1-2) pulled within five points on Jason Campbell's second touchdown pass with 2:36 left in the game, but couldn't prevent the Lions from picking up a first down that ran time off the clock and cost it three timeouts.

The Redskins had their last of many chances to win from their 22 with 1:05 left and couldn't get inside the 20 before time expired.

Vikings 27, 49ers 24

At Minneapolis, Brett Favre threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone with two seconds left to lift Minnesota to a 27-24 victory over the stunned San Francisco 49ers, keeping the Vikings unbeaten.

An official review upheld Lewis's unbelievable catch, sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy. Some of the fans had already left after two unsuccessful possessions against a stingy 49ers defence. More of them booed during the second half as the offence struggled to move the ball and Favre's passes were off target.

But they were sure on at the end, during an 80-yard drive that took 87 of the 89 seconds that remained when the Vikings (3-0) got the ball back. Favre completed six passes during the drive and finished 24-for-46 for 301 yards, two scores and his first interception.

Eagles 34, Chiefs 14

At Philadelphia, the Eagles didn't need much from Michael Vick to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. They didn't need anything from Donovan McNabb or Brian Westbrook.

Getting significant contributions from their youngsters and backups, the Eagles routed the Chiefs in Vick's return to the NFL.

Kevin Kolb threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns, LeSean McCoy had 84 yards rushing and one TD, and DeSean Jackson and Brent Celek each had 100-plus yards receiving and one score for Philadelphia (2-1).

McNabb missed his second straight game with a broken rib. Westbrook sat out with a sore ankle. It was no problem against the Chiefs (0-3). Kolb, a third-year pro making his second career start, and McCoy, a rookie second-round pick, filled in nicely.

Jets 24, Titans 17

At East Rutherford, N.J., David Harris had an interception and a big sack on consecutive drives, and Mark Sanchez threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Jets stayed undefeated by holding on for a victory over the Titans.

Sanchez became the first rookie quarterback to start a season with wins in his first three games, and helped the Jets to their fourth 3-0 start in franchise history.

New York's defence, which allowed its first touchdowns of the season, turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter and stopped Kerry Collins, who was 0 for his last 13 as the Titans fell to 0-3.

Packers 36, Rams 17

At St. Louis, Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and the Packers sent the Rams to their 13th straight loss.

Rodgers was 13-for-23 for 269 yards. The Rams (0-3) have lost 30 of 35 since the start of the 2007 season.

Rodgers and Greg Jennings hooked up on passes of 50 and 53 yards that set up touchdowns for Green Bay (2-1). Rodgers had a 46-yard pass to Donald Driver that set up another score, and he scored on a 4-yard run.

Kyle Boller, who played three quarters after Marc Bulger bruised his shoulder, threw two touchdown passes and an interception for St. Louis. Steven Jackson carried 27 times for 117 yards and had five catches for 46 yards.

Ravens 34, Browns 3

At Baltimore, Joe Flacco threw for a career-high 342 yards, Willis McGahee scored two more touchdowns, and the Ravens cruised to a victory over the Browns.

After Baltimore (3-0) held the Browns to 78 yards while building a 20-0 halftime lead, Cleveland coach Eric Mangini pulled quarterback Brady Quinn in favour of Derek Anderson. The switch did nothing to turn around the fortune of a team that has been outscored 95-29 this season.

Quinn went 6-for-8 for 34 yards and an interception. Anderson, who lost his job to Quinn last year, was 11-for-19 for 92 yards and three interceptions.

The Browns (0-3) have scored one offensive touchdown in their last nine games dating back to last year.

Jaguars 31, Texans 24

At Houston, Maurice Jones-Drew had his first 100-yard game of the season and scored three touchdowns to lead the Jaguars to a victory over the mistake-prone Houston Texans on Sunday.

Jones-Drew scored the go-ahead touchdown on an eight-yard run early in the fourth quarter and finished with 119 yards rushing.

Houston had several chances to tie the game. The last came when Chris Brown's goal line fumble was recovered by the Jaguars in the end zone. The Texans challenged but Jacksonville kept the ball.

The Texans had a touchdown nullified two plays earlier when Kevin Walter was called for offensive pass interference.

Giants 24, Buccaneers 0

At Tampa, Fla., Eli Manning threw for two touchdowns and Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw led a resurgence of a strong ground attack that was absent the previous two weeks, helping the Giants (3-0) remain unbeaten with a rout of the winless Bucs (0-3).

It was the Giants' first shutout since a 36-0 home victory over Washington in October 2005. They hadn't blanked an opponent on the road since beating Philadelphia 23-0 in November 1983.

Tampa Bay, which has lost seven straight dating to an 0-4 December that cost it a playoff berth last season, was outgained 397 yards to 86 and did not have a first down until late in the third quarter.

Patriots 26, Falcons 10

At Foxborough, Mass., the New England Patriots finally got their offence rolling with a balanced attack as Tom Brady threw for 277 yards and Fred Taylor ran for 105 in a win over the Falcons.

One week after the Patriots were held without a touchdown in a 16-9 loss to the New York Jets, Brady threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Chris Baker and Taylor ran for an eight-yard score.

On a drizzly day, there was no need for a comeback like the one Brady led in the opener when he made up for an inconsistent offence by throwing two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 for a 25-24 win over the Buffalo Bills.

But the Patriots (2-1) had plenty of trouble in the red zone where they settled for four field goals by Stephen Gostkowski.

Broncos 23, Raiders 3

At Oakland, Calif., all that off-season disfunction in Denver is a thing of the past. Josh McDaniels and Kyle Orton have the Broncos off to a 3-0 start.

Orton threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall, and rookie Knowshon Moreno ran for 90 yards and a score to lead the Broncos to a victory over the Raiders on Sunday.

McDaniels caused an immediate stir when he was hired to replace the fired Mike Shanahan as coach in Denver last off-season. He alienated Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler before trading him to Chicago for Orton, then suspended Marshall in the pre-season.

But once the season started, things couldn't have gone much better for the Broncos.

Chargers 23, Dolphins 13

At San Diego, Philip Rivers had his usual big plays and a nifty little one that helped the Chargers end a seven-game losing streak against Miami.

Rivers scored on a five-yard scramble late in the third quarter to highlight a victory over the winless Dolphins, who lost quarterback Chad Pennington to a shoulder injury early in the second half.

In the shotgun on third-and-goal, Rivers couldn't find a receiver and the pocket collapsed, so he sprinted up the middle and into the end zone for a 10-6 lead.

The Chargers (2-1) are above .500 in the regular season for the first time since the end of 2007. The Dolphins are 0-3 for the third time in six seasons.

Saints 27, Bills 7

At Orchard Park, N.Y., Will Smith had an interception and a sack to help New Orleans shut down Buffalo.

The Saints prevented the Bills from mustering any type of a threat through three quarters.

That's when Pierre Thomas took over, sealing the win with two touchdown runs in the final 10 minutes. Thomas finished with 126 yards rushing, while scoring on 34-and 19-yard runs for a Saints offence had scored 45 points in each of its first two games.

The Bills offence sputtered, and Terrell Owens was held without a catch, to end a 185-game streak that had been second longest among active players.

Bengals 23, Steelers 20

At Cincinnati, Carson Palmer threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell with 14 seconds left, completing a nearly perfect drive that gave the Bengals a victory and ended the Steelers' nearly decade-long domination in Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh (1-2) had won its last eight games on Cincinnati's home field. The last time the Bengals beat them at Paul Brown Stadium was 2001, when Chad Ochocinco was a rookie who rarely started and still went by the name of Johnson.

Ochocinco doesn't remember much from that long-ago game. The Bengals (2-1) won't soon forget this one.

Bears 25, Seahawks 19

At Seattle, Jay Cutler pumped his fists. He hugged his linemen. And he raised both arms triumphantly - all inside the final two minutes.

Exactly the scenes the Bears envisioned when they traded a king's ransom to Denver to get him.

Cutler's miserable Chicago debut two weeks ago became forgotten when he completed all three of his passes on Sunday's decisive drive. The third was for 36 yards to Devin Hester with 1:52 remaining, rallying the Bears to a victory over the Seahawks.

Seattle, playing without seven injured starters, drove to the Bears 29 with 30 seconds left. But Seneca Wallace, starting because quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was out with a broken rib, threw high and incomplete to Julius Jones on fourth-and-2 to seal the win for the Bears (2-1).

[samson]

Thanx for posting the round-up rwilli1------even tho the stinkin` Vikings couldn`t muster up one more point to complete my pro-line picks and cost me $250. @#$%%^&%@#!$

[rwilli1]

better luck next week samson lol