Post by TheShadow on Sept 23, 2007 19:24:02 GMT -5
www.firstcoastnews.com
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) -- The New York Giants were staring at an 0-and-3 start while trailing Washington 17-3 at the half. Then a funny thing happened. The Giants offense, ranked 29th in the NFL entering this game, woke up with three second-half touchdowns to give the Giants a 24-17 win over their NFC East rivals. Eli Manning threw for 232 yards. His biggest play was a 33-yard go-ahead TD pass to Plaxico Burress with 5:32 left. Burress, who had three drops and no catches in the first half, had five receptions for 86
yards in the second. The Redskins had a golden opportunity to tie with a first-and-goal from the 2-yard line in the final minute. The Redskins passed once and ran three times but never dented the end zone in falling to 2-and-1.
DENVER (AP) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars had the perfect solution to Denver's offense -- keep it off the field. The Jags controlled the ball for nearly 39 minutes in shutting down the NFL's top tailback, Travis Henry, in posting a 23-14 road win at Denver. Both teams are 2-and-1. Henry ran just 11 times for 35 yards. The Broncos, who had averaged more than 455 yards in total offense in each of its first two games, was held to 265. Fred Taylor ran for 84 yards for Jacksonville, which took control by scoring 17 second-quarter points.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The Oakland Raiders have their first win since last October. The Raiders, 2-and-14 a year ago, held on to beat Cleveland 26-24. Lane Kiffin, the youngest coach in the NFL, showed he's a quick learner. A week after a late timeout wiped out Sebastian Janikowski's game-winning kick for Oakland, Kiffin
successfully used the same strategy to help the Raiders win. It paid off when Tommy Kelly blocked Phil Dawson's last-second field goal attempt.
SEATTLE (AP) -- Cincinnati led for 59 minutes of its game with Seattle. But the Seahawks prevailed 24-21 when Matt Hasselbeck connected with Nate Burleson on the winning 22-yard TD pass with one minute left. Carson Palmer, who tossed six touchdowns a week ago in a high-scoring loss to Cleveland, passed for 342 yards while
completing 27-of-43 passes. The Bengals had one last chance but Glenn Holt fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Deon Grant recovered it and the 2-and-1 Seahawks were able to run out the clock.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Carolina improved to 2-and-1 by holding off winless Atlanta 26-20. But it might have been a costly victory because the Panthers' starting quarterback, Jake Delhomme
(deh-LOHM') suffered an injury to his throwing arm in the third quarter and didn't return. DeShaun Foster rushed 122 yards and scored a couple of TDs for the Panthers, who overcame a 361-yard, two-touchdown performance by Joey Harrington.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- The hottest touchdown pass connection in the NFL is the Tom Brady-to-Randy Moss combination. That duo
clicked for two more scores in the New England Patriots' 38-7 rout of Buffalo. The Pats are 3-and-0 and the Bills are 0-and-3.
Moss finished the day with five catches for 115 yards. He's the first receiver in NFL history to gain at least 100 yards receiving in each of his first three games with a new team. He also has five TD catches in the young season.
Brady also threw short TD passes to Benjamin Watson and Jabar Gaffney as the Patriots outgained the Bills 485-185 yards.
What's worse than being winless? Being injured and winless. Buffalo lost quarterback J.P. Losman (LAHS'-muhn) to a knee injury when he was sacked on his third play of the game. Bills rookie
linebacker Paul Posluszny (pahs-LUHS'-nee), a second-round draft pick from Penn State, broke his left forearm.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- It's like old times in Green Bay. Brett Favre (fahrv) is setting records, the Pack is unbeaten and winning
games with late rallies. It's the first time since 1992 that the Pack is 3-and-1. Favre engineered his 38th career fourth-quarter
comeback as the 3-and-0 Packers beat San Diego 31-24. The Chargers, who were 14-and-2 a year ago, fall to 1-and-2.
Favre's 420th career touchdown pass meant more than just drawing even with Dan Marino on the all-time list. Favre connected on a 57-yard TD completion to Greg Jennings with just over two minutes remaining for his third TD pass of the day and the go-ahead score. That tied Marino's all-time NFL record for career TD passes. He
passed for 369 yards.
It also spoiled a breakout game for Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who started 15-for-15 to tie Dan Fouts' San Diego franchise record for consecutive completions. But the Chargers problem is their lack of a running game. LaDainian Tomlinson again struggled to find room to run, carrying 22 times for 62 yards. Rivers was
27-of-36 for 306 yards, with three touchdowns. and the late interception. Gates caught 11 passes for 113 yards.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- It's hard to criticize Mike Tomlin's first three games as Steelers coach after replacing legendary Bill Cowher. The Steelers have won their first three games by a combined 97-26 score, including a 37-16 rout of previously undefeated San Francisco. For the third straight week, Pittsburgh played nearly
error-free ball. Allen Rossum returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. Willie Parker ran for 133 yards, his fourth straight 100-yard effort and sixth in his last seven games dating back to
last season.
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Houston Texans aren't quite in the same class as the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts -- at least not with
their two top offensive weapons on the sidelines. Joseph Addai (ah-DY') ran for two touchdowns and Adam Vinatieri (vihn-un-TEHR'-ee) added three field goals to lead the 3-and-0 Colts to a 30-24 win over the injury-ravaged Texans. Houston
entered the game without star receiver Andre Johnson, who sprained his knee last week, and lost running back Ahman Green to a knee
injury on the first series of the second quarter. Backup Ron Dayne was inactive because of bruised ribs, so the Texans had to rely on third-stringer Samkon Gado for the rest of the game. Still, the
Texans were close until the end in falling to 2-and-1.
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Backup Baltimore QB Kyle Boller completed five straight completions that led to Matt Stover's game-winning 46-yard
field goal at the final gun that gave the Ravens a 26-23 win over Arizona. The Ravens blew a 23-6 fourth quarter lead as Cardinals backup Kurt Warner orchestrated a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback. Warner came on in relief of an ineffective Matt Leinart (LYN'-urt) to drive the Cardinals to the tying score with 1:50 left. Warner went 15-for-20 for 258 yards and two TDs. His favorite target was Anquan Boldin, who had a career-high 14 catches for 181 yards.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Donovan McNabb let his performance do his talking. McNabb, who last week said black quarterbacks endure more criticism than their white counterparts, threw for 381 yards and four touchdown passes in Philadelphia's first victory, a 56-21 rout of previously undefeated Detroit. This was a fantasy player's dream performance. Kevin Curtis had 221 yards receiving and three scores. Brian Westbrook had 110 yards rushing, 111 more receiving and scored three TDs. The Eagles scored a franchise-record 42 points in the first half just six days after being booed off the field in a lackluster 20-12 loss to Washington. Even in defeat, the Lions' Jon
Kitna threw for 446 yards and two TDs and Roy Williams had nine catches for 204 and a 91-yard TD.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New York Jets broke into the win column as Chad Pennington returned after a one-game absence caused by an ankle injury and produced a 31-28 victory over winless Miami. Pennington threw two touchdown passes and ran for another. Leon Washington returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score. Thomas
Jones had his first big game for the Jets by rushing for 110 yards on 25 carries. Cam Cameron is off to the worst start of any first-year Miami coach since George Wilson dropped his first five
games with the AFL expansion team in 1966. That squad finished a franchise-worst 3-and-11.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers look like they are building a ferocious defensive unit similar to the Bucs' Super Bowl champions a few years back. Safety Jermaine Phillips and reservecornerback Phillip Buchanon intercepted passes as the revamped Bucs shut down winless St. Louis 24-3. The Bucs improved to 2-and-1. Despite 115 yards rushing on 30 carries by Steven Jackson, the Rams fell to 0-and-3.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- In a low-scoring tussle, Kansas City scored its first win of the season by edging Minnesota 13-10. Damon Huard hit rookie wide receiver Dwayne Bowe with a fourth-quarter TD pass. Minnesota rookie Adrian Peterson rushed for 102 yards and caught three passes for 48 yards. Both teams are 1-and-2.
Tonight's game is an early possible NFC playoff preview. The 2-and-0 Dallas Cowboys face a tough road test when they visit Chicago to play the 1-and-1 Bears.
The Monday night game returns to New Orleans where the winless Saints are desperate to taste victory for the first time this season when they host 1-and-1 Tennessee.