A look back at NFL Week 2 — PHOTOS
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Tom Brady passed for 466 yards — the second-highest total of his career — and three touchdowns to lead the New England Patriots in a 40-32 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
The Patriots (2-0) have now beaten the Bills (1-1) in 24 of their 27 meetings when Brady was the starting quarterback. New England is 10-4 against teams coached by Rex Ryan, who led the New York Jets before taking over in Buffalo during the offseason.
The teams combined for 25 penalties for 259 yards. Buffalo had 14 of those penalties for 140 yards.
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman caught 11 passes for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and tight end Rob Gronkowski caught seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. New England running back Dion Lewis gained 138 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown, and Stephen Gostkowski made all four of his field goal attempts.
Packers 27, Seahawks 17
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers completed 25 of 33 passes for 249 yards with two touchdowns as Green Bay beat Seattle.
Green Bay is 2-0 — one of just five teams in the NFC — while the two-time defending NFC champions fell to 0-2.
With their offensive tackles struggling with Seattle’s edge rushers, the Packers went to four-receiver sets, spread the field and went to a quick-hitting passing game for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Randall Cobb led the receiving corps with eight catches for 116 yards.
Browns 28, Titans 14
CLEVELAND — Johnny Manziel threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin on Cleveland’s second play and connected with his wide receiver again for a 50-yarder with 2:52 left as the defense held off quarterback Marcus Mariota in the second half.
Benjamin added a touchdown on a 78-yard punt return with 53 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Browns (1-1) a 21-0 lead halftime lead. Benjamin racked up 214 all-purpose yards in the first half.
Manziel won his Heisman Trophy matchup with Mariota, who threw two TD passes in the second half for the Titans (1-1) but took a pounding in his second game. The No. 2 overall pick was sacked seven times.
Buccaneers 26, Saints 19
NEW ORLEANS — No. 1 draft pick Jameis Winston rebounded from a shaky NFL debut to throw for one touchdown and scramble for another to lead Tampa Bay over New Orleans.
Winston, who was picked off twice in a 42-14 loss to Tennessee last week, completed 14 of 21 passes for 207 yards. His 15-yard strike to wide receiver Vincent Jackson just before halftime put the Bucs (1-1) on top for good against the 0-2 Saints.
Winston took the Bucs 80 yards in just four plays with the second-half kickoff for a 17-7 lead. The Bucs benefitted from a 40-yard pass interference call against cornerback Brandon Browner, who was badly beaten by wide receiver Louis Murphy. Winston got the touchdown by rolling out to the left and then easily running into the end zone.
Falcons 24, Giants 20
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Julio Jones finished with 13 receptions for 135 yards, including a 37-yarder that set up the game-winning touchdown run by Davonta Freeman to give Atlanta a win over the New York Giants.
Jones, last week’s NFC Offensive Player of the Week, fought through a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice two days this week for the Falcons (2-0). Jones, who connected with quarterback Matt Ryan for six receptions for 44 yards in the first quarter alone, recorded 25 of those first-quarter yards on the Falcons’ second drive of the game. That drive culminated in a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to running back Tevin Coleman.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. finished with 146 yards on seven receptions and one touchdown for the Giants (0-2).
Panthers 24, Texans 17
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cam Newton threw for two touchdowns and made an acrobatic touchdown leap as Carolina defeated Houston.
Newton flipped into the end zone over the tackle attempt of Texans safety Rahim Moore for the tiebreaking points with 1:04 to play in the third quarter.
Linebacker A.J. Klein’s fourth-quarter interception set up the Panthers at the Houston 36 with 9:02 left. The next play resulted in Newton’s touchdown pass to receiver Philly Brown, pushing the Panthers (2-0) to a 24-10 lead. The Texans are 0-2).
Vikings 26, Lions 16
MINNEAPOLIS — Adrian Peterson rushed for 134 yards on 29 carries as Minnesota beat Detroit.
Peterson, playing his first game at home since Dec. 1, 2013, rebounded from a sub-par performance in last week’s season opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. In that game, he carried just 10 times for 31 yards.
Peterson had eclipsed that total by the end of the first drive on Sunday, as the Vikings (1-1) ran for 199 as a team against the Lions (0-2). He accounted for 45 of them on the game’s initial drive, capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Teddy Bridgewater to tight end Kyle Rudolph.
Cardinals 48, Bears 23
CHICAGO — Carson Palmer threw four touchdown passes, including three to Larry Fitzgerald, to lead Arizona over Chicago, whose starting quarterback Jay Cutler was forced out of the game with an injury suffered while trying to make a tackle on an interception return.
The score was tied at 14 in the second quarter when Palmer led the Cardinals (2-0) on an 80-yard, nine-play drive that ended with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Fitzgerald.
Two plays after the kickoff, Cutler, who to that point had completed all eight passes he attempted, threw behind tight end Martellus Bennett and into the receptive arms of Cardinals safety Tony Jefferson, who returned the gift 26 yards for a touchdown that put Arizona ahead 28-14. Cutler was injured as he dove to try to tackle Jefferson near the sideline. It appeared Cutler landed on his shoulder and head, but the Bears (0-2) announced the injury as a hamstring, and he did not return to the game.
Steelers 43, 49ers 18
PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns, Antonio Brown had 195 receiving yards and DeAngelo Williams tied a franchise record with three touchdown runs as Pittsburgh built a 26-point halftime lead and rolled over San Francisco.
Roethlisberger completed 21 of 27 passes as the Steelers bounced back from a season-opening loss to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots to even their record at 1-1. The 49ers are 1-1.
Brown had nine receptions, his last going for a 7-yard touchdown with 7:43 left to close the scoring. He has 18 catches for 328 yards through two games and became the fourth player in Steelers’ history with 400 career receptions, joining Hines Ward, Heath Miller and John Stallworth.
Williams rushed for 77 yards on 20 carries and scored on runs of 2, 2 and 1 yards as he again filled in for Pro Bowl running back LeVeon Bell, who served the second game of a two-game suspension for violating the NFLs’ code of conduct. Williams had 127 yards in the opener.
Bengals 24, Chargers 19
CINCINNATI — Giovani Bernard rushed for 123 yards and Andy Dalton tossed three touchdown passes to lead Cincinnati over San Diego.
Philip Rivers passed for 241 yards and two TDs with an interception for the Chargers (1-1).
The Bengals (2-0) forced their fourth turnover of the season when defensive end Wallace Gilberry’s hit on Rivers resulted in a fumble which was recovered by linebacker Chris Carter.
Redskins 24, Rams 10
LANDOVER, Md. — Rookie running back Matt Jones rumbled for two touchdowns and 123 rushing yards to lead Washington over St. Louis.
Jones’ second touchdown, a 3-yard burst with 2:43 to go, concluded a 12-play, 77-yard drive and sealed the result that evened each team’s record at 1-1.
The Rams had nearly as many penalties (nine) as first downs (11), while the Redskins teamed Jones and Alfred Morris for 37 carries and 182 rushing yards to dominate time-of-possession, 37:18 to 22:16.
Jaguars 23, Dolphins 20
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jason Myers kicked a 28-yard field goal with 40 seconds left in regulation to push Jacksonville past Miami at EverBank Field.
The Jaguars put together a nine-play drive in 1:08, marching from their own 24-yard line to just inside the Dolphins 10-yard line. Blake Bortles completed three of five passes in the drive, including 18- and 19-yard completions to wide receivers Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns, respectively.
The biggest play of the drive came following a 6-yard run by T.J. Yeldon to the Dolphins’ 34. Linebacker Olivier Vernon shoved Jaguars tight end Clay Harbor to the ground after the play and was hit with a personal foul. That gave the Jaguars a first down at the 19-yard line with just under a minute left in the game.
Cowboys 20, Eagles 10
PHILADELPHIA — Dallas won the game, but it may have lost its season after quarterback Tony Romo was knocked out of the game with a fractured left clavicle in the victory over Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
Romo, who was injured in the third quarter on a play in which he was sacked and fumbled, did not return to the game and the Cowboys said his future status will be determined at a later date. Romo missed the final 10 games of the 2010 season after fracturing his left clavicle. He was replaced for the rest of the game by Brandon Weeden.
The victory gives Dallas a two-game lead over the Eagles in the NFC East. The Cowboys held DeMarco Murray, who led the NFL in rushing last season for Dallas, to just two yards on 13 carries. And the Cowboys won despite being flagged for 19 penalties.
Raiders 37, Ravens 33
OAKLAND, Calif. — Derek Carr threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts with 26 seconds left to play, lifting Oakland Raiders to a victory against Baltimore at the O.co Coliseum.
The Raiders (1-1) marched 80 yards on nine plays in 1:44 for their game-winning touchdown, giving new coach Jack Del Rio his first victory with Oakland.
Carr, who left last week’s game against Cincinnati with an injury to his right thumb, threw for a career-high 351 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. He completed 30 of 46 passes. Raiders rookie wide receiver Amari Cooper had seven catches for 109 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
Broncos 31, Chiefs 24
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Linebacker Brandon Marshall forced a Jamaal Charles fumble, cornerback Bradley Roby scooped up the ball and ran for a 21-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left, and the Denver Broncos scored an improbable 31-24 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday at Arrowhead Stadium.
Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning led an 80-yard scoring drive to tie the game at 24 on a 19-yard pass to wider receiver Emmanuel Sanders with 36 seconds left in regulation.
On the Chiefs’ next play from scrimmage, Charles lost his second fumble of the game, and Kansas City coughed up its seventh consecutive loss to Manning.
The Broncos had five takeaways, including two red-zone interceptions, to spoil Kansas City’s home opener.
Backup running back Knile Davis sprinted 8 yards off left tackle untouched with 2:27 left as the Chiefs went in front 24-17.
Manning completed 26 of 45 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair to Sanders. Denver wide receiver Demaryius Thomas caught eight passes for 116 yards.
Charles had 21 carries for 125 yards.
