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Panthers take Patriots down a notch

Panthers' Stephen Davis, top center, runs through Chad Brown, left, and Matt Chatham of the Patriots for his third touchdown of the game during the fourth quarter of Carolina's 27-17 win in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

The first NFL regular-season meeting between the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots since their thrilling Super Bowl was no reprise.

Neither team played that well, and Carolina did just enough to hand the New England Patriots a 27-17 loss Sunday.

Stephen Davis scored three touchdowns for the Panthers (1-1), who won in spite of Jake Delhomme. The quarterback was off all day and had an interception by Mike Vrable returned 24 yards for a touchdown. Delhomme finished 11-of-26 for 154 yards and no touchdowns.

"It wasn't a revenge game or a get-back game, because that was a long time ago," said Delhomme. "This was just a big win for us."

Davis ran for 77 yards and scored on three 1-yard plunges in his second game back from microfracture surgery on his right knee.

Tom Brady finished 23-of-44 for 270 yards, one interception and one fumble for the Patriots (1-1). He did throw a 1-yard TD pass to Deion Branch early in the first quarter, the 100th passing touchdown of his career.

Raiders fans cheer during the game against the Chiefs' in Oakland on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

"Do you think we're going to win any more games playing like this?" Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "We can't play like this. We have to play better. We have to coach better. This won't be good enough ... against anyone we play."

Colts 10, Jaguars 3

In Indianapolis, Edgerrin James ran for 128 yards, Ran Carthon scored on a 6-yard run midway through the fourth quarter and Indianapolis turned in a second straight solid defensive performance.

The victory gave Indianapolis (2-0) an early edge in the AFC South title chase.

Jacksonville (1-1) was the only team to beat Indianapolis at home last year, and nearly came back in the game's final two minutes.

Eagles 42, 49ers 3

In Philadelphia, Donovan McNabb threw four of his five touchdown passes in the first 19 minutes, including a pair to Terrell Owens.

McNabb played three quarters, finishing 23-of-29 for 342 yards and tying his career-best for TD passes. Owens had five catches for 143 yards -- all in the opening 19 minutes -- in his first game against his former team.

Chiefs 23, Raiders 17

In Oakland, California, Trent Green engineered two second-half field goal drives and the Chiefs stopped Oakland at the 10-yard line in the final minutes to spoil Randy Moss' home debut.

Kansas City overhauled its defense in the offseason after another season in which its high-scoring offense wasn't enough.

After taking a shutout into the final minute of a season-opening 27-7 win over the New York Jets, the Chiefs (2-0) proved to be just tough enough to beat the Raiders for the fifth straight time.

After Samie Parker's fumble set up a final drive for Oakland, Kerry Collins led the Raiders (0-2) to the 10 with 1:58 to go. He threw an incomplete pass to LaMont Jordan on third down and then lofted a last-ditch pass to Jerry Porter in the back corner of the end zone. Porter leaped and had the ball on his fingertips, but Benny Sapp knocked the ball away.

Steelers 27, Texans 7

In Houston, Ben Roethlisberger led Pittsburgh to scores on its first four drives -- a pair of field goals sandwiched around touchdown passes of 16 and 14 yards to Hines Ward -- and the Steelers cruised.

Willie Parker gained 111 yards on 25 carries with a touchdown for Pittsburgh.

In losing their home opener, the Texans (0-2) continued to look lost on offense, especially quarterback David Carr, who was 16-of-26 for 167 yards.

Bengals 37, Vikings 8

In Cincinnati, Chad Johnson caught a 70-yard touchdown pass on the game's second play.

The Bengals (2-0) had it all over the Vikings (0-2), rolling up 337 yards and a 27-0 lead in the first half. Johnson topped 100 yards receiving before halftime, setting the tone for Cincinnati's most lopsided win in three years.

Buccaneers 19, Bills 3

In Tampa, Florida, Carnell "Cadillac" Williams topped 100 yards rushing for the second straight week, returning from a foot sprain to finish a 128-yard performance that helped Tampa Bay (2-0) dominate Buffalo.

J.P. Losman completed 12 of 29 passes for 113 yards in his first NFL road start for the Bills (1-1).

Titans 25, Ravens 10

In Nashville, Tennessee, Steve McNair threw a touchdown pass and Rob Bironas kicked field goals of 39, 29 and 47 yards as the NFL's youngest team beat Baltimore.

The rebuilding Titans (1-1) had replaced five starters on defense this offseason, but they easily outplayed Baltimore's Pro Bowl-stocked unit with six sacks and two turnovers, including linebacker Brad Kassell's 21-yard interception return in the fourth quarter.

Bears 38, Lions 6

In Chicago, Chicago scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams to blow out Detroit.

After struggling to move the ball a week earlier, the Bears' Thomas Jones led Chicago with 139 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Kyle Orton completed 14 of 21 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown, and did not throw an interception.

Joey Harrington of Detroit (1-1) threw a career-high five INTs.

Seahawks 21, Falcons 18

In Seattle, the Seahawks (1-1) took a 21-0 halftime lead and barely held on.

Shaun Alexander ran for 144 yards and a touchdown and Matt Hasselbeck threw for 281 yards and two more TDs. Still, it was the defense that won it for the Seahawks, shutting down the Falcons after Atlanta (1-1) got the ball back with 2:39 left at its 27 needing just a field goal to send the game to overtime.

Jets 17, Dolphins 7

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Chad Pennington threw two touchdown passes, including a 1-yarder to Jerald Sowell in the fourth quarter, to help atone for six fumbles last week in an embarrassing loss to Kansas City.

Gus Frerotte threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Randy McMichael at the start of the quarter, closing the Dolphins (1-1) to 10-7. On the ensuing drive, Pennington went 7-of-7 for 74 yards to give the Jets (1-1) the clinching TD.

Rams 17, Cardinals 12

In Tempe, Arizona, Kurt Warner fell a few yards shy of a memorable comeback against his former team.

Warner, 29-for-42 for 327 yards in his first game against St. Louis (1-1), drove Arizona (0-2) to the 5-yard line in the final seconds. But a sack by Adam Archuleta and a false start by offensive tackle Leonard Davis preserved the Rams' victory.

Marc Bulger directed touchdown drives on St. Louis' first possession of each half.

Broncos 20, Chargers 17

In Denver, Jason Elam kicked a 41-yard field goal with 5 seconds left after Ron Dayne came off the bench and ran six times for 39 yards on the winning drive, including an 11-yard gain on fourth-and-1 from the Chargers 33.

It saved the Broncos (1-1) from going 0-2 for the first time since 1999. Instead, it's San Diego (0-2) that remains winless despite leading 14-3 early and turning the sellout crowd at Invesco Field squarely against the home team.

Browns 26, Packers 24

In Green Bay, Wisconson, Trent Dilfer won for the first time in nine trips to Lambeau Field, giving new coach Romeo Crennel his first win for Cleveland (1-1). Dilfer threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards and a game-icing 62-yarder to Steve Heiden with 1:50 remaining.

Brett Favre of Green Bay (0-2) broke John Elway's single-stadium NFL touchdown record of 180 on a 4-yard toss to Tony Fisher with 4 seconds left.

Favre joined Dan Marino and John Elway in the NFL 50,000-yard passing club on Sunday, and then the Green Bay Packers quarterback broke Elway's single-stadium touchdown record. But it was all in a losing cause, a 26-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Favre started the day 65 yards shy of the 50,000-yard mark, and reached the milestone on a 17-yard pass to running back Ahman Green in the second quarter at Lambeau Field.

Marino holds the NFL record with 61,361 yards passing and Elway is second at 51,475. Favre has 50,277.

Favre, in his 14th season as a starter, threw three TD passes on Sunday, giving him 181 at Lambeau.

Elway threw 180 touchdown passes at Mile High Stadium. Favre also had 17 at old Milwaukee County Stadium, where he played nine times before the Packers abandoned the baseball stadium in the mid-1990s and moved all their games to Green Bay.

Marino threw 155 TD passes at Pro Player/Joe Robbie Stadium and 68 at the Orange Bowl.
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