League MVP Tom Brady limped off the field to the horror of the New England Patriots while the unretired Brett Favre made a successful debut in leading the New York Jets to victory in the NFL on Sunday.
Brady hurt his left knee when he was tackled by safety Bernard Pollard midway through the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Without their star quarterback, the Patriots still won 17-10.
Last season, Brady set a NFL record with 50 touchdown passes, but it ended in disappointment with the Super Bowl loss that spoiled New England’s bid for the perfect season.
Matt Cassel, who had thrown only 39 passes as Brady’s backup for the past three seasons, took over and did surprisingly well, completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown. But New England needed solid defense at the end to keep the lead.
Damon Huard, playing after Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle left with a shoulder contusion late in the third quarter, completed a 68-yard pass to Devard Darling to the Patriots 5 with 53 seconds left. But they moved no further with two incompletions, a run for no gain by Larry Johnson, and a poorly aimed pass that fell to the ground wide of the end zone on fourth down.
JETS 20, DOLPHINS 14
At Miami, six months after Favre decided to call it a career in Green Bay before changing his mind, his new beginning had a happy ending thanks to two late stands by the Jets’ defense.
Dwight Lowery batted away a fourth-down pass in the end zone with 9 minutes left, and Darrelle Revis intercepted Miami quarterback Chad Pennington — again in the end zone — with only 5 seconds left.
Favre finished 15-for-22 for 194 yards and his 161st victory, extending his NFL record for starting quarterbacks.
PANTHERS 26, CHARGERS 24
At San Diego, Jake Delhomme threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dante Rosario as time expired, capping a desperation drive for Carolina’s win.
After Philip Rivers rallied San Diego with his third TD pass, Delhomme moved the Panthers to the San Diego 14-yard line with 2 seconds left before calling his final timeout.
Delhomme dropped back on fourth down and found Rosario in the back of the end zone and the offensive players mobbed each other behind the posts.
COWBOYS 28, BROWNS 10
At Cleveland, Tony Romo completed 24 of 32 passes for 320 yards, Dallas’ offense controlled the clock and strung together four long touchdown drives against Cleveland. The defense held one of the AFC’s most potent offenses in check, and except for some silly penalties, the star-studded Cowboys had a dazzling debut.
CARDINALS 23, 49ERS 13
At San Francisco, Kurt Warner passed for 197 yards and led three monotonously effective drives in the second half for Arizona’s victory.
Anquan Boldin had all of his eight catches for 82 yards in the second half of Arizona’s third straight opener against the 49ers, whose long-woeful offense looked downright competent under new coordinator Mike Martz. But the Niners’ offense barely got on the field in the second half.
TITANS 17, JAGUARS 10
At Nashville, Tennessee, the Titans sacked Jacksonville’s David Garrard seven times and Cortland Finnegan intercepted him twice as Tennessee limited the depleted Jaguars to 187 yards offense, just 33 yards rushing by what was the NFL’s second-best rushing team last year.
EAGLES 38, RAMS 3
At Philadelphia, Donovan McNabb threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns, and DeSean Jackson, the first Eagles rookie wide receiver to start a season opener in 18 years, had six catches for 106 yards and returned a punt 60 yards to set up a field goal.
Philadelphia played like a team that expects to make a championship run as the offense racked up 522 total yards and the defense was dominant against St. Louis.
STEELERS 38, TEXANS 17
At Pittsburgh, Willie Parker ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns and a near-perfect Ben Roethlisberger threw two scoring passes to Hines Ward in a Steelers rout that began with Houston’s fourth-down failure on its opening possession.
SAINTS 24, BUCCANEERS 20
At New Orleans, Drew Brees passed for 343 yards and three touchdowns, giving fans already jubilant about the Saints’ quick return from Hurricane Gustav a triumph to celebrate as well.
Tampa Bay had a shot to win the brutally physical, back-and-forth contest until Scott Fujita intercepted Jeff Garcia’s fourth-down pass just inside the Saints 20 with less than 40 seconds to go.
FALCONS 34, LIONS 21
At Atlanta, Matt Ryan threw for a touchdown with his very first NFL pass, Michael Turner set a team rushing record of 220 yards in his Atlanta debut, and the Falcons were off and running.
Detroit bickered among themselves on the sideline and showed again that a perfect record in the preseason is downright meaningless when the games actually count.
BILLS 34, SEAHAWKS 10
At Orchard Park, New York, Roscoe Parrish scored on a 63-yard punt return, and punter Brian Moorman completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to defensive end Ryan Denney on a fake field goal, sparking Buffalo to a dominating win over flat-footed Seattle. As if that wasn’t enough, kicker Rian Lindell recovered a fumble on a kickoff, setting up another touchdown.
RAVENS 17, BENGALS A10
At Baltimore, the Ravens forced two turnovers and limited Cincinnati to 154 yards to make John Harbaugh a winner in his debut as a NFL coach.
Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer was outplayed by Baltimore rookie Joe Flacco, who ran for a 38-yard touchdown to put Baltimore up 17-3 in the third quarter and deftly operated within the careful attack deployed by Harbaugh and new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.
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