The Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions both staged thrilling comebacks to extend their winning starts to the NFL season on Sunday, while the Green Bay Packers overcame rivals Chicago 27-17 to maintain their perfect record.
The Bills came back from 21 points down to upset Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 34-31, while the Lions overturned a 20 point deficit in their 26-23 overtime win against the Minnesota Vikings.
There were also wins for the New York Giants over the Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans Saints over Houston and Tampa Bay over Atlanta.
Photo: Reuters
Buffalo have been the surprise team of the season so far and moved to 3-0 and the top of the AFC East after ending divisional rivals the Patriots’ winning start to the campaign.
Rian Lindell kicked a 28-yard field goal in the final second as the Bills ended a 15-game losing streak against New England dating back more than eight seasons.
The Patriots looked in control of the game with a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, but quarterback Brady, who had been outstanding in the opening two wins, threw four interceptions which resulted in 24 points as the Bills roared back.
Detroit (3-0) have the best start to a season since 1980 after Matthew Stafford threw two touchdowns to Calvin Johnson as the Lions roared back against the Vikings.
Jason Hanson kicked a 32-yard field goal 1 minute, 53 seconds into overtime as the Lions ended their 13-game losing streak on the road in Minnesota.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns as Super Bowl champions Green Bay defeated old rivals Chicago with tight-end Jermichael Finley, who missed out last year through injury, collecting on all three touchdowns.
The Texans also went into week three with a 100 percent record and they almost produced a surprise of their own as they pushed the Saints all the way before succumbing 40-33 to New Orleans’ offense.
Houston quarterback Matt Schaub threw three touchdown passes as he led the Texans to a 26-17 lead early in the fourth quarter, before Drew Brees got a grip on the game.
Schaub’s only interception of the day led to Brees’ second touchdown pass of the fourth quarter, a 16 yard pass to Lance Moore.
The Saints scored 23 points in the final period with Mark Ingram charging in to give New Orleans the lead with a 13-yard touchdown run, before the Saints stopped Houston on fourth-and-21 to make sure of the win.
There were plenty of expectations around Atlanta this year, but the Falcons suffered a second defeat when they fell 16-13 to Tampa.
Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman scored a rushing touchdown in the second quarter and although Tony Gonzalez collected on a 10 yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan in the fourth, Atlanta paid the price for three turnovers.
Rookie quarterback Cam Newton had thrown for more than 400 yards in both the Carolina Panthers’ defeats in the opening two games of the season, but the No. 1 overall draft pick will be glad that despite more modest yardage (158) that he has got his first victory in the pro game.
Torrential rain in Charlotte made passing tricky for Newton and Jacksonville’s rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert, but the Panthers quarterback executed on the key play — with a 16 yard pass to Greg Olsen in the fourth giving head coach Ron Rivera his first win since taking over Carolina.
Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick fractured his right hand in the Eagles’ 29-16 loss to the New York Giants, just a week after he was concussed in his team’s defeat to the Atlanta Falcons.
The New York Jets suffered their first loss of the season when they went down 34-24 away to the Oakland Raiders.
Miami head coach Tony Sparano is under intense pressure after the Dolphins fell to a third straight loss, 17-16 to Cleveland. Browns quarterback Colt McCoy threw a 14 yard touchdown pass to Mohamed Massaquoi with just 43 seconds left and Miami’s attempted response fell when Chad Henne threw an interception with 13 seconds on the clock.
In other games, it was:
‧ Tennessee 17, Denver 14
‧ San Francisco 13, Cincinnati 8
‧ Cleveland 17, Miami 16
‧ Carolina 16, Jacksonville 10
‧ San Diego 20, Kansas City 17
‧ Baltimore 37, St Louis 7
‧ Seattle 13, Arizona 10
‧ Pittsburgh 23, Indianapolis 20
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