PHILADELPHIA -- Jordan Matthews, the rookie who replaced DeSean Jackson, and veteran Jeremy Maclin lifted the Philadelphia Eagles past the star receiver's new team.
Matthews caught two touchdown passes, Maclin had one, and the Eagles again stormed from behind to win, beating Jackson's Washington Redskins 37-34 on Sunday.
The nasty game was marred by a fourth-quarter brawl near the Washington sideline after Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was blindsided by defensive lineman Chris Baker during an apparent interception. Baker and Eagles left tackle Jason Peters (Arkansas Razorbacks) were ejected and then the interception was overturned by video replay. That led to Maclin's 27-yard touchdown to break a 27-27 tie.
Jackson wasn't going to let Philadelphia forget him. The exiled receiver, cut by Coach Chip Kelly last winter, caught an 81-yard touchdown pass. He added a Rockettes-style kick to his celebration as his former fans loudly booed.
But the Eagles (3-0), who rallied from 17 points down in their first two victories, came back from an early 17-7 deficit to drop Washington to 1-2.
Rookie Cody Parkey's third field goal, a 51-yarder with 5:55 remaining, proved to be the winning points when Washington scored a late TD.
Philadelphia's Chris Polk had a 102-yard kickoff return, the first for an Eagle at Lincoln Financial Field, which opened in 2003.
Washington's Kirk Cousins threw for 427 yards and three touchdowns in his first start replacing injured Robert Griffin III.
RAVENS 23, BROWNS 21 With the Ray Rice case lingering over them, the visiting Ravens pulled off a comeback victory as Justin Tucker kicked a 32-yard field as time expired to give Baltimore a victory over the Cleveland Browns. Tucker's boot capped another challenging week for the Ravens (2-1), who continue to be dogged by their handling of Rice's domestic violence suspension. Joe Flacco set up Tucker's winner with a 32-yard pass to Steve Smith with 1:28 left. The Ravens then ran the clock down before bringing in Tucker, who split the uprights and sent the Browns (1-2) to another tough loss. Along with the blown opportunities, the Browns had a fake play in which backup quarterback Johnny Manziel fooled Baltimore's defense negated by a penalty.
COLTS 44, JAGUARS 17 Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes -- three of them in a lopsided first half -- and the visiting Indianapolis Colts dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars for their first victory. It was a home opener to forget for the Jaguars (0-3), who trailed 30-0 at the break and benched quarterback Chad Henne. The only positive for Jacksonville was getting rookie Blake Bortles on the field. The third overall pick in May's NFL draft played the entire second half, finishing with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 223 yards, including fourth-quarter scores to Allen Hurns and Cecil Shorts III. Indianapolis (1-2) made plays from start to finish, including Greg Toler returning an interception 47 yards for a touchdown with 2:58 to play.
SAINTS 20, VIKINGS 9 Drew Brees passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns, and the host New Orleans Saints won for the first time this season, taking their home opener against the Minnesota Vikings. For the Vikings, the loss capped a week of distractions as the club first announced that star running back Adrian Peterson would play, then later changed course and said Peterson would leave the team indefinitely to deal with child abuse allegations. Minnesota then lost starting quarterback Matt Cassel with a toe injury early in the second quarter. He was replaced by rookie Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 12 of 20 for 150 yards.
CHARGERS 22, BILLS 10 A week after throwing three touchdown passes to tight end Antonio Gates to knock off the Seattle Seahawks, San Diego's Philip Rivers hit Eddie Royal for two scores in a victory over the host Buffalo Bills (2-1). Royal scored on 3- and 5-yard receptions and finished with four catches 42 yards. Malcom Floyd had two catches for 98 yards in a game the Chargers (2-1) never trailed. Rivers finished 18 of 25 for 256 yards and extended his touchdown streak to 23 games.
GIANTS 30, TEXANS 17 Rashad Jennings ran for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown and Eli Manning threw two TD passes as the host New York Giants overcame some early mistakes and beat the suddenly error-prone Houston Texans (1-2). The victory not only put some life back into the Giants (1-2) after two disappointing efforts, it also ended any chance of a second consecutive horrible start for Tom Coughlin's team which opened 0-6 last season. Victor Cruz made a 26-yard touchdown catch, his first since Game 4 of last season, and danced the salsa.
BENGALS 33, TITANS 7 Andy Dalton caught a touchdown pass -- the first Bengals quarterback to pull off that feat -- and host Cincinnati stayed undefeated with a victory over the Tennessee Titans. The Bengals (3-0) head into their bye week with their best start in eight years and a chance to get some of their many injured players healthy. They got a lot of big plays, a few breaks and plenty of help from a team dealing with the death of a long-time player. A few hours before kickoff, the Titans (1-2) learned that kicker Rob Bironas had died overnight in a one-car crash in Nashville. He'd been released in March after his ninth season with Tennessee.
PATRIOTS 16, RAIDERS 9 Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass, Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals and the host New England Patriots (2-1) held on to beat the Oakland Raiders (0-3) when defensive tackle Vince Wilfork intercepted a pass near his goal line. A potential tying touchdown run by Darren McFadden (Pulaski Oak Grove, Arkansas Razorbacks) was nullified by a holding penalty. A play later, Wilfork grabbed the ball when Logan Ryan jarred it loose from intended receiver Denarius Moore with 51 seconds left.
LIONS 19, PACKERS 7 Don Carey returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown, and host Detroit's defensive front stuffed Green Bay, leading the Lions over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. The Lions (2-1) came in with a secondary decimated by injuries, but that didn't much matter with Rodgers under constant pressure. He was sacked twice and threw for only 162 yards, and Green Bay (1-2) wasn't any better when running the ball.
CARDINALS 23, 49ERS 14 Drew Stanton threw a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes to rookie John Brown and host Arizona rallied to beat San Francisco, snapping a four-game losing streak to the 49ers. Tommy Kelly blocked a field goal for the Cardinals (3-0), who outscored San Francisco 17-0 in the second half. The 49ers (1-2) mounted 80-yard touchdown drives the first two times they had the ball, then didn't score again, blowing a halftime lead for the second week in a row.
Sports on 09/22/2014