PATRIOTS 38, TITANS 30
Story: The final five minutes were wild. Before a home crowd cheering as much for baseball’s Red Sox, the Patriots (3-2) pulled out the win. Steve McNair bulled into the end zone from a yard out and threw for a two-point conversion to give the Titans (3-2) a 27-24 lead with 4:40 remaining. But Patriots rookie Bethel Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 71 yards to set up a Mike Cloud 15-yard touchdown run. Then Ty Law clinched it with a 65-yard interception return for a TD.
Stars: Cloud, who grew up in Rhode Island and played at Boston College, returned Sunday from a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy . He had 7 carries for 73 yards and scored twice. . . . McNair was 23-of-45 for 391 yards and ran for two scores.
Extra point: Adam Vinatieri missed field goals of 34 and 39 yards after missing just 1-of-20 from less than 40 yards over the last two seasons.
Quote: “As I went to bed last night, I had visions of something good happening. I guess the dream was right.”–Cloud
JAGUARS 27, CHARGERS 21
Story: The search is over. The Jaguars finally found a team that was even worse than they were. In the Game of the Weak–a meeting of two teams that entered 0-4–rookie quarterback Byron Leftwich threw like a veteran and returning receiver Jimmy Smith played as though he hadn’t missed a day in giving coach Jack Del Rio his first career victory.
Stars: Jimmy Smith, returning from a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, caught eight passes for 137 yards, including a highlight-reel one-hander for 36 yards. . . . Leftwich passed for 336 yards and two scores in his second career start, including a 60-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Fred Taylor that gave the Jaguars a 27-14 lead late.
Extra points: Dating to last season, San Diego has lost nine straight. . . . Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer is 0-5 for the second time in three years. Two seasons ago, he started 0-5 with the Redskins, but finished 8-8, before getting fired and replaced by Steve Spurrier.
Quote: “We stand here at 0-5, that’s the challenge we face. We’re going to find a way to play 60 minutes of football with an attitude.”–Schottenheimer.
PANTHERS 19, SAINTS 13
Story line: Jake Delhomme, a Louisiana native who spent five seasons as the Saints’ backup quarterback before signing with Carolina, helped the Panthers claw their way to a 4-0 start–the best in franchise history.
Stars: The Panthers went on a steady diet of Stephen Davis, who ran for 159 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. Davis has passed the 100-yard mark in all four of Carolina’s victories and now has 565 yards rushing this season.
Extra points: The Panthers opened last season 3-0 before going on an eight-game losing streak. . . . The Saints’ Deuce McAllister, with a stiff back and a touch of the flu, ran for 124 yards and added four catches for 59 yards. . . . Joe Horn’s 21-yard touchdown catch was the first touchdown the Panthers have given up since the season opener.
Quote: “Stephen Davis is the best thing that has ever happened to this football team.”–Panthers safety Mike Minter.
COWBOYS 24, CARDINALS 7
Story line: Cardinlas running back Emmitt Smith returned to Texas Stadium, where thousands of fans wore blue No. 22 jerseys and a huge sign read “Once A Cowboy, Always A Cowboy.” But with six carries for minus-1 yard and two catches for 2 yards, Smith had the least productive of his 206 career games (201 of which were for Dallas) and was knocked out early in the second quarter with a sprained left shoulder.
Star: Quincy Carter threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yarder to Terry Glenn on a perfectly executed flea-flicker to open Dallas’ second drive of the game.
Extra points: The Cowboys’ defense allowed just 151 yards and provided two safeties in a four-play span in the third quarter. . . . This was Dallas’ 13th straight regular-season home win over Arizona. . . . Its the first three-game winning streak for Dallas since opening 1999 at 3-0.
Quote: “We didn’t want to get embarrassed by [Smith]. He knows our defense inside and out.”–Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen.
DOLPHINS 23, GIANTS 10
Story: The Giants (2-2) set out to stop Ricky Williams at all costs, and they held the running back to his worst rushing game as a Dolphin (22 carries for 39 yards). But that set up the right conditions for receiver James McKnight’s momentum-turning 68-yard reverse for a touchdown to give the Dolphins (3-1) the lead for good at 10-7 midway through the second quarter.
Stars: Olindo Mare kicked field goals of 43, 23 and 48 yards. . . . Patrick Surtain intercepted three passes. . . . Linebacker Junior Seau pulled a hamstring late in the game, but finished with a game-high 13 tackles.
Extra point: Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey finished with 11 catches for 110 yards, but also got called for a taunting penalty for flipping a ball at Terrell Buckley.
Quote: “When I was going to get the ball from Ricky, I saw the whole defense coming at Ricky. Those guys were keying and trying to stop 34.”–McKnight.
49ERS 24, LIONS 17
Story: Terrell Owens finally won a confrontation with Steve Mariucci. Owens caught five passes for 79 yards and a touchdown as the 49ers (2-3) spoiled their former coach’s homecoming, sending the Lions (1-4) to their fourth straight loss.
Star: Jeff Garcia, who barely spoke to Owens all week after he was criticized by the All-Pro receiver, completed 15-of-27 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score.
Extra points: Garcia’s TD pass to Owens was the 100th of his career. . . . Owens has only two TDs this season after catching 42 touchdown passes over the past three seasons. . . . The Lions have lost 19 straight road games.
Quote: “Both of us were very uncomfortable with the way it had gotten and didn’t want to see it go on any longer. I don’t like having any sort of negativity in the locker room.”–Garcia.
BROWNS 33, STEELERS 13
Story: Tim Couch did what Kelly Holcomb couldn’t do nine months ago–preserve a big Browns fourth-quarter lead in Pittsburgh. Cleveland (2-3) also took advantage of three Tommy Maddox turnovers to end a six-game losing streak to their biggest rivals.
Star: Couch, who was 20-of-25 for 208 yards, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another before halftime.
Extra points: Browns coach Butch Davis finally beat the Steelers for the first time in six tries as Cleveland won in Pittsburgh for only the sixth time in 33 tries since 1970. . . . Maddox has thrown 19 interceptions in his last 13 starts. . . . Cleveland’s offense was the NFL’s third worst going into the game and Pittsburgh’s defense was the second best.
