NFL ROUNDUP

(Sept. 29)

[October 06, 2008]  (AP)  Somewhere, Joe Namath had to be smiling. While Brett Favre isn't exactly a reincarnation of Broadway Joe, he sure looked like Broadway Brett on Sunday. The longtime star quarterback did something for the Jets he never accomplished during his storied stint in Green Bay, throwing for six touchdowns in a 56-35 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

"Throwing six touchdown passes was awesome," said Favre, who was plagued by a sore ankle during the week. "That had nothing to do with how I felt I played. It was one of those games. More importantly, I felt the overall game itself, I managed it well.

"It's just one game. Don't expect six touchdowns every week, but we, as an offensive unit, should see and expect a lot of ourselves."

The Cardinals (2-2) expect a lot more from themselves than the six turnovers Kurt Warner was victimized for. Arizona trailed 34-0 at halftime as New York (2-2) got three Favre-to-Laveranues Coles TD passes and Darrelle Revis' 32-yard interception return for a score.

Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin was carted off the field after a scary helmet-to-helmet collision with New York safety Eric Smith in the end zone with 27 seconds remaining. Boldin was moving all his extremities on the field and was talking to his teammates, but was immobilized and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for precautionary reasons.

"He's alert," Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "He asked to get up and the doctors wouldn't let him."

Elsewhere, Dallas and Denver were beaten for the first time, while Buffalo and Tennessee remained spotless.

Washington downed the Cowboys 26-24, and Kansas City got its first win by beating the Broncos 33-19. The Bills won at St. Louis 31-14, and the Titans beat Minnesota 30-17.

Also, it was Chicago 24, Philadelphia 20; San Diego 28, Oakland 18; Tampa Bay 30, Green Bay 21; Jacksonville 30, Houston 27 in overtime; Carolina 24, Atlanta 9; New Orleans 31, San Francisco 17; and Cleveland 20, Cincinnati 12.

The Monday night game has Baltimore, which is 2-0, at Pittsburgh (2-1).

Idol this week was another unbeaten team, the Giants (3-0), along with Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami, New England and Detroit.

Redskins 26, Cowboys 24

Jason Campbell threw two touchdown passes and Clinton Portis ran for 121 yards in Washington's last regular-season visit to Texas Stadium; the Redskins (3-1) won for only the second time in the last 13 trips.

Campbell was 20-of-31 for 231 yards. Santana Moss caught eight passes for 145 yards and Shaun Suisham was 4-for-4 on field goals.

Tony Romo was 28-of-47 for 300 yards with three touchdowns, but the Redskins held Marion Barber to 26 yards on eight carries and made Terrell Owens a non-factor for much of the game.

Chiefs 33, Broncos 19

Larry Johnson ran for 198 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chiefs took advantage of four Denver turnovers, snapping a club-record 12-game losing streak.

Nick Novak kicked three field goals for the Chiefs (1-3), who did not seem to be out of danger until Tony Gonzalez snared a 10-yard touchdown pass with 12:40 to go.

Denver quarterback Jay Cutler kept misfiring and Johnson kept running, and the Chiefs, 10-point underdogs at home to the previously undefeated Broncos (3-1), finally broke their skid.

Bills 31, Rams 14

At St. Louis, the Bills moved to 4-0 for the first time since 1992, the middle of its dominant AFC years.

Jabari Greer's 33-yard interception return on the first play of the fourth quarter was the go-ahead score as Buffalo handed St. Louis (0-4) its 17th loss in the last 20 games.

Steven Jackson had 110 yards on 24 carries, the first 100-yard rushing game the Bills have allowed any team this season, and five catches for 78 yards.

Titans 30, Vikings 17

At Nashville, Tenn., rookie Chris Johnson scored two touchdowns, the defense forced four turnovers that Tennessee turned into 21 points, and the Titans improved to 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.

Minnesota (1-3), which came in hoping to start its own winning streak, outgained Tennessee 333-275. The Titans had allowed an NFL-fewest 29 points, then gave up a season-high 17 to the Vikings.

But the Titans also came up with four sacks to go with the turnovers.

Bears 24, Eagles 20

At Chicago, Alex Brown stopped Correll Buckhalter at the goal line late in the game, and the Bears (2-2) hung on after a pair of head-scratching losses that raised questions about their killer instinct.

Kyle Orton was 18-of-34 with 199 yards and a career-high three touchdowns -- all in the first half, as the Bears built a 21-14 lead. Orton threw for just 25 yards in the second half as the Bears nearly gave away the game.

Donovan McNabb had another good game for the Eagles (2-2), passing for 262 yards and a touchdown and interception, but they got little from the running game with Brian Westbrook nursing an ankle injury.

Chargers 28, Raiders 18

At Oakland, Calif., Darren Sproles' long kickoff return set up Nate Kaeding's go-ahead 47-yard field goal with 1:51 to play, and LaDainian Tomlinson sealed the Chargers' 10th straight win over their AFC West rivals -- and the possible end of coach Lane Kiffin's tenure -- with a 41-yard TD run.

The streak by San Diego (2-2) is the longest any team has held against Al Davis' once-proud franchise. Kiffin's job security had been in question even before the Raiders (1-3) blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter last week against Buffalo. Being unable to hold onto a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter this week sure won't help his situation.

Tomlinson overcame a slow start to run for 106 yards and two scores. He has 21 touchdowns in 15 career games against Oakland, the most any player has had in his first 15 games against any team in NFL history.

Buccaneers 30, Packers 21

At Tampa, Fla., Derrick Brooks had one of three interceptions of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and also forced a fumble that Jermaine Phillips returned 38 yards for a touchdown.

Rodgers threw two touchdowns to Greg Jennings, who had six receptions for 109 yards for Green Bay (2-2), but was sacked three times and left for one series with a shoulder injury midway through the fourth quarter.

Matt Bryant kicked three field goals, four days after his infant son died at home. His 23-yarder put the Bucs (3-1) ahead for good.

Earnest Graham put away Tampa Bay's third straight victory with Brian Griese at quarterback, breaking a 47-yard run to the Packers 1, then scoring on the next play. He finished with 111 yards rushing on 20 carries.

Jaguars 30, Texans 27, OT

At Jacksonville, Fla., Josh Scobee won a second straight game for the Jaguars, with plenty of help from David Garrard again. Scobee's 37-yard field goal in overtime won it. Scobee hit a 51-yarder with 4 seconds remaining last week to beat Indianapolis 23-21.

Houston (0-3), getting a strong outing from quarterback Matt Schaub, looked like it might get its first victory of the season. Schaub threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Kevin Walter. His last one was an 8-yard strike that put the Texans ahead 24-20 with 7:06 remaining.

But Garrard brought the Jaguars (2-2) right back, mostly with his legs. Garrard scrambled for two first downs and then ran for a 5-yard touchdown with 1:48 to play. He gained 13 yards on third-and-10, then picked up 9 more a few plays later on fourth-and-8.

Panthers 24, Falcons 9

At Charlotte, N.C., Steve Smith's first touchdown following his two-game suspension was part of a dominating day. Jake Delhomme was mistake-free, Smith and Muhsin Muhammad combined for 243 yards receiving and two scores, and Carolina (3-1) shut down the league's top rushing unit.

The Panthers held Michael Turner, who came in as the league's top back with 336 yards rushing, to 56 yards on 18 carries. Matt Ryan threw for only 158 yards and the Falcons (2-2) remained winless on the road.

Muhammad, who had eight catches for 147 yards, caught a 36-yard TD pass from Delhomme early in the fourth quarter for the final margin.The Panthers didn't turn it over and recovered after losing both starting tackles to injury to win the 100th game in franchise history.

Saints 31, 49ers 17

At New Orleans, Deuce McAllister carried 20 times for 73 yards and had a 10-yard reception to convert a third down, giving the Saints (2-2) the credible power running threat they needed to open up deep throws for Drew Brees.

Brees was 23-of-35 for 363 yards and three scores, including touchdowns of 47 yards to Robert Meachem and 33 yards to Lance Moore. Brees also set up scores with a 52-yard pass to Meachem and an 81-yard connection with Devery Henderson.

J.T. O'Sullivan was 18-of-36 for 257 yards, but continued to take too many sacks for San Francisco (2-2). Sacked 13 times through the Niners' first three games, O'Sullivan was brought down six more times, twice by Charles Grant.

Browns 20, Bengals 12

At Cincinnati, Derek Anderson threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards that put the Browns (1-3) ahead to stay in the fourth quarter. With Brady Quinn ready to take over if Anderson struggled again, Anderson went 15-of-24 for 138 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Carson Palmer rested a sore passing elbow that forced him to miss a game for the first time since 2004, a huge setback for a struggling offense. Cincinnati (0-4) couldn't do much behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, who threw three interceptions.

[Associated Press]

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