Font ResizeNASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Rob Bironas kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime, and the Titans stopped backup quarterback Shaun Hill on fourth-and-1 at the Tennessee 7 to pull out a 44-41 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Titans (1-2) blew a 20-9 halftime lead in a crazy game featuring big plays, scoring swings and some suspect officiating. Detroit scored 18 straight points, then Tennessee answered with 21 points before the Lions scored the final 14 of regulation. Detroit recovered an onside kick and got an assist from officials who did not review a possible turnover.
In overtime, Bironas’ third field goal put Tennessee ahead to stay.
The Lions (1-2) lost their second straight when coach Jim Schwartz decided not to let Jason Hanson attempt to connect on a fifth field goal. Hill, in for injured Matthew Stafford , was stopped by defensive tackles Jurrell Casey and Sen’Derrick Marks on his sneak, and Tennessee escaped with its first win of the season.
CHIEFS 27, SAINTS 24 OT
NEW ORLEANS -- Ryan Succop kicked six field goals, one to force overtime in the final seconds and another from 31 yards to lift Kansas City to its first win and keep New Orleans winless.
Succop’s 43-yard field goal with 3 seconds left completed a methodical comeback by Kansas City (1-2) after the Saints (0-3) had cashed in on a pair of Chiefs turnovers to go ahead 24-6 in the third quarter.
Kansas City needed
The Chiefs also got a safety in the fourth quarter on Justin Houston’s third sack of the game.
Drew Brees passed for 240 yards and three touchdowns, but missed all six of his passes through the fourth quarter and overtime.
VIKINGS 24, 49ERS 13
MINNEAPOLIS -- Christian Ponder threw two touchdown passes to tight end Kyle Rudolph and ran for another score to help the Vikings hand the 49ers their first defeat.
After a dominant start to their NFC North tour by decisively beating playoff teams Green Bay and Detroit, the 49ers (2-1) were beaten in every way by a team least likely to do so.
The Vikings (2-1) began the game boldly with a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass by Ponder to Rudolph. They finished strong by forcing three turnovers and two punts by the 49ers in the fourth quarter.
Playing against his former team in the regular season for the first time, Randy Moss had three catches for 27 yards. Alex Smith’s franchise-record interception-free streak ended at 249 straight passes.
JETS 23, DOLPHINS 20 OT
MIAMI -- Nick Folk received a reprieve when his blocked field-goal attempt was negated by a timeout, and his second try was a successful 33-yarder with 6:04 left in overtime.
Mark Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes for a 38-yard gain to set up the kick. Two plays later, Folk’s try was blocked, but officials whistled the play dead as the ball was snapped because the Dolphins had called timeout.
Folk then made the winner.
On the previous possession, the Dolphins’ Dan Carpenter was wide left on a 48-yard field-goal attempt that would have given them the victory.
New York improved to 2-1, and Miami dropped to 1-2. The Jets’ Darrelle Revis and Miami’s Reggie Bush left the game with left knee injuries.
JAGUARS 22, COLTS 17
INDIANAPOLIS -- Blaine Gabbert connected with Cecil Shorts III on an 80-yard touchdown pass with 45 seconds left to lift Jacksonville to its first win of the season.
Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 177 yard, but Jacksonville (2-1) needed Gabbert’s big play. The Colts (1-2) had taken the lead 17-16 after Andrew Luck drove them 48 yards in five plays to set up Adam Vinatieri’s 37-yard field goal with 56 seconds left.
But on the next snap, Shorts got behind Colts safety Sergio Brown and Gabbert hit him in stride. Shorts sprinted free, diving into the end zone for the score.
Indianapolis had a chance to win it at the end, but Luck’s pass into the end zone was broken up by Aaron Ross.
COWBOYS 16, BUCS 10
ARLINGTON, Texas -- DeMarco Murray had an 11-yard touchdown run, Dan Bailey kicked three field goals and Dallas won its home opener.
A week after the Buccaneers’ big push against the Giants in their victory formation, Tampa Bay used a pair of timeouts in the final 40 seconds after a failed onside kick attempt.
The Cowboys (2-1) scored twice in the first half when starting in Tampa Bay territory after turnovers. They overcame three turnovers by Romo -- two on plays reversed by replay -- with a defense that held Tampa Bay to 166 total yards.
Romo’s interception on the game’s fourth play set up Tampa Bay (1-2) for Josh Freeman’s 1-yard TD to Luke Stocker.
The Cowboys drew even on Murray’s run after Sean Lee’s interception. Bailey had kicks of 32, 26 and 22 yards.
BENGALS 38, REDSKINS 31
LANDOVER, Md. -- Andy Dalton completed 19 of 27 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns for Cincinnati.
The Bengals blew a 24-7 first-half lead, but two touchdown passes by Dalton in the fourth quarter made the difference.
A 6-yard throw to tight end Jermaine Gresham broke a 24-24 tie, then Dalton hit Andrew Hawkins for a 59-yard score to give the Bengals a two-touchdown cushion with 7:08 left to play.
Robert Griffin III’s 2-yard run cut the lead to seven points with 3:35 remaining, but he threw incomplete on a third-and-50 on the game’s last play.
Cincinnati’s A.J. Green caught nine passes for a career-high 183 yards.
The Bengals improved to 2-1. The Redskins fell to 1-2.
BEARS 23, RAMS 6
CHICAGO -- Major Wright returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown and Chicago’s defense had six sacks on Sam Bradford and held St. Louis to 160 total yards.
That was enough on a day when Jay Cutler struggled, and the Bears (2-1) came away with the win after an ugly loss to Green Bay the previous week. The Rams fell to 1-2.
The Bears had just kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 13-6 in the fourth quarter when Wright came up with his big return. He caught the ball at the 45 and ran untouched to the end zone, making it a 14-point game and finally giving the Bears some breathing room.
BILLS 24, BROWNS 14
CLEVELAND -- Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes and Buffalo overcame the loss of running back C.J. Spiller in snapping an eight-game road losing streak.
Fitzpatrick finished 22 of 35 for 208 yards as the Bills (2-1) turned to their passing game after Spiller, the NFL’s leading rusher, was lost in the first quarter with a shoulder injury.
The Bills hadn’t won outside Buffalo since the 2011 season opener at Kansas City.
Before he got hurt, Spiller scored on a 32-yard screen pass from Fitzpatrick, who also threw a 9-yard TD to T.J. Graham in the first quarter and hooked up with Stevie Johnson from 9 yards in the fourth for a 24-14 lead.
The Browns are 0-3.
FALCONS 27, CHARGERS 3
SAN DIEGO -- Matt Ryan threw touchdown passes to three different receivers and safety Thomas DeCoud had two interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Atlanta Falcons, who overwhelmed the San Diego Chargers 27-3 Sunday to remain undefeated.
Ryan completed 30 of 40 passes for 275 yards, with his first interception of the season, and a passer rating of 107.8 for the Falcons (3-0), who improved to 6-0 all-time in San Diego. DeCoud’s three takeaways, plus William Moore’s fourth-quarter fumble recovery, extended the Falcons’ NFL-high turnover differential to plus-10.
San Diego (2-1) was the third straight AFC West team to lose to Atlanta.
Ryan threw touchdown passes of 8 yards to Jacquizz Rodgers, 7 to Tony Gonzalez and 9 to Julio Jones. The first two scores came after drives of 80 and 96 yards.
Ryan Mathews made his season debut for San Diego and looked good until fumbling inside the Falcons’ 5-yard line on a hit by Sean Witherspoon, with DeCoud recovering. That set up a monster 17-play, 96-yard drive that ate 7 minutes, 59 and was capped by Gonzalez’s TD catch.
CARDINALS 27, EAGLES 6
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Kevin Kolb got the best of his former team. Michael Vick might be wishing he was still in Philadelphia the way the Arizona Cardinals battered him around.
Kolb threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns, James Sanders returned one of Vick’s two first-half fumbles 93 yards for a touchdown and the Cardinals ran over the Eagles 27-6 on Sunday for their best start in 38 years.
Kolb was sharp, hitting 17 of 24 passes, and Arizona (3-0) sacked Vick five times for its best start since 1974, more than a dozen years before the team moved to the desert. The Cardinals also have won seven straight home games, the second-longest streak in franchise history.
Larry Fitzgerald was the guest conductor for the fall opening of the Phoenix Symphony on Thursday and kept the high notes going against the Eagles, catching nine passes for 114 yards and a touchdown while becoming the youngest player to reach 700 receptions.
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