ATLANTA (AP) — Matt Bryant kicked a 51-yard field goal on the final play of regulation, then booted a 52-yarder in overtime to give the Atlanta Falcons a 37-34 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
In another thriller between the NFC South rivals Sunday, Matt Ryan threw for a franchise-record 448 yards, leading the Falcons to just their fourth victory over the Saints in the last 17 meetings. This one was particularly sweet for Atlanta (1-0) coming off a miserable 4-12 season, its first losing campaign since 2007.
The teams combined for 17 points in the final 2:50 of the fourth quarter to force overtime. The Saints (0-1) got the ball first, but Marques Colston fumbled after catching a pass over the middle. The Falcons recovered at the Saints 38; after three plays gained only 4 yards, Bryant booted through another long field goal.
BILLS 23, BEARS 20, OT
CHICAGO (AP) — Fred Jackson set up Dan Carpenter’s field goal in overtime with a 38-yard run to the 1, and the Bills stunned the Bears.
The Bears (0-1) had just punted to open the extra period and Buffalo took over on its 22. The Bills (1-0) got to the Chicago 39 when Jackson turned toward the left side and broke off his big run, pushing safety Chris Conte out of the way twice inside the 10 before being knocked out of bounds at the 1.
SEE ALSO: LOVERRO: For Robert Griffin III, Redskins, something is missing in rough opener
Carpenter won it with a 27-yarder.
STEELERS 30, BROWNS 27
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Shaun Suisham drilled a 41-yard field goal as time expired.
The Steelers blew a 24-point halftime lead as the Browns rallied behind quarterback Brian Hoyer, but escaped thanks to some great plays from Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Markus Wheaton.
Roethlisberger hit Wheaton twice on the winning drive, including a 20-yarder that put Suisham in range to send the Browns to their 10th straight season-opening loss.
Roethlisberger passed for 365 yards and a touchdown.
SEE ALSO: A.J. Green, Bengals right themselves late to beat Ravens
Hoyer threw for 230 yards and a score and played brilliantly at times in the second half in a performance that should strengthen his grip on the starting job over rookie Johnny Manziel.
DOLPHINS 33, PATRIOTS 20
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Knowshon Moreno rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown, Ryan Tannehill threw for two scores and the Dolphins overpowered New England after halftime.
The Dolphins (1-0) outscored New England 23-0 in the second half.
Tannehill had touchdown throws to Lamar Miller and Mike Wallace as Miami debuted a faster-paced offense. The Dolphins’ defense made four sacks, all in the second half, and recovered two fumbles.
Tom Brady threw a scoring pass to Rob Gronkowski, and Shane Vereen had a TD rushing for New England.
It was New England’s first loss in an opener since 2003, and marks the first time the Patriots (0-1) will not be at least tied for the AFC East lead since Week 3 of 2012.
EAGLES 34, JAGUARS 17
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Foles threw a 68-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin in the fourth quarter and the Eagles rallied from a 17-0 second-half deficit.
Chad Henne threw two touchdown passes to rookie Allen Hurns in the first quarter and the Jaguars (0-1) dominated the defending NFC East champion Eagles (1-0) in the first two quarters.
But whatever Chip Kelly said to his players at halftime worked.
The Eagles scored TDs on their first two possessions in the third quarter. Cody Parkey hit a 51-yard field goal on his first career attempt in the fourth quarter to tie it 17-17.
Then Foles made a perfect deep throw to a wide-open Maclin for the longest pass of his career to put the Eagles ahead 24-17.
VIKINGS 34, RAMS 6
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 102 yards on three carries with a 67-yard scoring run off a simple pitchout and the Vikings opened impressively under new coach Mike Zimmer.
The Rams handled Adrian Peterson, limiting the star runner to 75 yards on 21 carries. They had zero luck with Patterson, who had three touchdowns rushing as a rookie.
Rams quarterback Shaun Hill lasted one half as the stand-in starter for Sam Bradford, missing the rest of the game with a thigh injury and leaving untested Austin Davis in charge. Hill’s last pass was intercepted by Josh Robinson with 1:09 to go in the half, setting up Matt Cassel’s 8-yard pass to Greg Jennings for a 13-0 lead.
TITANS 26, CHIEFS 10
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jake Locker threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, while Alex Smith was intercepted three times.
Locker picked apart a defense that lost linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive tackle Mike DeVito to Achilles tendon injuries. Locker was 22 of 33 and found eight targets, including former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster.
Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker had TD catches for the Titans, and Ryan Succop was perfect on four field-goal attempts against the team that released him last weekend.
Smith was 19 of 35 for 202 yards and a touchdown for a Chiefs offense missing suspended wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and right tackle Donald Stephenson.
JETS 19, RAIDERS 14
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Chris Ivory burst through a few tackle attempts for a 71-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, and the Jets’ defense clamped down on Oakland rookie quarterback Derek Carr.
With still a one-score game, Ivory rushed up the middle and appeared stopped, but slipped a few would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone. A 2-point conversion failed, but the Jets held on to win their season opener.
Geno Smith threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson as the Jets sent the Raiders to their 14th straight loss in the Eastern time zone.
Carr held his own in the first half, but the Jets pressured him throughout the final two quarters. He finished 20 of 32 for 151 yards and touchdown throws to Rod Streater and James Jones.
PANTHERS 20, BUCCANEERS 14
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Derek Anderson filled in nicely for injured Cam Newton, throwing for 230 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite rallying with two late TDs, it was an ugly debut for the Bucs (0-1) under coach Lovie Smith. The defense applied little pressure on Anderson, and an offense that was among the worst in the NFL in 2013 showed few signs of improvement until midway through the fourth quarter.
With Newton cheering from the sideline after being held out because of a rib injury suffered in preseason, Anderson completed 24 of 34 passes with no interceptions and one sack. The 10th-year pro tossed threw for TDs of 5 yards to Greg Olsen and 26 yards to rookie Kelvin Benjamin for defending NFC South champion Carolina (1-0).
49ERS 28, COWBOYS 17
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Colin Kaepernick threw two touchdown passes to Vernon Davis, one right after the first of three interceptions of Tony Romo.
The 49ers (1-0) also got a 35-yard fumble return on the second play of the game when Chris Culliver picked up a loose ball stripped from DeMarco Murray. They led 21-3 after the first quarter despite running just four offensive plays.
Coming off a spotty preseason for his offense, Kaepernick was efficient if not prolific, going 16 of 23 for 201 yards without an interception.
Romo was playing his first meaningful game for the Cowboys (0-1) since back surgery in December.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.