Monday, September 14, 2009

AROUND THE LEAGUE

* JETS 24, TEXANS 7: At Houston, Mark Sanchez, the fifth overall pick

in this year's draft, threw for 272 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut, Thomas Jones scored twice, and the New York Jets shut down the Texans' high-powered offense.

Houston's offense got past midfield just once in the first three quarters. The Texans were outgained, 462-183, Conwell-Egan's Steve Slaton was held to 17 yards rushing and Andre Johnson had 35 yards receiving. Matt Schaub (18-for-22, 166 yards) struggled, with no touchdowns and an interception.

Sanchez' first NFL touchdown came in the second quarter when he found Chansi Stuckey wide open on a 30-yard reception to put the Jets up 10-3.

* RAVENS 38, CHIEFS 24: At Baltimore, Audubon's Joe Flacco

(26-for-43, 307 yards) threw for three touchdowns for the Ravens, who amassed a franchise-record 501 yards, yet needed a 31-yard touchdown catch by Mark Clayton with 2:06 left to break a tie to beat Kansas City. Willis McGahee scored from the 1 with 31 seconds remaining to clinch it.

The Chiefs kept it close despite playing without quarterback Matt Cassel (left knee sprain), who was unable to make his Kansas City debut. That left the quarterbacking to Brodie Croyle and Tyler Thigpen, who entered with a collective 1-18 record as NFL starters. The Chiefs used a blocked punt and a long interception return to stay in the game.

* FALCONS 19, DOLPHINS 7: At Atlanta, Tony Gonzalez hauled in a

touchdown pass and became the 21st player in NFL history with 11,000 yards receiving, linebacker Mike Peterson forced a fumble with a vicious hit and picked off a pass as the Falcons beat Miami. The Falcons' defense came up with four turnovers and thoroughly shut down the defending AFC East champions.

Penn Charter's Matt Ryan (22-for-36, 229 yards) threw a pair of touchdown passes for the Falcons. Gonzalez caught five passes for a team-high 73 yards, including a 20-yard TD after Peterson's pick.

* COLTS 14, JAGUARS 12: At Indianapolis, Peyton Manning (28-for-38,

301 yards) threw for one touchdown, Joseph Addai (42 yards, 17 carries) ran for another and the Colts' defense stopped Jacksonville twice in the fourth quarter.

Manning tied John Unitas' franchise record for career wins with 118, but the Colts lost receiver Anthony Gonzalez late in the first quarter with a right knee injury. Reggie Wayne finished with 10 catches for 162 yards and a TD and Colts coach Jim Caldwell won his NFL head coaching debut. Indy allowed only 228 yards, 114 each on the ground and through the air.

* BRONCOS 12, BENGALS 7: At Cincinnati, Brandon Stokley caught a

tipped pass and outran Cincinnati's shocked defenders for an 87-yard touchdown with 11 seconds left giving Denver a victory over the Bengals. After Cedric Benson's 1-yard touchdown run put Cincinnati ahead, 7-6, with 38 seconds left, Kyle Orton threw a desperate pass toward the sideline, hoping Brandon Marshall would somehow come down with it.

Marshall never got close. Cornerback Leon Hall batted the ball in the air, and the carom went right to Stokley, who was behind the defense and had a clear path to the end zone. He ran sideways for a few steps to eat up time before finally stepping into the end zone.

* SEAHAWKS 28, RAMS 0: At Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck (25-for-3, 279 yards), playing his first game since Thanksgiving Day, overcame two interceptions in his first three throws to connect with John Carlson for two touchdowns in the Seahawks' rout of St. Louis.

Under new coach Steve Spagnuolo, the Rams gained just 247 yards. The Rams were also doomed by 10 penalties - two personal fouls after plays by offensive lineman Richie Incognito.

* 49ERS 20, CARDINALS 16: At Glendale, Ariz., Shaun Hill (18-for-31, 209 yards) directed a 15-play, 80-yard drive for the winning touchdown on a 5-yard pass to Frank Gore, and San Francisco spoiled the season debut of defending NFC champion Arizona.

Arizona rallied from 10 points down to go up, 16-13, on Neil Rackers' 44-yard field goal with 14:52 to play, but the 49ers regained control with the drive that used up nearly half of the final quarter.

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