Lions 20, Bears 16\nCHICAGO -- Finally, a road win for the Detroit Lions.\nDetroit ended its NFL-record 24-game streak of futility away from home Sunday, rallying to beat the mistake-prone Chicago Bears 20-16 in Lovie Smith's debut as head coach.\nBracy Walker, who earlier returned a blocked field goal 92 yards for a third-quarter touchdown, intercepted a third-down pass in the end zone by Rex Grossman with 18 seconds to go, preserving the win.\nJoey Harrington tossed a 4-yard go-ahead pass to Az-Zahir Hakim in the fourth quarter and Detroit held on for its first road victory since beating the Jets on Dec. 17, 2000.\nEddie Drummond's 41-yard kickoff return and Harrington's 30-yard pass to Corey Schlesinger set up the touchdown pass to Hakim with 9:54 to go, putting Detroit ahead 20-14.
Redskins 16, Buccaneers 10\nLANDOVER, Md. -- Clinton Portis ran for 149 yards and a touchdown, and Washington welcomed coach Joe Gibbs back to the NFL with a victory.\nGibbs led the Redskins to three Super Bowl titles in his first stint with the team from 1981-92, and it appeared the old magic was still there when his team dominated the first half.\nPortis went 64 yards for a touchdown on Washington's first series. But Washington's offense began to sputter, and it took John Hall's 30-yard field goal with 8:55 left to break a 10-10 tie. Hall added a 34-yard field goal with 16 seconds to play.\nGibbs earned his 125th career regular-season win and the 500th regular-season victory in Redskins franchise history.\nThe Bucs tied the game at 10 on Ronde Barber's 9-yard fumble return in the third quarter.
Vikings 35, Cowboys 17\nMINNEAPOLIS -- Daunte Culpepper threw a career-high five touchdown passes, two to Randy Moss, to lead Minnesota.\nAgainst a depleted Dallas defense, Culpepper was both sensational and efficient, going 17-for-23 for 242 yards with no turnovers.\nForty-year-old Vinny Testaverde was 29-for-50 for 355 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions for the Cowboys. His favorite target, Keyshawn Johnson, caught nine balls for 111 yards in his first game with Dallas.\nMoss had only 27 yards on four catches, but he made a big impact as usual. He threw a reverse pass for 37 yards to Robinson, made some key blocks downfield and drew two pass interference penalties.\nVeteran Eddie George, signed just before training camp by Dallas, finished with 25 yards on eight rushes.
Eagles 31, Giants 17\nPHILADELPHIA -- Terrell Owens had three touchdown catches, Donovan McNabb threw for 330 yards and tied a career high with four touchdown passes and Brian Westbrook ran for 119 yards for Philadelphia.\nThe Eagles, runners-up in the NFC championship the last three years, won their season opener for just the second time in coach Andy Reid's six seasons.\nTwo-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner had a lackluster debut for the Giants, who lost their ninth straight game and first under new coach Tom Coughlin. Heralded rookie Eli Manning made his NFL debut in the final minutes, handing off to Tiki Barber for a 72-yard touchdown run on his first play.\nOwens, playing his first game with the Eagles after eight seasons in San Francisco, made an immediate impact, scoring on his first two receptions in the first quarter. He finished with eight catches for 68 yards.\nMcNabb completed 26 of 36 passes and had no interceptions.
Falcons 21, 49ers 19\nSAN FRANCISCO -- Aaron Beasley returned a goal-line interception 85 yards in the fourth quarter, and Rod Coleman batted down Tim Rattay's pass on a 2-point conversion attempt with 40 seconds left to secure a win for Atlanta.\nWarrick Dunn rushed for two touchdowns and Michael Vick was 13-of-22 for 163 yards in an uninspiring debut under coach Jim Mora Jr., the longtime San Francisco defensive coordinator who took over the Falcons last January.\nNiners quarterback Tim Rattay left his fourth career start in the second quarter with a shoulder injury, but returned to lead two fourth-quarter touchdown drives. He finished 18-of-31 for 175 yards.
Steelers 24, Raiders 21\nPITTSBURGH -- Jerome Bettis ran for three touchdowns, Duce Staley had 91 yards and Jeff Reed's 42-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining won it for Pittsburgh.\nThe Raiders showed off plenty of new additions, including coach Norv Turner, big defensive linemen Warren Sapp and Ted Washington and an offensive scheme redesigned to cover up their lack of playmakers. But the Steelers won the traditional AFC rivalry.\nBettis was used only in goal-line situations but tied his career high in touchdowns.\nThe Steelers led 14-0 and 21-10, but the Raiders tied it on Alvis Whitted's fingertip catch of Rich Gannon's 38-yard touchdown pass and Gannon's 2-point conversion pass to an uncovered Whitted with 4:51 remaining.\nGannon went 20 of 37 for 305 yards but lost the fumble and had two interceptions.
Browns 20, Ravens 3\nCLEVELAND -- For the first time since their NFL rebirth in 1999, the Cleveland Browns opened the season as winners.\nJeff Garcia threw a 46-yard touchdown pass and ran for another touchdown in his Cleveland debut.\nCleveland stole the spotlight from Deion Sanders, who came out of retirement for a chance to win another Super Bowl ring, and NFL rushing leader Jamal Lewis.\nLewis, who ran for 500 yards, including an NFL single-game record 295 last season against Cleveland, got just 57 yards on 20 carries as the Browns' defense dominated.
Jets 31, Bengals 24\nEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Curtis Martin ran for 196 yards and a touchdown, and added another score on a three-yard touchdown reception to help New York ruin the regular-season debut of Carson Palmer.\nPalmer, the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, commanded the offense well and made very few mistakes, going 18-of-27 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.\nBut Palmer could not do anything about Martin. The 31-year-old finished with 29 carries for the third-highest total of his NFL career. He needs 9 yards to surpass Freeman McNeil as the Jets' career leading rusher.\nChad Pennington threw for two touchdowns, going 20-of-27 for 224 yards in the first season-opening start of his career.
Seahawks 21, Saints 7\nNEW ORLEANS -- Shaun Alexander scored three touchdowns to get the Seahawks off to a good start on the road.\nSeattle was 2-6 on the road last season, but used its first trip this year to start working on expectations the Seahawks will be strong contenders for the NFC title.\nPlaying behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, Alexander rushed for 135 yards on 28 carries. He ran for two touchdowns and caught another.\nMatt Hasselbeck enjoyed playing behind that line as well, completing 19 of 29 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown. Darrell Jackson had seven receptions for 98 yards.
Rams 17, Cardinals 10\nST. LOUIS -- Marshall Faulk ran for 128 yards on 22 carries while sharing time with first-round pick Steven Jackson in the Rams' victory.\nFaulk, who has missed 11 games due to injuries the last two seasons, helped the Rams overcome three costly turnovers that kept the margin from being very comfortable. Jackson also played well, running for 50 yards on seven carries.\nThe Rams beat the Cardinals for the fifth straight time and sent Arizona to its 14th straight road loss.\nEmmitt Smith, the NFL's career leading rusher, had a resurgent game with 87 yards on 16 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run that put the Cardinals ahead 10-9 in the final minute of the third quarter.\nCardinals first-round pick Larry Fitzgerald had four catches for 70 yards, including a 37-yard catch on a flea-flicker from Josh McCown on the first play from scrimmage.
Chargers 27, Texans 20\nHOUSTON -- LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and the Chargers used a mistake-free passing game and an opportunistic defense to beat Houston.\nIt marked the first time the third-year Texans lost a season opener.\nDrew Brees, who might not have started if prized rookie Philip Rivers hadn't held out for most of training camp, was 17-of-24 for 209 yards and two touchdowns. He hit Eric Parker with a 19-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter that provided the winning points.\nAntonio Gates caught eight passes for 123 yards.\nThe Texans offense did its part for San Diego with four turnovers: two interceptions by David Carr and two fumbles lost by Domanick Davis.
