Kaepernick leads 49ers past Green Bay
SAN FRANCISCO – Frank Gore scored a go-ahead, 1-yard touchdown with 5:47 remaining, Colin Kaepernick threw for a career-high 412 yards and three touchdowns, with 13 completions to Anquan Boldin, and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers 34-28 Sunday.
Boldin had 208 yards receiving in a spectacular San Francisco debut and Vernon Davis caught a pair of touchdown passes from Kaepernick, who marched his team 80 yards on five plays to take the lead late. The 49ers answered after Packers rookie Eddie Lacy put Green Bay ahead on a 2-yard run with 8:26 left.
Aaron Rodgers threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns, but the Packers departed from Candlestick Park with another defeat eight months after losing 45-31 in the NFC divisional playoffs.
New Orleans 23, Atlanta 17: Drew Brees passed for 357 yards and two scores Sunday, and the New Orleans Saints held on for a 23-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons to give coach Sean Payton a triumphant return from his bounty ban.
Roman Harper secured the win when he intercepted a tipped fourth-down pass in the end zone with under a minute left.
Brees connected with Marques Colston for a 25-yard touchdown pass during which the receiver also set a franchise mark for catches with 533. Brees also hit tight end Jimmy Graham for a 7-yard score in the third quarter.
Matt Ryan passed for 304 yards and touchdown passes to Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones.
Chicago 24, Cincinnati 21: Jay Cutler passed to Brandon Marshall for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping Chicago get the victory in Marc Trestman’s coaching debut with the team.
The Bengals led by 11 in the third quarter and were up 21-17 early in the fourth when Tim Jennings jarred the ball from Mohamed Sanu following a reception and made the recovery. Chicago took over at its 19 and got an 8-yard run from Matt Forte on fourth-and-inches at the Bengals 27 to keep the drive going. Cutler then found Marshall in the front corner of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown, giving Chicago a 24-21 lead with 7:58 remaining.
New England 23, Buffalo 21: Stephen Gostkowski hit a 35-yard field goal with five seconds left to send New England to the road win.
Tom Brady set up the decisive score by leading a 49-yard, 12-play drive during which he twice completed passes to convert third downs. It was Brady’s 36th career victory in which the Patriots were tied or trailed in the fourth quarter.
Brady finished 29 of 52 for 288 yards passing and two touchdowns in helping the Patriots win their season opener for the 10th straight season.
Miami 23, Cleveland 10: Ryan Tannehill passed for 272 yards and a touchdown, leading the Dolphins to a win over the Browns, who fell to 1-14 in Week 1 since 1999.
Tannehill, who was given more offensive weapons for his second NFL season, threw a 34-yard TD pass to Brian Hartline in the third quarter and drove the Dolphins to a game-clinching TD in the fourth.
Daniel Thomas had a 1-yard scoring plunge with 6:48 left, putting the Dolphins up by 10.
Miami’s Cameron Wake had 2½ sacks and the Dolphins’ defensive line sacked Brandon Weeden six times.
Weeden threw three interceptions and the Browns never got anything going in coach Rob Chudzinski’s debut.
Indianapolis 21, Oakland 17: Andrew Luck ran 19 yards for the winning touchdown, giving Indianapolis its first opening-day win since 2009.
Luck was 18 of 23 for 178 yards with two touchdown passes, but earned his eighth career fourth-quarter comeback by scrambling for a score with 5:20 to go.
Oakland started Terrelle Pryor at quarterback. He was 19 of 29 for 217 yards and one TD, and he broke the Raiders’ rushing record for a quarterback with 13 carries for 112 yards. But he also threw two interceptions in the red zone, the second coming with 25 seconds left in the game.
Detroit 34, Minnesota 24: Reggie Bush turned a short pass into a 77-yard touchdown in the third quarter and finished with 191 yards of offense to help Detroit pull away from Minnesota.
Joique Bell ran for two TDs, including a go-ahead score that gave the Lions their first lead early in the third quarter. Matthew Stafford was 28 of 43 for 357 yards with two TDs.
N.Y. Jets 18, Tampa Bay 17: Nick Folk kicked a 48-yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining after Lavonte David’s personal foul penalty kept New York’s drive alive, and the Jets pulled out an improbable opening victory.
With the Jets trailing 17-15 and time running out, rookie Geno Smith scrambled for 10 yards – and was shoved while he was out of bounds by David. The 15-yard penalty gave the Jets the ball at the Buccaneers 30 and set up Folk’s winning field goal on the next play.
Things appeared dim for the Jets just moments earlier when Rian Lindell kicked a 37-yard field goal with 34 seconds left.
Smith, making his first NFL start with Mark Sanchez out with a shoulder injury, made some mistakes – a fumble that led to a score and an interception – but was mostly solid while going 24 of 38 for 256 yards with a touchdown.
Seattle 12, Carolina 7: Russell Wilson threw for 320 yards for Seattle, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse in the fourth quarter.
The Seahawks managed just two field goals before Kearse beat cornerback Josh Thomas down the right sideline for the go-ahead score with 10:13 left.
Kansas City 28, Jacksonville 2: Alex Smith threw two early touchdown passes, Kansas City’s defense dominated all day and the Chiefs began the Andy Reid era with a victory at Jacksonville. Jamaal Charles ran for 77 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game with a quadriceps injury.
St. Louis 27, Arizona 24: Greg Zuerlein kicked a 48-yard field goal with 40 seconds left to lift St. Louis to the comeback victory. It was Zuerlein’s fourth field goal of the game for the Rams, who trailed 24-13 after three quarters.
Larry Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes from new quarterback Carson Palmer and Arizona’s defense had a TD.