Chiefs rally past Chargers
Alex Smith dived for a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, completing the Kansas City Chiefs’ frantic rally from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the San Diego Chargers, 33-27, in their season opener Sunday.
Smith threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns, the second a back-shoulder fade to Jeremy Maclin with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter that trimmed the Chiefs’ deficit to 27-17.
Cairo Santos kicked a 33-yard field goal a few minutes later, and after forcing a three-and-out, Spencer Ware finished off a four-play drive with a touchdown plunge to knot it at 27.
Kansas City needed 10 plays to march 75 yards in overtime, and Smith finished off the biggest comeback in franchise history with his keeper from the 2-yard line on third-and-goal.
Oakland 35, New Orleans 34: Oakland gambled with a 2-point conversion that Derek Carr converted with a pass to Michael Crabtree for the winning points with 47 seconds left.
Carr hit Seth Roberts for a 10-yard touchdown setting up the gutsy call by second-year Raiders coach Jack Del Rio.
Cincinnati 23, N.Y. Jets 22: Mike Nugent kicked a 47-yard field goal with 54 seconds left, lifting the Bengals over the Jets.
Andy Dalton threw for 366 yards and a touchdown to A.J. Green, who caught 12 passes for 180 yards to help the Bengals beat the Jets for the first time in 10 meetings in New Jersey.
Josh Shaw sealed the victory with an interception of Ryan Fitzpatrick in the closing seconds, helping Cincinnati improve to 7-7 in openers under coach Marvin Lewis.
Philadelphia 29, Cleveland 10: Carson Wentz had 278 yards passing and two touchdowns in a stellar NFL debut and the Eagles beat Robert Griffin III and the Browns.
Promoted from No. 3 quarterback to starter just eight days ago, the No. 2 overall pick from North Dakota State looked like a franchise player. Wentz played mistake-free football despite missing the last three preseason games with injured ribs. He finished 22 of 37 with a 101.0 passer rating.
A new quarterback (Griffin) and new coach (Hue Jackson) couldn’t help the Browns (0-1) avoid losing their opener for the 12th straight season.
Tampa Bay 31, Atlanta 24: Jameis Winston bounced back from an early interception to throw four touchdown passes, and Tampa Bay claimed a winning record for the first time since 2012 by opening the season with a victory over the Falcons.
Winston began his second year as a pro by going 23 of 33 for 281 yards, using just about every weapon at his disposal in the matchup between NFC South rivals.
Minnesota 25, Tennessee 16: Eric Kendricks returned an interception 77 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter and Danielle Hunter scored a 24-yard TD off a fumble return and the Vikings beat the Titans.
The Vikings wound up forcing three turnovers in the span of just under seven minutes and also had two sacks.
Green Bay 27, Jacksonville 23: Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, leading the Packers to a victory against the Jaguars.
Rodgers looked every bit like, well, a two-time league MVP. He extended plays with his feet, escaped sacks and had precision accuracy all over the field.
He completed 20 of 34 passes for 199 yards, with TD passes to Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. He was sacked once for no yards and didn’t turn it over.
Baltimore 13, Buffalo 7: The Ravens used a touchdown pass by Joe Flacco, two field goals and a throwback defensive performance to beat the Bills.
Against former defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, now Buffalo’s head coach, the Ravens limited the Bills to 160 yards and sacked former teammate Tyrod Taylor twice.
Returning from a knee injury that ended his season last November, Flacco went 23-for-34 for 258 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown pass to newcomer Mike Wallace.
Houston 23, Chicago 14: Brock Osweiler threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns in his debut with Houston to lead the Texans and their revamped offense win over the Bears.
N.Y. Giants 20, Dallas 19: Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score to Victor Cruz in his first game in nearly two years.
Seattle 12, Miami 10: Hobbled by an ankle injury, Russell Wilson pulled off another fourth-quarter comeback, throwing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin with 31 seconds left, giving the Seattle Seahawks a win over the Miami Dolphins.
Detroit 39, Indianapolis 35: Matthew Stafford took advantage of one last chance and Matt Prater redeemed himself with a 43-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining to give the Lions a 39-35 victory at Indianapolis.
Prater missed an extra point wide right with 4:04 left in the season opener, a miscue that nearly cost the Lions.
Detroit won for only the second time in Indy, and it came just 37 seconds after it looked like Andrew Luck had rallied the Colts for an improbable last-minute victory.