The third week of the NFL season had a lot of thrills and exciting games, including three that went into overtime. Some games were affected by a range of questionable calls from the replacement officials, including in the Lions-Titans and Bengals-Redskins games as well as Sunday night's Ravens-Patriots game.
Raiders 34, Steelers 31
The Raiders got their first win under head coach Dennis Allen as Sebastian Janikiowski kicked Oakland to a win with a 44-yard field goal as time expired.
Running back Darren McFadden had 113 yards rushing and a touchdown a week after the Raiders lost to Miami 35-13.
"You put a lot of hard work, blood sweat and tears into trying to build a championship team, and one of your guys goes down, especially in a situation like that, it's hard to keep your focus," coach Dennis Allen said. "But I thought our guys did an outstanding job in getting their focus back, coming back and executing, and winning a game in the fourth quarter."
Oakland scored the last 13 points of the game and won even with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger throwing for nearly 400 yards and four touchdowns. Mike Wallace led the way for the Steelers with eight catches for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Carson Palmer threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns, including a pass to Denarius Moore in the fourth quarter to cut the score to 31-28.
Following a fumble by Antonio Brown, the Raiders were able to tie the game at 31 with just six minutes to play. On the final drive of the game Palmer brought the Raiders into scoring position on a 17-yard pass to Derek Hagan.
There was a scary moment in the game when Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was hit in the head and stayed motionless on the field for ten minutes. He was said to have avoided serious injury but will be tested this week.
Cardinals 27, Eagles 6
The Arizona Cardinals improved to 3-0 after totally dominating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Former Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb had two touchdowns and passed for 222 yards for the Cardinals, while Philadelphia had trouble holding onto the ball.
"I'm going to enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but the biggest thing is being 3-0," Kolb told the Associated Press. "Being 3-0 with the teams that we've played and the fashion that we've won, it's been exciting."
Philadelphia had been the first team in NFL history to open the season with two-one point wins, but never could keep it close against Arizona. Michael Vick was sacked five times and fumbled twice, including one that was returned 93 yards for a touchdown.
As time was winding down in the first half, Eagles coach Andy Reid decided to take a last second shot to the end zone rather than a field goal. Vick was sacked by Kerry Rhodes and fumbled as the Cardinals returned it for a touchdown for a 24-0 lead.
The Eagles turned the ball over three times in the game, increasing their league-leading total to 12. Vick himself has nine turnovers this season. The only points Philadelphia could muster were two Alex Henery field goals in the third quarter.
Bills 24, Browns 14
Ryan Fitzpatrick rebounded from a bad game last week and threw three touchdowns as the Buffalo Bills snapped an eight-game road losing streak. The Bills had not won a game on the road since week one of last season.
"We got the monkey off our back," Fitzpatrick told the Associated Press. "We always felt confident. This is a new year, a new team, but it was a good team win on the road. These are the most satisfying wins."
C.J. Spiller had another solid game for the Bills in the place of injured started Fred Jackson, but got hurt himself in this game, leaving with a shoulder injury. Tashard Choice rushed for 91 yards after entering the game for Spiller, who had entered the game leading the league with 292 rushing yards.
The Browns never could get the game close and had trouble running the ball. Trent Richardson had only 27 yards on 12 carries, but added a 6-yard touchdown run.
Stevie Johnson had seven catches for 61 yards and touchdown for the Bills, while Spiller and TJ Graham also had touchdown receptions from Fitzpatrick.
Browns rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden had 237 yards passing with one touchdown as Cleveland fell to 0-3.
Texans 31, Broncos 25
Matt Schuab was stellar for the Texans, throwing four touchdowns, each to a different receiver, as the Texans improved to 3-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Houston scored 21 straight points and held the Broncos in check until the fourth quarter. Schuab had 290 yards passing, including a 60-yard touchdown to Andre Johnson.
After throwing for three touchdowns last week, Peyton manning was much better, throwing for
330 yards with no interceptions and two touchdowns on 26-of52 attempts. It was his 64th career 300-yard passing game.
"It's hard to think about anything, really, besides losing two games in a row in a tough fashion," Manning said. "We have to learn from this game, address it, be honest, everybody needs to be accountable and try to improve forward. It's not the ideal situation. Everybody would love to be 3-0. That's not the way it is right now."
Manning had a career 16-2 record against the Texans, after playing them twice a year while a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
Denver was able to cut the score to 31-25 after a 6-yard pass to Joel Dreesen with three minutes left, but Houston was able to take enough time off the clock to hold on for the win.
Falcons 27, Chargers 3
Atlanta made a case in San Diego for being the NFC's best team, nearly shutting out the Chargers 27-3. Matt Ryan had three touchdowns and the defense forced four turnovers as the Falcons improved to 3-0.
"I thought everybody was fresh and we started out fast -- offense, defense special teams," Ryan said. "A good team win."
Ryan threw his first interception of the season, but had 275 passing yards on 30 completions and three touchdowns to three different receivers.
Safety Thomas DeCoud had two interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Falcons, who were able to hold San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers to just 173 yards passing.
Michael Turner, starting against his former team, had 80 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Falcons, a week after he was arrested for drunken driving after Monday night football.
Tony Gonzalez led the way for the Falcons, catching nine balls for 91 yards and touchdown.
San Diego was looking to start 3-0 for the first time since 2002 and lost for the eighth time in nine all-time matchups with Atlanta.
Jets 23, Dolphins 20 (OT)
Nick Folk hit a 33-yard field goal in overtime to propel the New York Jets to a win over the Miami Dolphins.
Moments before Folk's first attempt, which was blocked, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin called a timeout to ice the kicker, giving him another chance.
"I thought it was the right call," Philbin said. "I was planning all along to call timeout right before he kicked the ball. ... Typically we're going to ice the kicker."
Mark Sanchez had another subpar game, throwing for 306 yards, only one touchdown and two interceptions. Santonio Holmes caught a career high nine catches for 147 yards, including a 41-yard catch to set up the winning field goal.
The Jets came back from a 10-0 deficit and also scored on a LaRon Landry interception return. Cornerback Darelle Revis had a knee injury and left the game in the third quarter.
Dan Carpenter missed a 48-yard field goal for the Dolphins in overtime that would have won the game.
Rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill had 196 yards and an interception from Miami, who had to play without starting running back Reggie Bush in the second half after he sustained an injury.
Bengals 38, Redskins 31
Cincinnati's Andy Dalton outdueled Washington's Robert Griffin III as the Bengals beat the Redskins 38-31.
Dalton had three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, and passed for 328 yards on 19-of-27 passing. Receiver AJ Green had nine catches for 183 yards, including a touchdown on the opening play of the game.
Rookie Mohamed Sanu took the opening snap of the game and threw a 73-yard pass right on target to Green, who took it into the end zone for a score.
"The creativity that we've got here, talent that we have at wide (receiver), the running backs, the different things that we're doing, it's big," Dalton said. "You try to find a way to get an advantage in the game, and we found a couple today."
Griffin had 221 yards passing and 85 yards rushing, but was also sacked six times. The Redskins rallied from a 24-7 deficit and tied the game, but Dalton hit receiver Andrew Hawkins in the fourth quarter to take a 14-point lead.
Vikings 24, 49ers 13
Christian Ponder was sharp for the Vikings, throwing for 198 yards and no turnovers or sacks as Minnesota upset the 2-0 San Francisco 49ers.
"It's big, more for people outside this organization than us. We're already confident in what we can do," said Ponder to the Associated Press.
The Vikings improved to 2-1 and easily beat San Francisco, who had been seen by experts as the NFC's best team. Adrian Peterson rushed for 86 yards and helped the Vikings take a 17-3 halftime lead.
Alex Smith threw for 204 yards, but ended his streak of 249 attempts without an interception. Wide receiver Randy Moss, returning to Minnesota for the first time since playing there for seven seasons, had only three catches for 27 yards.
The 49ers were looking to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 1998.
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