The Super Bowl champions showed they are still the team to beat in the AFC East as they held off the Buffalo Bills 40-32 at Orchard Park.
Tom Brady continued his excellent start to the season with three touchdown passes, two of them to Julian Edelman. His 466 yards through the air was the second-largest total of his career, and the most ever by a quarterback against the Bills. The Patriots have now won 27 of their past 30 meetings against Buffalo, whose thoughts were with safety Aaron Williams, who was taken to hospital with a neck injury.
Bills head coach put the blame on himself after the loss. “[Bill] Belichick outcoached me,” Ryan said. “No question about it, and that’s where the game ... that’s how it ended up, and it’s unfortunate. The plan has to be better on defense. Can’t give up 500 yards and beat anybody, and then we turn it over three times. We did a horse shit job, and it’s my responsibility.”
Johnny Manziel threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin on Cleveland’s second play and connected with his wide receiver again for a clutch 50-yarder with 2:52 left, giving the Browns a 28-14 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Benjamin also returned a punt 78 yards for a TD in the first half as the Browns (1-1) got just their third home-opening win since 1999. Starting in place of injured Josh McCown, Manziel finished 8 of 15 for 172 yards. His last completion was vintage Johnny Football as Manziel spun to his left to avoid pressure and threw deep to Benjamin.
Manziel won his Heisman Trophy matchup with Marcus Mariota, who threw two TD passes in the second half for the Titans (1-1), but took a pounding in his second game. The No2 overall pick was sacked seven times.
There was more late pain for the New York Giants as Julio Jones caught a perfect 37-yard pass from Matt Ryan, setting up Devonta Freeman’s two-yard touchdown run with 1:14 remaining, lifting the Atlanta Falcons to victory.
Jones was unstoppable in the Falcons’ second straight victory, tying the club record with 13 receptions, good for 135 yards. His biggest catch was down the left sideline behind Prince Amukamara in the final moments, setting up the win.
The Giants (0-2), whose bad decisions and poor execution cost them last week at Dallas, blew a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead. Leonard Hankerson caught a 10-yard TD pass to bring Atlanta within three. Then Ryan guided the Falcons 70 yards to the winning score.
Eli Manning misfired to two open receivers on the Giants’ final drive in another ugly finish for New York.
Washington showed that there is plenty if life after RGIII was Kirk Cousins rookie running back Matt Jones helped them to victory over the St Louis Rams.
Jones ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns following each with a flourish an efficient Cousins avoided any turnovers, and Washington Redskins dominated for a half, then held on to beat the Rams 24-10.
Jones, a third-round draft pick out of Florida, scored from 39 yards in the first quarter, and from three with about two and a half minutes left in the fourth. After his first TD, he jumped into the front row of the stands. After the second, Jones clapped his hands together, doing his college’s “Gator Chomp” celebration.
With their revamped defense looking good for the second game in a row, Washington (1-1) led 17-0 at halftime, the first time they shut out an opponent in the first half since October 2011, also against the Rams (1-1).
Cousins went 23 for 27 for 207 yards and a four-yard TD pass to Pierre Garcon. Most importantly, he did not throw an interception. His pair of picks in a Week 1 loss to Miami gave him 21 in 15 NFL games.
Robert Griffin III was inactive for Washington, reduced to No3 quarterback status behind Cousins and Colt McCoy.
Elsewhere, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 369 yards and three touchdowns, DeAngelo Williams tied a team record with three rushing scores and the Pittsburgh Steelers overwhelmed the San Francisco 49ers 43-18.
Jameis Winston passed for a touchdown and ran for another, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held on to defeat the mistake-prone New Orleans Saints 26-19.
Winston, who was intercepted twice and sacked four times in a losing NFL debut at home a week earlier, remained largely composed in the hostile Superdome. He completed 14 of 21 passes for 207 yards and was not intercepted. He lost one fumble, but the Saints couldn’t cash in, missing a 42-yard field goal.
His touchdown pass was a 15-yarder to Vincent Jackson.
Adrian Peterson was back to his best in front of his fans in the Vikings’ first home game of the season. The former league MVP rushed for 134 yards as Minnesota beat the Detroit Lions 26-16.
In the day’s other early starts, there were victories for the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers.
