Sunday’s NFL roundup

Published: September 16, 2012 

Buccaneers Giants Football

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning makes a pass against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

JULIO CORTEZ — AP

— Eli Manning came up with a near-record performance in throwing for 510 yards, and Andre Brown scored on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left to lift the New York Giants to a wild 41-34 victory Sunday over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Manning’s yardage total was the second most for a Giants quarterback, and tied for the eighth highest in NFL history.

He threw three first-half interceptions, and came back with a monster 295 yards passing in the second, finishing 3 yards short of Phil Simms’ team record.

The Bucs (1-1) led by 11 points before the Super Bowl champions came back and avoided an 0-2 start.

Manning threw touchdowns of 23 yards to Hakeem Nicks, 80 to Victor Cruz and 33 to Martellus Bennett with 3:59 to play to give New York a 34-27 lead.

Cruz finished with 11 catches for 179 yards, both career highs, while Nicks had 10 catches for 199 yards, with the yardage a personal best. Only the 1951 Rams had a 500-yard passer and two 150-yard receivers in the same game.

Josh Freeman tied the game at 34-all with a 41-yard pass to Mike Williams, but Manning drove New York 80 yards in four plays to win it.

After the game, Giants coach Tom Coughlin yelled at Bucs coach Greg Schiano about a scrum when Manning took a knew after Michael Boley intercepted Freeman’s pass in the closing seconds.

Manning was not touched, but there was shoving and maybe even punches thrown. Coughlin contended that someone might have been hurt on a play in which teams typically go through the motions.

• (At) Indianapolis 23, Minnesota 20 | Adam Vinatieri made a 53-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give Andrew Luck his first NFL victory.

Minnesota (1-1) rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the final 5 1 / 2 minutes and tied the score on a 6-yard TD pass from Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph with 31 seconds left.

But that was too much time for Luck, who had thrown for two touchdowns. He started with back-to-back 20-yard completions, then drew the Vikings offside before spiking the ball with 12 seconds to go. Vinatieri, the best clutch kicker in NFL history, knocked the 53-yarder through the uprights to win it.

Luck finished 20 of 31 for 224 yards.

• (At) Miami 35, Oakland 13 | Reggie Bush ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns, and Miami won a home opener for the first time since 2005.

Ryan Tannehill threw his first NFL touchdown pass, ran for another and avoided any turnovers after tossing three interceptions in his pro debut a week earlier.

The Dolphins improved to 1-1, and Joe Philbin earned a sideline drenching for his first victory as a head coach. The Raiders, under new coach Dennis Allen, are 0-2 for the first time since 2007.

Bush broke four tackles on a 23-yard touchdown run that put Miami ahead to stay in the third quarter. After Miami forced a punt, Bush struck again, this time on a 65-yard scoring run.

• Houston 27, (at) Jacksonville 7 | Arian Foster ran for 110 yards and a touchdown, Ben Tate added 74 yards and two scores and Houston dominated from the start.

The Texans improved to 2-0 for the third consecutive season by winning their fourth in a row against the AFC South rival Jaguars, who started 0-2 for the third time in the last five years.

Jacksonville, which has never had a winning record after dropping its first two games, was far from competitive in the latest meeting.

The Texans gained 242 yards in the first half while building a 17-0 lead. Foster ran for 69 yards and a score. Tate added 49 and a touchdown. Matt Schaub, using mostly short throws, picked apart Jacksonville’s defense.

The Jaguars finished with a franchise-low 117 yards.

• (At) Buffalo 35, Kansas City 17 | C.J. Spiller scored twice and had 123 yards rushing in sparking Buffalo.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes, including a 49-yarder to Stevie Johnson, and Leodis McKelvin scored on an 88-yard punt return – the second longest in team history – in the Bills’ home opener.

Buffalo’s high-priced defense had five sacks and forced three turnovers as the Bills bounced back from a season-opening 48-28 loss to the Jets last week.

Dwayne Bowe scored both touchdowns for Kansas City – both in the final seven minutes – to make the score respectable. The Chiefs are 0-2 for the sixth time in seven years.

• (At) Cincinnati 34, Cleveland 27 | Adam “Pacman” Jones returned Cleveland’s first punt 81 yards for a touchdown, and Andy Dalton matched his career high with three touchdown passes.

The Bengals (1-1) have won 13 of the last 16 against the Browns (0-2), who got impressive games from their rookie quarterback and running back but still couldn’t get a win.

Jones put the Bengals ahead to stay with his fifth career punt return for a touchdown. Dalton threw three TD passes for the second time in his career, including a short reception that Andrew Hawkins turned into a 50-yard score in the fourth quarter.

Cleveland quarterback Brandon Weeden rebounded from one of the worst debuts in NFL history by throwing for two touchdowns. Trent Richardson became the first Browns rookie to run for 100 yards and score on a run and a pass.

• (At) St. Louis 31, Washington 28 | Sam Bradford threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and Danny Amendola caught 15 passes for 160 yards in rallying St. Louis

The Rams made their comeback after running back Steven Jackson left the game after drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second quarter. Later, coach Jeff Fisher said Jackson left because of a groin injury.

Griffin led the Redskins (1-1) to a 21-6 lead, but the Rams (1-1) came back thanks to the pass-catching of Amendola. The receiver tied an NFL record 12 first-half receptions, and caught a 1-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 21-13 at the half. Bradford had second-half scoring passes of 34 yards to Brandon Gibson and 1 yard to Matt Mulligan.

Griffin ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third for Washington (1-1).

• (At) Seattle 27, Dallas 7 | Marshawn Lynch ran for 122 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and Seattle’s special teams came up with two huge first-quarter plays that led to 10 points.

Michael Robinson forced Felix Jones to fumble on the opening kickoff that led to a short field goal, and Malcolm Smith blocked Chris Jones’ punt which Jeron Johnson returned for a touchdown to give Seattle (1-1) a 10-0 lead in less than 5 minutes.

Rookie Russell Wilson threw for 151 yards and directed a 90-yard scoring drive in the third quarter capped by a 22-yard touchdown strike to Anthony McCoy to give Seattle a 20-7 lead.

Tony Romo threw a 22-yard TD to Miles Austin in the second quarter, but that was the only sustained drive the Cowboys (1-1) could mount on the Seahawks stout defense.

• (At) San Diego 38, Tennessee 10 | Tight end Dante Rosario had three touchdown catches for the first time in his NFL career and San Diego’s defense harassed Jake Locker all day.

Before the game, the Chargers (2-0) retired Junior Seau’s No. 55. Seau, the hard-hitting, first-pumping leader of the Chargers for 13 seasons, committed suicide May 2.

With Antonio Gates inactive due to sore ribs, the Chargers turned to Rosario. He responded with TD catches of 11, 4 and 15 yards from Philip Rivers. He had only five career scoring catches coming in, including a game-winner against San Diego in the 2008 season opener while with Carolina.

San Diego’s winning streak against the Titans (0-2) dates to 1993, when the franchise was still the Houston Oilers.

Rivers was 24 of 32 for 284 yards. Malcom Floyd had six catches for 109 yards and Rosario four catches for 48 yards.

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