Foster Has a Big Game as Panthers Beat Chiefs

DeShaun Foster showed the Carolina Panthers should be just fine without Stephen Davis.

Running around and through Kansas City’s soft defense, Foster carried 32 times for 174 yards, including a team-record 71-yard burst, in leading the defending NFC champion Panthers to a 28-17 victory over the Chiefs on Sunday at Kansas City, Mo.

The total was four yards short of the team record held by Davis, who is out indefinitely after spraining his knee in practice last week.

“I had no idea that I was close to the record,” Foster said. “I just wanted to get 150 yards. You always have to step up when somebody goes down.”

The Chiefs (0-2) were still within reach at 21-17 when Foster iced the game with his long run, which was followed immediately by his three-yard touchdown run that gave the Panthers an 11-point lead with 10:35 left.

“It wasn’t that big,” Foster said. “I went to the left and made a little cut back right and it was open.”

The Chiefs, whose receiving corps already was thinned by injuries to Kris Wilson and Marc Boerigter, lost receiver Eddie Kennison to a hamstring pull.

Dallas 19, Cleveland 12 -- Vinny Testaverde threw for 322 yards and Eddie George ran for 62 yards and a touchdown in a win that had all the makings of a blowout if not for mistakes by the Cowboys at Dallas.

The Cowboys (1-1) reached at least the Cleveland 43-yard line on 10 of its 11 drives, but turned them into only two touchdowns and a field goal. The rest were squandered by four turnovers (including three late interceptions by Testaverde), a missed field goal and two punts.

Add in some silly and ill-timed penalties and the Browns (1-1) were in the game to the end. Yet quarterback Jeff Garcia couldn’t muster the spark he showed in winning his Cleveland debut, throwing three interceptions. Garcia completed eight of 27 passes for 71 yards and had a rating of 0.0.

Detroit 28, Houston 16 -- Joey Harrington beat David Carr in the first matchup of the top two quarterbacks from the 2002 NFL draft.

Harrington threw three touchdown passes, two thanks to rookie Roy Williams’ spectacular catches at Detroit, to give the Lions their first 2-0 start since 2000. The Texans are 0-2 for the first time.

Harrington, the No. 3 pick two years ago, was 18 of 25 for 176 yards with one interception. Carr, taken No. 1 overall in Houston’s first draft, completed 23 of 34 passes for 313 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

NFC

New Orleans 30, San Francisco 27 -- Aaron Brooks rallied the Saints in the final two minutes at New Orleans, taking them 59 yards and connecting with Donte’ Stallworth for a 16-yard touchdown. Ashley Ambrose intercepted Ken Dorsey’s pass with four seconds left to preserve the victory.

New York Giants 20, Washington 14 -- Linebacker Barrett Green scored on a 16-yard fumble return and New York forced seven turnovers at East Rutherford, N.J., while handing Joe Gibbs his first loss in his second stint with Washington.

Kurt Warner threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Tim Carter and Steve Christie kicked two field goals in a game the Giants had to sweat out despite having a plus-six edge in turnovers.

Seattle 10, Tampa Bay 6 -- Marcus Trufant returned an interception 41 yards to set up Matt Hasselbeck’s second-quarter touchdown pass to Koren Robinson at Tampa, Fla., and the Seahawks opened a season with consecutive road wins for the first time in 10 years.

AFC

Oakland 13, Buffalo 10 -- Ronald Curry caught five passes for 89 yards and a touchdown in the Raiders’ win at Oakland.

Drew Bledsoe’s first game in Oakland wasn’t much fun. Playing before the Raider fans for the first time in his 12th season, Bledsoe was sacked seven times.

Three of the sacks came in the first half, when Bledsoe’s 31 yards passing were only seven more than those of punter Brian Moorman.

Baltimore 30, Pittsburgh 13 -- Jamal Lewis rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns and Chester Taylor added a career-high 76 yards on the ground at Baltimore.

Steeler quarterback Tommy Maddox completed four of 13 passes before being forced out in the third quarter with an elbow injury. He was replaced by Ben Roethlisberger, who threw touchdown passes to Antwaan Randle El and Hines Ward.

Jacksonville 7, Denver 6 -- Quentin Griffin fumbled on the 23-yard line with about a minute to play, allowing the Jaguars to escape with a win at Jacksonville, Fla.

Jake Plummer drove Denver into field-goal range with less than a minute to play. The Broncos had a third and 10 on the 23, a 40-yard field goal for Jason Elam.

But they wanted to get Elam a shorter attempt. Griffin bobbled the handoff, Akin Ayodele recovered and the Jaguars ran out the remaining 31 seconds.

Cincinnati 16, Miami 13 -- Carson Palmer connected with Chad Johnson on a 20-yard catch that put the Bengals in range for Shayne Graham’s 39-yard field goal with two seconds remaining at Cincinnati.

Palmer led the Bengals 59 yards to the winning kick, completing seven of his eight passes.