 |
 |
 |
|
BALTIMORE -- Kurt Warner orchestrated a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback, only to be outdone by another backup quarterback who never anticipated playing in such a pressurized situation.
| Advertisement |
|||
| |||
Kyle Boller moved the Ravens into position for Matt Stover's 46-yard field goal as time expired, and Baltimore squeezed out a 26-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
The Ravens (2-1) led 20-3 at halftime and 23-6 entering the fourth quarter, but wilted in the final 15 minutes in a second straight game. Although the New York Jets never pulled even one week earlier, Warner rallied the Cardinals (1-2) to a tie at 23 with 1:50 left.
That left it up to Boller, who entered in the fourth quarter for an ailing Steve McNair. Starting at the Baltimore 20, Boller went 5-for-5 for 32 yards, and the Ravens benefited from a questionable personal foul call on safety Adrian Wilson to get into position for Stover's winning kick.
Wilson was called for a high hit on Todd Heap at the end of a first-down pass.
Warner replaced an ineffective Matt Leinart and went 15-for-20 for 258 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was Anquan Boldin, who had a career-high 14 catches for 181 yards. Full story
Buccaneers 24, Rams 3
TAMPA, Fla. -- Week by week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are building a new identity on defense.
Hard-hitting safety Jermaine Phillips and reserve cornerback Phillip Buchanon intercepted passes as the revamped Bucs throttled St. Louis' struggling offense and routed the Rams.
Seldom-used running back Earnest Graham entered the game in the fourth quarter and scored on runs of eight and 28 yards for Tampa Bay (2-1). Carnell "Cadillac" Williams rushed for a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and Matt Bryant kicked a short field goal in a brief but intense rainstorm to give the Bucs a 3-0 lead at the half.
St. Louis (0-3) remained winless despite finally getting Steven Jackson involved in an offense that's suddenly found it difficult to score points. The fourth-year running back had 115 yards on 30 carries and caught four passes for 18 yards.
Chiefs 13, Vikings 10
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Weapon No. 1 was shut down, so Kansas City turned to weapon No. 2 and nailed down its first victory since last New Year's Eve.
Damon Huard, giving up on getting any production from Larry Johnson, took to the air and hit rookie wide receiver Dwayne Bowe with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass and the Chiefs beat Minnesota to avoid what would have been their second 0-3 start in 27 years.
Johnson, still chipping away rust following his 25-day holdout and dogged by a defense trained squarely on him, was held to 42 yards on 24 carries. At one point in the third quarter, the two-time Pro Bowler lost yardage on three consecutive carries against a Minnesota defense stacking eight and sometimes nine men in the box.
So the Chiefs turned to Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez and Bowe, their first-round draft pick last April, to fuel their only sustained drive of the day -- a 12-play, 84-yard march that ended when Bowe beat Cedric Griffin in the corner of the end zone for a 16-yard catch.
Panthers 27, Falcons 20
ATLANTA -- Joey Harrington earned plenty of cheers from all those Atlanta fans wearing Michael Vick jerseys. It wasn't enough to give the Falcons their first win without No. 7.
The Carolina Panthers overcame a 361-yard, two-touchdown performance by Harrington and an injury to Jake Delhomme, taking control after Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall lost his cool to beat the Falcons.
DeShaun Foster rushed 122 yards and scored a couple of TDs, but Carolina (2-1) may have lost its quarterback for a while. Delhomme injured his throwing arm in the third quarter and didn't return.
Atlanta (0-3) went ahead 17-10 on Harrington's second TD pass, a 13-yarder to Alge Crumpler early in the third quarter.
Raiders 26, Browns 24
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Lane Kiffin showed he's a quick learner at NFL coaching strategy.
A week after a late timeout wiped out Sebastian Janikowski's game-winning kick for Oakland, Kiffin successfully used the same strategy to help the Raiders beat the Cleveland Browns when Tommy Kelly blocked Phil Dawson's last-second field goal attempt.
Derek Anderson had driven the Browns (1-2) from their own 9 to the Oakland 23 in the final 1:04 without a timeout to set up Dawson's 40-yard try. Right before the snap, Kiffin called timeout just as Denver coach Mike Shanahan did to him a week ago in the Broncos' 23-20 overtime win.
Like Janikowski a week ago, Dawson split the uprights with the kick that did not count. His attempt when it did was low and blocked by Kelly, setting off a midfield celebration by the Raiders following their first win since last Oct. 29 against Pittsburgh. Kiffin, the NFL's youngest coach in more than four decades at age 32, got his first win.
