An all-time record crowd of more than 105,000 watched the Giants edge Dallas Cowboys 33-31 on a weekend of thrills and spills in the NFL.
Favre makes 271st straight regular-season start in win for Vikings
An all-time record crowd of more than 105,000 watched the New York Giants edge Dallas Cowboys 33-31 on a weekend of thrills and spills in the NFL.
Lawrence Tynes kicked a 37-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to edge the dramatic showdown at the new Cowboys Stadium.
Denver Broncos shut out the Cleveland Browns for a 27-6 victory, and Robbie Gould's late field goal clinched the Chicago Bears' 17-14 verdict over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Drew Brees took his touchdown tally to the season to nine with three more scoring passes in the New Orleans Saints' impressive 48-22 victory over the Eagles.
The Texans, meanwhile, toppled Tennessee 34-31 in a high-scoring thriller while the New England Patriots were floored by the Jets in New York.
Green Bay were given a shock by the Bengals and the evergreen Brett Favre set another NFL record in Minnesota's triumph over the Detroit Lions.
Frank Gore was the star of the show as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 23-10 to take control in the NFC West standings.
Baltimore Ravens held on to beat the San Diego Chargers 31-26, and the Buffalo Bills saw off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-20.
Elsewhere, Washington edged out St Louis in a low-scoring affair and Kurt Warner and Matt Ryan impressed under centre in victories for Arizona and Atlanta respectively.
New Orleans Saints 48-22 Philadelphia Eagles
New Orleans followed up their 45-point haul in week one with another 48 in week two, as they torched the Donovan McNabb-less Philadelphia Eagles.
Quarterback Drew Brees tossed three touchdowns passes, while the Saints also scored twice on the ground through tailbacks Mike Bell and Reggie Bush.
New Orleans' defence also came up with big plays, forcing three turnovers. Darren Sharper picked off Kevin Kolb in the fourth quarter and then went 97 yards to the end zone to round out the scoring.
Kolb, starting in place, of the injured McNabb with Michael Vick still suspended, was intercepted three times in total, though he did throw TDs to DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant as he managed 391 yards passing.
Houston Texans 34-31 Tennessee Titans
Chris Johnson managed 284 yards of offence all by himself - but it still wasn't enough to help Tennessee get the better of Houston in an offensive shoot-out in Nashville.
Kris Brown's 23-yard field goal with just under three minutes to play sealed a stunning 34-31 victory for the Texans after quarterback Matt Schaub had thrown for four touchdowns. Andre Johnson caught two of those scoring passes, ending up with 149 yards on 10 receptions.
The result ruined a stellar day for Chris Johnson, the Titans' second-year tailback managing 197 yards on the ground, including touchdown runs from 57 and 91 yards out, the latter being the longest scoring effort in the franchise's history.
He also caught a 69-yard pass from Kerry Collins in the second quarter but the Titans blew a 21-7 lead to slip to 0-2 at the start of the season.
Minnesota Vikings 27-13 Detroit Lions
Brett Favre celebrated setting another NFL record by helping the Minnesota Vikings to a 27-13 victory over the Detroit Lions.
The Lions went 10-0 ahead in the second quarter, rookie quarterback Matt Stafford hooking up with wide receiver Calvin Johnson from eight yards out.
However three-time MVP Favre, making a record 271st successive regular-season start, threw a one-yard pass to Visanthe Shiancoe to close the gap and then hit Percy Harvin from three yeards out in the fourth quarter.
Adrian Peterson had previously put the hosts ahead with a 27-yard run. He finished the contest with 92 yards on 15 carries.
New England Patriots 9-16 New York Jets
Jay Feely kicked three field goals, while the New York Jets' defence shut down Tom Brady, as the New England Patriots lost to their divisional rivals at the Meadowlands for the first time since 2000.
Brady completed only 23 of his 47 pass attempts and also threw an interception, while receiver Randy Moss was held to 24 yards on four catches.
In contrast rookie QB Mark Sanchez, the Jets' first-round draft pick, threw a touchdown - a nine-yard strike to tight end Dustin Keller in the third quarter - as he impressed again for his new team.
Stephen Gostkowski provided all the points for the Pats, who were without Wes Welker through injury, slotting over kicks from 45, 25 and 29 yards.
Cincinnati Bengals 31-24 Green Bay Packers
Cincinnati caused an upset at Lambeau Field, beating the Green Bay Packers 31-24 thanks to three touchdown passes from Carson Palmer.
Although he did also throw two interceptions, the quarterback hit receivers Laveranues Coles, Chris Henry and Chad Ochocinco for scores whilst also running into the end zone himself from a yard out.
Running back Cedric Benson rushed for 141 yards on 29 carries while the Bengals defence also had a big day, Antwan Odom managing five sacks of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Carolina Panthers 20-28 Atlanta Falcons
Matt Ryan threw three first-half touchdown passes to help the Atlanta Falcons move to 2-0 with a 28-20 victory over Carolina in the Georgia Dome.
The quarterback combined with Tony Gonzalez, Jason Snelling and Roddy White to give the home team a 21-13 lead at the break. They moved further ahead on a one-yard run from Michael Turner at the start of the fourth quarter.
Having thrown four interceptions in a home loss to Philadelphia in week one, quarterback Jake Delhomme managed to pass for 308 yards and a touchdown, an 11-yard strike to tight end Dante Rosario.
However the Panthers' hopes of forcing overtime were dashed when Chris Houston picked off a Delhomme pass intended for Steve Smith, who had managed 131 receiving yards on eight catches.
Arizona Cardinals 31-17 Jacksonville Jaguars
The Arizona Cardinals bounced back from an opening weekend defeat to San Francisco with a 31-17 triumph away at the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Kurt Warner completed 24 of 26 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns to help the Cards opened up a 31-3 lead midway through the third quarter.
In the end they were forced to hold off a late Jacksonville rally, David Garrard throwing TDs to tight end Marcedes Lewis and receiver Mike Sims-Walker to cut the gap to 14.
However Arizona (1-1) were never in danger of letting their sizeable advantage disappear, handing the Jaguars a second staight loss.
Oakland Raiders 13-10 Kansas City Chiefs
Darren McFadden's five-yard run with just 67 seconds remaining sealed Oakland a 13-10 victory over Kansas City in Arrowhead Stadium.
Sebastian Janikowski kicked two field goals to help keep the Raiders in a contest that finished with them managing just 166 total yards on offence in comparison to their opponents' 409.
Although he managed to complete just seven of his 24 pass attempts, quarterback JaMarcus Russell engineered a fourth-quarter drive that set up McFadden to win the game for the visitors.
The Chiefs will wonder just how they slipped to 0-2 having taken a 10-6 lead on a 29-yarder to Dwayne Bowe from quarterback Matt Cassel, though he did also throw two interceptions on his debut for Kansas City.
St. Louis Rams 7-9 Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins got off the mark in 2009, though only just, as they edged out the St Louis Rams 9-7 at FedEx Field.
Despite 367 yards of total offence the home side were unable to get the ball in the end zone. Instead they had to settle for a hat-trick of Shaun Suisham field goals, meaning they left the field at the conclusion to a chorus of boos.
The Rams did manage the game's only touchdown - Laurent Robinson reeling in a two-yarder from Marc Bulger to go 7-6 ahead - while Steven Jackson rushed for 104 yards on 17 carries.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-33 Buffalo Bills
Buffalo snapped a five-game home losing streak with a 33-20 triumph against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Orchard Park, New York.
Donte Whitner starred for the Bills, returning an interception 76 yards for a touchdown and also making a key stop on fourth down to help soften the disappointment of last week's 25-24 loss at New England.
Terrell Owens also got in on the act, scoring on a 43-yard catch in his home debut for the Bills to extend the Buccaneers miserable record to six straight defeats.
Pittsburgh Steelers 14-17 Chicago Bears
Bears kicker Robbie Gould booted a 44-yard field goal with 11 seconds left to give the Chicago Bears a 17-14 win at home against Super Bowl champions Pittsburgh Steelers.
Steelers return man Stefan Logan then fumbled the ball to prevent the visitors from going for a Hail Mary.
Jay Cutler finished with 236 yards and two touchdowns, the highlight of which was a big pass to Devin Hester on third down.
New York Giants 33-31 Dallas Cowboys
Lawrence Tynes kicked a 37-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to lift the New York Giants to a thrilling 33-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at the new Cowboys Stadium on Sunday.
A record crowd of 105,121 watched Dallas take a 31-30 lead with 3:46 to play when Felix Jones raced into the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown and Nick Folk added the extra point.
But the Giants moved the ball back up the field and after the Cowboys negated Tynes' first kick by calling a time out just before he kicked the ball, the Giants kicker kept his composure to slot the winning field goal.
Cleveland Browns 6-27 Denver Broncos
At Denver, Elvis Dumervil tied a franchise record with four sacks and linebacker Andra Davis had 10 tackles against his old team to lead the Broncos to a 27-6 victory.
After beating Cincinnati last week on Brandon Stokley's 87-yard touchdown catch with 11 seconds left, Denver is 2-0 under new coach Josh McDaniels.
Denver quarterback Kyle Orton hit Jabar Gaffney with a 49-yard pass that led to Peyton Hillis' two-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
That broke open a 13-6 game and atoned for Hillis' lost fumble earlier. Correll Buckhalter then ran 45 yards for a TD to seal it.
Baltimore Ravens 31-26 San Diego Chargers
Ray Lewis met Darren Sproles head-on on fourth-and-2 in the closing seconds, spoiling a big monster afternoon for San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers.
He threw for a career-high 436 yards and two touchdowns, completing 25 of 45 passes, but San Diego still needed a touchdown to win with 33 seconds left.
With the ball at the Baltimore 15, Lewis came in unblocked and slammed Sproles to the ground to preserve the win.
Joe Flacco threw two TD passes for the Ravens (2-0), and Willis McGahee ran for two more.
Seattle Seahawks 10-23 San Francisco 49ers
At San Francisco, Frank Gore had touchdown runs of 79 and 80 yards, and finished with 207 yards on 16 carries to lead the 49ers before leaving in the fourth quarter with a sprained right ankle.
He's the second player in NFL history to have two TD runs of 79 or more yards in the same game, joining Barry Sanders, who did it October 12, 1997.
Gore posted just the third 200-yard rushing game in team history.
