Alvin Kamara scored two touchdowns as the host New Orleans Saints defeated Tampa Bay 34-23 on Sunday, spoiling Tom Brady’s debut with the Buccaneers.
Kamara, who agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract extension Thursday, caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees and ran 6 yards for another score. Brees, who passed Brett Favre for the NFL career lead in pass attempts, finished 18 of 30 for 160 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Brady, who spent 20 seasons in New England and won six Super Bowls before signing with Tampa Bay in the offseason, completed 23 of 36 for 239 yards and two touchdowns, but threw two interceptions that led to 14 Saints points.
New Orleans led 17-7 at halftime and was on defense to open the third quarter when, on the sixth play of the drive, Janoris Jenkins intercepted Brady and returned 36 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 24-7 and the Bucs could never catch up.
Ravens 38, Browns 6
Quarterback Lamar Jackson picked up where he left off last season, completing 20 of 25 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns, and rushed for a team-high 45 yards as host Baltimore routed Cleveland.
Tight end Mark Andrews caught two touchdown passes, Marquise Brown had five catches for 101 yards, and rookie running back J.K. Dobbins rushed for two scores for the Ravens, who picked up their 13th consecutive regular-season victory.
Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 189 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, and running backs Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb combined for 132 rushing yards for Cleveland, which failed to win its season opener for the 16th consecutive year.
Raiders 34, Panthers 30
Josh Jacobs’ third touchdown run provided the go-ahead points as Las Vegas posted a victory over Carolina in Charlotte, N.C. The outcome spoiled the debut for Panthers coach Matt Rhule and was the first game for the Raiders since the franchise relocated to Las Vegas from Oakland.
Trailing 30-27, Jacobs scooted around the right side for a 6-yard scoring run with 4:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. It marked the seventh lead change of the game.
The Raiders defense made a fourth-and-1 stop at their own 46-yard line with 1:11 left to help clinch the outcome. By the time the Panthers regained possession at their own 27, there were eight seconds to play.
Seahawks 38, Falcons 25
Russell Wilson completed 31 of 35 passes for 322 yards and four touchdowns and added a team-high 29 yards rushing as Seattle beat host Atlanta in the season opener for both teams.
Safety Jamal Adams, acquired in an offseason trade with the New York Jets, made an immediate impact for the Seahawks (1-0) with a game-high 12 tackles to go with a sack and two tackles for loss.
For Atlanta, Matt Ryan was 37 of 54 passing for 450 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception.
Washington Football Team 27, Eagles 17
Peyton Barber rushed for two touchdowns and the Washington Football Team registered eight sacks in the victory over visiting Philadelphia in the season opener for both teams.
Washington scored 27 unanswered points and gave head coach Ron Rivera a victory in his debut. It was the largest deficit overcome against Philadelphia in the series history. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins completed 17 of 31 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown as Washington won a home opener for the first time since 2014.
The Eagles entered the game without injured running back Miles Sanders and right tackle Lane Johnson. Despite those absences, the team bolted to a 17-0 lead thanks to a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Carson Wentz, who was 24 of 42 for 270 yards with two interceptions.
Jaguars 27, Colts 20
Gardner Minshew completed 19 of 20 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter that lifted Jacksonville past visiting Indianapolis.
Minshew, who hit his last 15 passes, found Keelan Cole wide open down the right sideline for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 5:56 left. Josh Lambo added a 46-yard field goal with 2:50 to play, his 45th consecutive successful field goal at home.
Indianapolis reached the Jacksonville 26 on its final possession, but Philip Rivers’ fourth-down pass for T.Y. Hilton was knocked away by rookie cornerback C.J. Henderson with 49 seconds remaining. Rivers connected on 36 of 46 passes for 363 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Patriots 21, Dolphins 11
Cam Newton looked like his former self by scoring twice and amassing a combined 230 yards passing and rushing to lead New England to a season-opening win over Miami in Foxborough, Mass.
In his Patriots’ debut, Newton showed signs of what New England hoped for when it signed him to replace the departed Tom Brady as its starting quarterback.
Newton’s ability to keep the Dolphins off balance with zone-read options allowed the Patriots to seize control following a scoreless first quarter.
Bills 27, Jets 17
Josh Allen completed 33 of 46 passes for 312 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 57 yards and another touchdown, and Buffalo cruised to a win over visiting New York.
Zack Moss and John Brown each caught touchdown passes for Buffalo, which beat the Jets in Week 1 for the second year in a row. Stefon Diggs added a team-high eight catches for 86 yards in his Bills debut.
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold completed 21 of 35 passes for 215 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Jamison Crowder had seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown for New York.
Bears 27, Lions 23
Mitchell Trubisky threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score to Anthony Miller with 1:54 remaining, as Chicago erased a 17-point deficit to stun host Detroit.
Trubisky finished with 242 passing yards. Miller had 76 yards on four catches in the season opener for both teams.
Matthew Stafford threw for 297 yards and a score but also had a crucial fourth-quarter interception for Detroit. Adrian Peterson, making his Lions debut, rushed for 93 yards on 14 carries and caught three passes for 21 yards.
Packers 43, Vikings 34
Aaron Rodgers threw two of his four touchdown passes to Davante Adams and Green Bay opened with a high-scoring win at Minnesota.
Rodgers completed 32 of 44 passes for 364 yards and Adams tied a franchise record with a career-high 14 receptions for 156 yards. Marquez Valdes-Scantling added 96 yards and a touchdown on four catches for the Packers, who racked up 522 total yards and dominated time of possession 41:16 to 18:44.
Minnesota running back Dalvin Cook rushed for 50 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions. Kirk Cousins was 19-for-25 passing for 259 yards with two fourth-quarter TD passes to Adam Thielen (six catches, 110 yards) and an interception. The Vikings had the game’s only turnover and gave up a second-quarter safety.
Chargers 16, Bengals 13
An offensive pass-interference penalty by Cincinnati on the potential go-ahead touchdown and the ensuing missed field-goal attempt spoiled the debut of No. 1 draft pick Joe Burrow, and Los Angeles held off the host Bengals.
Burrow, who went 23 of 36 passing for 193 yards with an interception in his pro debut, led a torrid final drive that covered 79 yards in less than three minutes. He capped the possession with a 3-yard strike to wide receiver A.J. Green near the pylon, but Green was flagged for pushing off Chargers defensive back Casey Hayward.
Bengals kicker Randy Bullock, who made his previous 24 field-goal attempts, including two earlier on Sunday, then pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury as he badly missed a 31-yarder that would have forced overtime.
Cardinals 24, 49ers 20
Kyler Murray ran for a game-high 91 yards, threw for 230 and accounted for two touchdowns and the Arizona defense came up with a key late stop as visiting Arizona stunned the defending NFC champions in the opener for both teams.
DeAndre Hopkins notched a career-high 14 catches for 151 yards as the Cardinals overcame an early 10-0 deficit. Kenyan Drake scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run with 5:03 to go after the teams traded the lead three times in the fourth quarter. Murray completed 26 of 40 passes with one interception.
Raheem Mostert led the 49ers in both receiving (95) and rushing (56) yards, with 76 receiving yards coming on a first-quarter catch-and-run for San Francisco’s first score. Jimmy Garoppolo finished 19-for-33 passing for 259 yards and two touchdowns.
-Field Level Media
