Early NFL Games: Ochocinco, Bengals Leap Over Packers; Jets Overcome Mean Tweets to Best Pats

It was a game that had it all: scoring, long touchdowns, hard hitting, a fight that spilled onto the sidelines, a player getting ejected (for throwing a punch!), a dominant fantasy performance, Gus Johnson, and a rather awesome hair design displayed by Jacoby Jones:

It was one of those games in which the last team to score would win, and indeed, Houston was the last team to score, with Kris Brown splitting the uprights with a 23-yard field goal with 2:55 remaining in the game. Tennessee got the ball back with plenty of time, but on 1st-and-10 from their own 38, with 1:32 still to play, Kerry Collins fumbled the ball while scrambling, despite the fact no one was within at least 3 yards of him, and the Texans fell on the loose pigskin, all but securing the win.

Here are the final scores from the NFL’s early slate:

Falcons 28, Panthers 20

As if it were necessary, New Orleans’ Darren Sharper ran back a 97-yard interception return with 1:10 left in the game, finalizing the score at 48-22.

Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb, starting in the stead of the injured Donovan McNabb, threw for an impressive 391 yards but was intercepted three times. The Saints’ Drew Brees turned in another great performance, throwing for 311 yards and three touchdowns. Brees has now thrown for nine — nine — TDs in two games this season.

Cincy tried really hard to let a game slip away in the final seconds for the second consecutive week, but the football gods took mercy on their souls, and let them escape Lambeau with a win.

Up 10 with under a minute left, the Bengals’ lead was cut to seven after a Packers field goal. Green Bay then recovered the onside kick with 43 seconds left and no timeouts. Aaron Rodgers completed a pass down to the Cincy 35 and spiked the ball with 16 seconds left. The next play was a completed pass over the middle, but the receiver was unable to get out of bounds, thus allowing the clock to run out.

The Patriots couldn’t manage a single touchdown against the Jets’ defense. Mark Sanchez’s touchdown to start the second half proved to be the winning score, as the Jets won 16-9. Sanchez went 14-for-22, throwing for 163 yards and a touchdown, while Tom Brady was 22-for-42 for 216 yards and a pick.Rookie Josh Edleman replaced receiver Wes Welker and led the Patriots with 99 receiving yards.

Following Dwayne Bowe’s spectacular grab, the fans at Arrowhead Stadium sounded like thunder. They were silenced by JaMarcus Russell, who assembled a drive into Chiefs territory in the final two minutes. Running back Darren McFadden ran a pitch left for five yards into the end zone.Down by three, and with less than a minute to work, Matt Cassel’s offensive line couldn’t protect him long enough to mount a comeback.

This is the Chiefs’ 25th loss of their last 27 regular-season games. Ouch.

With less than three minutes left in the game, receiver Dwayne Bowe extended in the end zone to make a 29-yard touchdown pass. This is Cassel’s first-ever touchdown as a Chief.

The Vikings have officially taken control of a pesky Lions team, sealed by a screen pass to Percy Harvin for a three-yard touchdown score. That’s why you draft Percy Harvin, right?

Sebastian Janikowski, who kicked a 48-yarder in the first half, put another through from 54 yards out, putting the Raiders up by 3. He’s also kicked three touchbacks.

The Chiefs are trailing despite vastly out-gaining Oakland in offensive yardage, 219-74.

The Vikings did just about everything wrong in the last few plays of their field goal scoring drive; they failed to block for Adrian Peterson, who somehow ran for 10 yards anyway; Chester Taylor fumbled the ball and managed to get it back; and Brett Favre nearly threw a pick on a slant to Visanthe Shiancoe. And yet they escaped with three points, which is probably a blessing, considering the circumstances.

The Jets have broken the touchdown drought in the Jets/Patriots game with a nine yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez to Dustin Keller. Sanchez was 3 for 5 with 15 yards passing in the first half and goes 2 for 2 for 54 yards and the touchdown on the first drive of the second half.

Some big stories thus far: The Lions lead the Vikings, the Bengals attempted a flea flicker, the Chiefs attempted an onside kick early in the first quarter, and the Titans’ Chris Johnson is responsible for 175 of the team’s 283 total yards. Here are your halftime scores:

Chiefs 3, Raiders 3

Here’s a quick summary of everything that happened on Cincinnati’s last drive:

• The Bengals offensive line played its first series horribly, leading to a third and 34 situation.

For the first 18 minutes of today’s game, Houston managed just 7 points. Then in a short 51 seconds, the Texans scored two touchdowns. First, Matt Schaub connected with Andre Jonson on a 72-yard score. A Kerry Collins interception just two plays later gave the Texans the ball back on the Titans’ 29, and they wasted little time, scoring on another Schaub touchdown pass, his third of the day, this time to Jacoby Jones.

Kris Brown just added a 38-yard FG to give Houston a 24-21 lead just before the 2-minute warning in Tennessee.

Nearing the half, Atlanta is up against Carolina. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is taking advantage of offseason acquisition Tony Gonzalez, who has caught four passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.The Panthers’ top offensive threat thus far is Steve Smith, who has caught five Jake Delhomme passes for 88 yards.

The Patriots and Jets just cannot seem to find the endzone in this game but are making their field goal kickers earn their salary. Gostkowski kicked a 29 yard field goal after the Patriots drove 72 yards down the field. Gostkowski is 3 for 3 while Jay Feely is 1 for 1.

After yielding the inaugural Stafford touchdown, the Vikings used Adrian Peterson for much of a successful scoring drive before taking him out (don’t get me started on the fantasy implications here, but let’s just say I’m not pleased) and running play action with Favre. Simple enough. Lions 10, Vikings 7.

Wow, is Carson Palmer bad right now: Charles Woodson just notched his second pick of the day on a horrendous Palmer pass to the flat — there had to be some sort of miscommunication there — which Woodson promptly ran back for a quick six points. 21-14 Packers.

St. Louis is now beating the Redskins, 7-6, thanks to Stephen Jackson’s man-childishness and the vaunted WR corps of that one guy you may have heard of (Donny Avery) and that other guy (Laurent Robinson). The latter caught a TD pass from Marc Bulger on a third down fade route inside the five.

So, congrats, Rams:

The Jets answered the Patriots 25 yard field goal with a 33 yard field goal of their own. Driving down 52 yards down the field in 5 minutes, the Jets are holding their own by using their running game. They used three running backs who ran for 41 of the total 52 yards on the drive.

You have to hand it to the Lions: They’re playing awfully well right now. Matt Stafford looks impressive; Calvin Johnson looks good as ever; and the defense is holding, for now at least, Adrian Peterson and the Vikings offense to minimal productivity.

Speaking of Stafford, the rookie just threw his first career touchdown pass to giant target Calvin Johnson. Then Stafford fist-pumped a bunch. He seemed pretty excited. Lions: 10-0.

If you’re a Bears fan, you’ll be angry. Otherwise, you’ll be impressed: Cedric Benson is running the ball very well for the Cincinnati Bengals right now, moving forward, fighting for extra yards on second efforts, making one cut and sprinting through the hole. Basically, he’s doing everything he didn’t do as a Chicago Bear.

Benson’s sudden burst led the Bengals to a game-tying touchdown in the second quarter; Benson’s rushing on the drive set up a one-yard QB sneak by Carson Palmer; it’s 14-14.

The Patriots drove down the field to kick a 25 yard field goal and take a 6-0 lead over the Jets. The Jets extended the Patriots drive by taking a personal foul penalty and an illegal contact penalty that gave the Patriots first downs each time. With Wes Welker out of the lineup, Brady’s top receiver has become rookie Josh Edleman who had a 29 yard reception on the drive and has 41 overall yards in the game.

Matt Cassel’s first-ever drive as a Chief was impressive. Kansas City marched 74 yards down the field, and it’s worth noting that the oft-maligned Larry Johnson accounted for 37 of those yards.

The Chiefs settled for a field goal, and then attempted to catch the Raiders off guard with an onside kick. It didn’t work, but maybe that’s beside the point.

In one of today’s strange bedfellows games, the Bengals struck first at the 8 minute mark with a five-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Laveranues Coles. The Packers wasted no time in responding: Aaron Rodgers scrambled and dodged and eventually found Donald Driver on an extended red zone rollout. As the first quarter winds down, your score is 7-7.