Packers drop Seahawks in NFC heavyweight match
Green Bay beats Seattle in defensive struggle to start season with home win
GREEN BAY, Wis. — A marquee season opener between two NFC heavyweights turned into a defensive slugfest.
The Green Bay Packers — not the menacing Seattle Seahawks — landed the momentumswinging punch.
Green Bay defensive lineman Mike Daniels’ strip sack of Russell Wilson deep in Seattle territory in the third quarter set up Ty Montgomery’s six-yard touchdown run on the next play to spark the Packers’ 17-9 win on Sunday.
“This really started with our defence,” Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said. “It starts on the line of scrimmage. We were in the backfield a bunch.”
The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers was 28 of 42 for 311 yards and added a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson to make it an eight-point game late in the third quarter. The Packers went deep to his favourite receiver on a free play that was extended after Seattle was flagged for having too many men on the field.
Rodgers’ regular-season streak of passes without an interception ended at a careerhigh 251. The Seahawks defence reinforced by the return of safety Earl Thomas bottled up receivers from making many big plays and put plenty of pressure on Rodgers.
But the Packers started denting Seattle with runs or quick passes to Nelson, Randall Cobb and Montgomery in the second half, chewing up clock in the process. A 12-play, 53-yard drive that took up more than five minutes ended with Mason Crosby’s 40-yard field goal with 8:01 left to make it a two-score game.
“That was a great defence that we went against. They’re going to keep everybody kind of in front, they’re going to make us go the long way,” Nelson said.
Green Bay’s defence had an even better debut, especially considering how maligned the Packers were against the pass last season.
Seattle managed just three field goals. Wilson was held to 14 of 27 for 158 yards. The Packers held decisive edges in total yardage (370-225) and first downs (26-12). Green Bay held the ball for 39 minutes.
“I was disappointed they were able to be as aggressive up front as they were with their defence,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett sat on the bench again during the national anthem. On the other sideline at about the 30, his younger brother Martellus Bennett, a tight end for the Packers, stood at the end of the line next to his teammates, but raised his right fist in the air during the anthem.
RAMS 46, COLTS 9
LOS ANGELES — Jared Goff passed for a career-high 306 yards and a touchdown in his first victory as an NFL starter, and the Rams routed the Colts in Sean McVay’s impressive debut as the youngest head coach in modern league history.
FALCONS 23, BEARS 17
CHICAGO — Matt Ryan threw an 88-yard touchdown pass to Austin Hooper and led two fourth-quarter scoring drives as the NFC champions held on.
Coming off an MVP season, Ryan was 21 of 30 for 321 yards and a touchdown.
JAGUARS 29, TEXANS 7
HOUSTON — Leonard Fournette ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut, and Jacksonville had 10 sacks and forced four turnovers to help the Jaguars.
The Texans hoped to provide a boost to the area ravaged by Hurricane Harvey with a win. Instead, Tom Savage struggled behind a porous line and was benched in favour of rookie Deshaun Watson at halftime with Houston down 19-0.
J.J. Watt returned after missing 13 games last season after back surgery, but injured his finger in the first half and finished with just one tackle.
STEELERS 21, BROWNS 18
CLEVELAND — Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes to tight end Jesse James as the Steelers, with minimal help from Le’Veon Bell, opened the season by holding off the Browns.
Roethlisberger improved to 21-2 against the Browns, who gave their rivals all they could handle — a positive sign after a horrid 1-15 season.
But the Browns couldn’t stop All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown, who made a leaping catch in traffic for 38 yards with 2:26 left to seal Pittsburgh’s win. Brown finished with 11 receptions for 182 yards.
RAIDERS 26, TITANS 16
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Derek Carr threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and Carr won his third straight against Marcus Mariota and the Titans in as many years.
Marshawn Lynch looked very refreshed after his year away from football. He finished with 18 carries for 76 yards.
Mariota also looked healthy in running for a 10-yard TD and threw for 191 yards.
EAGLES 30, REDSKINS 17
LANDOVER, Md. — Carson Wentz threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns as the second-year quarterback guided the Eagles in a sloppy, mistake-filled season opener.
Wentz was 26 of 39 and threw an interception that Ryan Kerrigan returned for a touchdown. But Wentz made fewer errors than Washington’s Kirk Cousins, who was picked off at the goal line and fumbled twice. Cousins’ second fumble was forced by Brandon Graham and returned 20 yards for a touchdown by Fletcher Cox in the final minutes, putting the game away.
Cousins finished 23 of 40 for 240 yards with a TD pass to Chris Thompson. Cousins was under duress all day because and was sacked four times.
LIONS 35, CARDINALS 23
DETROIT — Matthew Stafford threw two of his four touchdown passes to rookie Kenny Golladay in the fourth quarter.
The Lions picked off three of Carson Palmer’s passes, returning one for a score. They also knocked David Johnson out of the game after forcing him to fumble in the third quarter Sunday.
Detroit set an NFL record last year by rallying to win eight games after trailing in the final quarter and opened this season with another comeback.
The Cardinals scored the first 10 points of the game and led 17-9 late in the third quarter before giving up 26 straight points.
Stafford’s first pass was returned 82 yards for a touchdown by Justin Bethel, but the player with the richest contract in the NFL bounced back. He was 29 for 41 yards for 292 yards and threw 45- and 10-yard TD passes to Golladay , along with short passes to Theo Riddick and Marvin Jones for scores.
Johnson, who led the league with 2,118 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns last season, was limited to 23 yards rushing on 11 carries and had six receptions for 68 yards.
PANTHERS 23, 49ERS 3
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Cam Newton threw a pair of touchdown passes following San Francisco turnovers and the Carolina defence shut down Kyle Shanahan’s offence in his coaching debut.
Newton threw a 40-yard TD pass to Russell Shepard in the first half following a fumble by Brian Hoyer, then a nine-yard touchdown to Jonathan Stewart in the third quarter after Luke Kuechly intercepted Hoyer.
That helped the Panthers get off to a good start in the season opener following last year’s disappointing 6-10 finish.
Despite the touchdowns, Newton did not look particularly sharp after playing just one series in the preseason as he recovered from surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff.
Newton was off-target on numerous throws, including missing a wide-open Ed Dickson in the end zone in the first half. Carolina had to settle for a field goal on that drive. Newton finished 14 for 25 for 171 yards.
RAVENS 20, BENGALS 0
CINCINNATI — Baltimore’s rebuilt defence picked off Andy Dalton four times and forced him to fumble, making it easy for Joe Flacco in his return from a back injury.
The Ravens ended a five-game losing streak in Cincinnati by pressuring Dalton into matching his career high for interceptions, three of them in the first half. The Ravens got a pair of touchdowns 24 seconds apart late in the half to take control, with Jeremy Maclin scoring on a 48-yard run-and-catch.
BILLS 21, JETS 12
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Tyrod Taylor threw two TD passes and the new-look Bills won in Sean McDermott’s debut as coach.