Jags defence dominant in win over Texans
JAGUARS 29 TEXANS 7 — At 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 to a 29-7 win over Houston on Sunday.
Blake Bortles threw for 125 yards and a touchdown, Calais Campbell had four sacks and Dante Fowler returned a fumble 53 yards for a score as the Jaguars snapped a six-game skid against Houston.
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 — At Cleveland, Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes to tight end Jesse James as Pittsburgh, with minimal help from Le’Veon Bell, opened the season by holding off Cleveland.
Roethlisberger improved to 21-2 in his career against the Browns, who gave their rivals all they could handle — a positive sign for coach Hue Jackson and Cleveland fans after a horrid 1-15 season.
But the Browns couldn’t stop Pro Bowl 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 13 — At Nashville, Derek Carr threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and Oakland beat Tennessee in a season opener pitting two of the NFL’s rising, young quarterbacks.
Giorgio Tavecchio kicked field goals of 20, 52, 52 and 43 yards in his NFL debut. He was signed Friday to fill in for the Raiders’ alltime leading scorer and 18-year veteran Sebastian Janikowski, who’s on injured reserve with a bad back.
EAGLES 30 REDSKINS 17 — At Landover, Md., Carson Wentz threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns as the second-year quarterback guided Philadelphia to a victory over Washington.
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.
BILLS 21 JETS 12 — At Orchard Park, N.Y., Tyrod Taylor threw two touchdown passes and the new-look Bills beat New York in Sean McDermott’s debut as Buffalo’s coach.
Mike Tolbert also scored on a one-yard run, while Buffalo’s defence had three interceptions, including linebacker Ramon Humber picking off Josh McCown’s pass to thwart a two-point conversion in the third quarter.
Safety Micah Hyde, a free agent off-season addition, sealed the victory by intercepting McCown at Buffalo’s 41 to end the Jets’ final series.
RAVENS 20 BENGALS 0 — At 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 as the Ravens pulled away to a victory over the Bengals.
LIONS 35 CARDINALS 23 — At Detroit, Matthew Stafford threw two of his four touchdown passes to rookie Kenny Golladay in the fourth quarter, helping the Lions rally to beat Arizona.
The Lions picked off three of Carson Palmer’s passes, returning one for a score.
FALCONS 23 BEARS 17 — At Chicago, Matt Ryan threw an 88-yard touchdown to Austin Hooper and led two fourthquarter scoring drives, and NFC champion Atlanta held on to beat the Bears.