Cardinals, Niners, Texans, Chargers, Eagles unbeaten after NFL’s Week 2
UNDATED (AP) — After two weeks of the regular season, one of the surprise teams in the NFL has to be the Arizona Cardinals. Coach Ken Whisenhunt’s team improved to 2-0 by going into Foxborough and knocking off the New England Patrios 20-18. The Cards were a bit fortunate as well. The Pats’ Stephen Gostkowski missed a potential game-winning 42-yard field goal with six seconds left. Gostkowski had kicked four field goals in the game.
Backup QB Kevin Kolb threw for one touchdown and ran for another.
In other Week 2 action:
— The San Diego Chargers are 2-0 after beating Tennessee for the eighth straight time, 38-10. Philip Rivers was 24 of 32 for 284 yards. Malcom Floyd had six catches for 109 yards and Rosario four catches for 48 yards.
— San Francisco has beaten a pair of playoff teams from last season to go to 2-0. After knocking off Green Bay last weekend, the Niners continued their fine play by beating Detroit 27-19. Alex Smith tossed a pair of TD passes to Vernon Davis. The Niners defense has shut down Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Lions QB Matthew Stafford the first two weeks.
— Seattle stunned Dallas 27-7. Rookie Seahawks QB Russell Wilson threw for 151 yards. Marshawn Lynch ran for 122 yards and a 3-yard TD.
— St. Louis rallied to beat Washington 31-28, storming back from a 21-6 halftime deficit. Sam Bradford threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and Danny Amendola caught 16 passes for 160 yards.
— Eli Manning threw for 510 yards and three touchdowns and capped the second greatest passing day by a Giants’ quarterback by setting up Andre Brown’s game-winning 2-yard run with a 50-yard pass that lifted New York to a wild 41-34 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
— Ben Roethlisberger passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns and the Pittsburgh Steelers smothered the New York Jets, 27-10. Roethlisberger completed 24 of 31 passes.
— Carolina dropped New Orleans to 0-2 by beating the Saints 35-27. Cam Newton threw for 253 yards and ran for a career-high 71 yards to hand New Orleans its first 0-2 start since 2007.
— Philadelphia overcame a slew of turnovers to beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-23 to improve to 2-0 — both victories coming by one point. Michael Vick scored on a 1-yard run with 1:55 left.
— Indianapolis booted Minnesota 23-20. Adam Vinatieri made a 53-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give Andrew Luck his first NFL victory.
— Reggie Bush ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns, and Miami won a home opener for the first time since 2005 by beating winless Oakland 35-13.
— Houston dominated Jacksonville 27-7. Arian Foster ran for 110 yards and a touchdown. Ben Tate added 74 yards and two scores.
— C.J. Spiller scored twice and had 123 yards rushing in sparking Buffalo to a 35-17 win over Kansas City.
— Cincinnati won the battle of Ohio by beating the Cleveland Browns 34-27. Adam “Pacman” Jones returned Cleveland’s first punt 81 yards for a touchdown, and Andy Dalton matched his career high with three touchdown passes.
AL division leaders hold position…Braves finish sweep
UNDATED (AP) — There’s no change at the top in the American League East.
Russell Martin’s three-run homer helped boost the New York Yankees to an early lead and they held off Tampa Bay 6-4. The weekend series in the Bronx was been a damaging one for the Rays’ hopes of postseason play. The Yankees won the last two in the three-game series, dropping Tampa Bay back in both the race for the AL East pennant and the wild card.
In other AL action:
— Matt Wieters hit two solo home runs and Endy Chavez had four hits to help the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 and remain within a game of the New York Yankees in the AL East.
— Lonnie Chisenhall singled in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning to give the Cleveland Indians a 7-6 win over Detroit, dealing the Tigers a crucial loss.
— The Chicago White Sox are now two games ahead of Detroit in the Central Division after a 9-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Jake Peavy got the win as his teammates scored six runs in the sixth inning to squash any Minnesota attempt at a comeback. The White Sox host the Tigers in a makeup game on Monday.
— Matt Harrison pitched into the ninth inning for his 17th victory and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 on a drizzly Sunday in Texas. Adrian Beltre hit his 33rd homer for Texas.
— Adeiny Hechavarria hit a two-run home run, Omar Vizquel had two hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 5-0 to avoid a three-game sweep.
— Mark Trumbo hit a three-run homer and Dan Haren pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3.
Over in the NL:
— Atlanta finished a three-game weekend sweep of Washington with a 5-1 victory that denied Gio Gonzalez his 20th victory. The Braves still trail the Nats by five and a-half games in the NL East. Mike Minor threw six strong innings.
— The St. Louis Cardinals outlasted the L.A. Dodgers 5-2 in 12 innings to gain a split in their four-game series. Jon Jay drove in the go-ahead run. The victory gives the Cards undisputed possession of the second wild card spot.
— Rookie Patrick Corbin pitched a career-long eight innings and drove in four runs with a triple and single, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 10-2 rout of San Francisco.
— Philadelphia still has a chance to make the playoffs with 15 games remaining. However, after losing three of four to the Houston Astros, even the Phillies admitted it just got harder. Justin Maxwell hit a two-run double in the Astros’ 7-6 win over the Phils.
— The Cincinnati Reds tied a season high with 17 hits in beating Miami 5-4 in 11 innings on Ryan Ludwick’s go-ahead single.
— Anthony Rizzo hit two home runs and drove in six to lift the Chicago Cubs to a 13-9 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a windy day at Wrigley Field.
— Ryan Braun homered twice in Milwaukee’s 3-0 win over the New York Mets. Rookie hurler Wily Peralta held the Mets to two singles over eight innings. The Brewers are two and a-half games out of the final wild card spot.
Alabama and LSU are Nos. 1 and 2 in the AP Top 25
NEW YORK (AP) — Alabama and LSU are back atop The Associated Press college football poll, holding down Nos. 1 and 2 the way they did most of last season.
The Crimson Tide is No. 1 for the third straight week, and it was almost unanimous. Alabama received 58 of 60 first-place votes. LSU got the other two.
The Southeastern Conference rivals were ranked first and second for eight weeks during last season before eventually meeting in the BCS title game. The difference last year was LSU was first and Alabama second — until the Tide won the national championship game.
LSU moved up to No. 2 this week after Southern California’s first loss of the season. USC slipped 11 spots to 13th after losing 21-14 at Stanford.
Stanford jumped from 21st to ninth.
Keselowski wins Chase opener
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — Brad Keselowski raced to an impressive victory in the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, outdueling five-time champion Jimmie Johnson at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.
Keselowski led after a crucial pit cycle with about 35 laps remaining in the 400-mile race, and held on comfortably from there for his first victory in a Chase race. He also takes over the points lead.
Kasey Kahne was third. Twelve of the Chase drivers finished in the top 18. The exception was Jeff Gordon, who went into the wall with about 80 laps remaining. Gordon barely qualified for the Chase to begin with, and his championship hopes are already in serious jeopardy.
It’s Keselowski’s fourth victory of the season. He leads Johnson by three points.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N-Y Yankees 6 Tampa Bay 4
Toronto 5 Boston 0
Chi White Sox 9 Minnesota 2
L.A. Angels 4 Kansas City 3
Cleveland 7 Detroit 6
Texas 2 Seattle 1
Baltimore 9 Oakland 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 5 Miami 4, 11 Innings
Houston 7 Philadelphia 6
Milwaukee 3 N-Y Mets 0
Chi Cubs 13 Pittsburgh 9
San Diego 12 Colorado 11
Arizona 10 San Francisco 2
St. Louis 5 L.A. Dodgers 2, 12 Innings
Atlanta 5 Washington 1
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Arizona 20 New England 18
Philadelphia 24 Baltimore 23
Cincinnati 34 Cleveland 27
Houston 27 Jacksonville 7
Buffalo 35 Kansas City 17
Indianapolis 23 Minnesota 20
Carolina 35 New Orleans 27
Miami 35 Oakland 13
N-Y Giants 41 Tampa Bay 34
Seattle 27 Dallas 7
St. Louis 31 Washington 28
Pittsburgh 27 N-Y Jets 10
San Diego 38 Tennessee 10
San Francisco 27 Detroit 19
