Broncos knock off another contender in San Francisco

<br>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Denver appears ready to reclaim its status as one of the NFL's elite teams, led by a punishing defense that has contained two supposed Super Bowl contenders. <br><br>Mike Anderson

Sunday, September 15th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Denver appears ready to reclaim its status as one of the NFL's elite teams, led by a punishing defense that has contained two supposed Super Bowl contenders.

Mike Anderson rushed for 95 yards and caught a touchdown pass, and Brian Griese threw two TD passes as the Broncos beat the 49ers 24-14 Sunday.

Olandis Gary rushed for 61 yards and a TD as Denver (2-0) followed up a surprising 23-16 win over St. Louis in its opener with a dominant defensive performance against San Francisco (1-1).

Bills 45, Vikings 39, OT

In Minneapolis, overtime was much kinder to Drew Bledsoe and the Buffalo Bills this week, as Peerless Price took a pass from Bledsoe and streaked untouched for a 48-yard touchdown to beat Minnesota.

Bledsoe had not only the best passing day of his career, but the best of any Bills quarterback ever. He was 35 of 49 for 463 yards, surpassing the franchise mark of 419 set by Joe Ferguson in 1983.

Giants 26, Rams 21

In St. Louis, Kerry Collins couldn't miss, and the Rams fell to 0-2 for the first time since 1998, the year before they began their sudden rise to the top of the NFC.

Collins completed 14 of his first 15 passes as the Giants (1-1) built a 17-point second-quarter lead and held on to beat the defending conference champions.

St. Louis' offense has produced 37 points in two games.

Jason Sehorn returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown for his fourth career defensive TD and fifth overall.

Dolphins 21, Colts 13

In Indianapolis, In a battle of power running backs, Edgerrin James had the better statistics but Ricky Williams walked away with the victory, helping the Miami Dolphins improve to 2-0.

Williams ran for 132 yards on 24 carries and caught a touchdown pass Sunday, then watched the Dolphins' defense hold on for a 21-13 victory over the Colts _ Miami's fifth straight victory at Indianapolis.

Williams, who was passed over by the Colts in favor of James in the 1999 draft, became the first Dolphins rusher to top 100 yards two straight games since Bernie Parmalee in 1994, and the first to reach the mark in the team's first two games since Mark Higgs in 1991.

James excelled in his first home game since last October, when he had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. James had 138 yards rushing on 30 carries, breaking Eric Dickerson's club record with his 25th career 100-yard game. James also caught eight passes for 82 yards.

Saints 35, Packers 20

In New Orleans, Aaron Brooks outperformed mentor Brett Favre by throwing two touchdown passes, and the relentless New Orleans defense led the Saints past Green Bay.

Brooks, who spent the 1999 season as Green Bay's third-string quarterback, was 16-of-28 for 217 yards as New Orleans jumped out to an early 21-3 lead.

The Saints (2-0) allowed 357 total yards, but the Packers (1-1) had just 95 on the ground. Green Bay converted just 3 for 13 third downs, compared with 7 of 12 for the Saints.

Cowboys 21, Titans 13

In Irving, Texas _ Quincy Carter quieted his critics, by passing for 240 yards and no interceptions as Dallas rallied from last week's bitter defeat to expansion Houston.

Carter, a lightning rod for the season-opening 19-10 loss to the Texans, perfectly executed a play fake for a 17-yard touchdown, then turned another well-run play-action into a 38-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway early in the fourth quarter.

Bears 14, Falcons 13

In Atlanta, Brian Urlacher had a sensational game for Chicago, recovering a fumble by Michael Vick, sacking the speedy Atlanta quarterback and recording 12 tackles as the Bears improved to 2-0 for the first time since 1991.

Jim Miller threw a 14-yard TD pass to David Terrell early in the third quarter and the Bears held on, thanks to a missed field goal.

Vick put the Falcons (0-2) in position to win, driving his team 44 yards to the Chicago 28. But on second-and-1 and more than a minute remaining, coach Dan Reeves played it safe, calling two conservative runs. That set up Jay Feely's 45-yard field-goal try, which was wide left.

A week after his marvelous performance in Green Bay, Vick was 17-of-28 for 166 yards and a touchdown without an interception. He also ran 10 times for 56 yards.

Patriots 44, Jets 7

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Tebucky Jones and Victor Green had defensive touchdowns and Tom Brady threw two TD passes for the Patriots, who seem to have dispelled all doubts that their Super Bowl win was a fluke.

Adam Vinatieri kicked three field goals as New England (2-0) won its eighth straight regular-season game. The Patriots beat Pittsburgh 30-14 in the opener and, as with that game, they were underdogs against the Jets.

Buccaneers 25, Ravens 0

In Baltimore, Karl Williams returned a punt 56 yards for a touchdown and Derrick Brooks scored on a 97-yard interception return as Tampa Bay gave Jon Gruden his first victory as Buccaneers coach.

The Bucs (1-1) limited the Ravens to six first downs before the fourth quarter and repeatedly frustrated Baltimore quarterback Chris Redman.

Baltimore (0-2) was shut out for the first time since Nov. 9, 1997.

Redman, making his second NFL start for the Ravens, went 16-of-38 for 141 yards and an interception. He wore modified high tops, a tribute to the late Johnny Unitas, who also played college ball at Louisville and served as Redman's mentor.

Browns 20, Bengals 7

In Cleveland, Gus Frerotte proved he's not ambidextrous, and the Browns atoned for the mistakes of their opener by handing Cincinnati its second straight drubbing in Cleveland.

Late in the second quarter, Frerotte was trying to avoid a sack by Cleveland's Orpheus Roye when Frerotte flung the ball with his left _ non-throwing _ hand. Kenard Lang intercepted and ran 71 yards to set up a touchdown that put the Browns ahead 17-0.

Kelly Holcomb had another solid game as Tim Couch's fill-in, throwing for two touchdowns and 198 yards to lead the Browns (1-1).

Jaguars 23, Chiefs 16

In Kansas City, the Jaguars rallied with two quick touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 79-yard touchdown pass from Mark Brunell to Patrick Johnson that was the longest pass play in Jacksonville history.

Johnson's TD made it 16-9, just two plays after Kansas City's Morten Andersen kicked his third field goal to tie it at 9-all with 5:59 left in the game.

After the Chiefs (1-1) punted, the Jaguars' Fred Taylor burst through a gaping hole and went 63 yards for the touchdown. Taylor, who missed almost all last year with a groin injury, had 114 yards on 20 carries for the rebuilding Jaguars (1-1), who had lost 11 of their last 15 games.

Panthers 31, Lions 7

In Charlotte, North Carolina, Rodney Peete passed for 310 yards and a touchdown for Carolina, which was happy to get a victory against the league's worst team from last year.

The Panthers looked good in doubling their win total from a year ago, when they lost their last 15 games. Now they're 2-0 for the first time since 1996.

The Lions (0-2) dropped their 10th straight road game.

Peete's yardage was his most since he threw for 323 on Sept. 27, 1992, when he was a starter for the Lions.

Lamar Smith added two rushing touchdowns for the Panthers, Mike Minter returned an interception 40 yards for a TD, and Julius Peppers lived up to his billing with three sacks and a forced fumble.

Raiders 30, Steelers 17

In Pittsburgh, Rich Gannon broke almost every major single-game Raiders passing record, including the early days of the AFL, to throw 64 times, and Oakland's defense forced five turnovers as the Raiders beat the winless Steelers.

Gannon came out throwing, going 43-of-64 for 403 yards and a touchdown. The 43 completions were only two short of Drew Bledsoe's 1995 NFL record _ that in an overtime game _ and all but the yardage were Oakland records. The Raiders (2-0) rushed only 14 times.

They threw so much, only their second run of the game resulted in a 36-yard touchdown by Charlie Garner, who wasn't touched after squirming past the line of scrimmage.