49ers Smoke Rams Norton Leads Defense With Two Touchdowns

Ken Norton Jr. returned two interceptions for the first touchdowns of his career, and that was exactly the way the San Francisco 49ers planned to start winning again.

“We wanted to make a statement and the defense is where we wanted to make it,” Norton said.

With quarterback Steve Young sidelined by a shoulder injury, the 49ers turned their offense over to their defense Sunday, beating the host St. Louis Rams 44-10.

The 49ers intercepted Chris Miller four times, each resulting in touchdowns and taking the pressure off Young’s backup, Elvis Grbac.

And there was pressure on him. The 49ers lost 18-17 to Indianapolis last Sunday and fell behind the Rams in the NFC West. Now, both teams are tied for the division lead.

San Francisco has beaten the Rams 10 straight times, nine in Los Angeles and once in St. Louis.

Grbac finished 11 of 14 for 119 yards and hit John Taylor for a 34-yard touchdown just 2:44 into the game. It came on the first play after Dedrick Dodge intercepted Miller.

“They totally dominated the game in every phase and handed us our lunch,” Rams coach Rich Brooks said. “We started the game in the very worst way against a guy making his first NFL start.”

Raiders 30, Colts 17

It took the NFL’s oldest active player to bring some old-style Raider football back to Oakland.

Temporarily shelving their new finesse game, the Raiders used big plays from 40-year-old backup Vince Evans and rookie Napoleon Kaufman to beat Indianapolis.

Evans, starting for the injured Jeff Hostetler, threw scoring passes of 73 and 46 yards to Raghib Ismail. Kaufman returned a kickoff 84 yards for a score and Jeff Jaegar added field goals of 28, 24 and 35 yards for Oakland.

Evans was 23 of 35 for 335 yards, the first 300-yard game of his 16-year NFL career. Ismail had 125 yards on three receptions, his biggest NFL game.

Marshall Faulk had touchdown runs of 7 and 9 yards for Indianapolis, while Cary Blanchard added a 25-yard field goal.

Chiefs 21, Broncos 7

Steve Bono and Marcus Allen built a big lead, then let Mother Nature do the rest.

Bono ran for one touchdown and passed for another, and Allen became only the fourth player in NFL history to rush for 100 touchdowns as Kansas City beat the Broncos in a Denver snowstorm.

The snow intensified at halftime and began obliterating the yard markers, but not before the Chiefs marched 52 yards for a score early in the third quarter for a 21-7 advantage. Neither team scored after that.

Panthers 20, Saints 3

Carolina ended three consecutive New Orleans possessions in the third quarter with interceptions, and two of them were by 33-year-old Brett Maxie, who spent the first nine years of his NFL career with the Saints. Carolina now has its first winning streak - two straight.

Maxie’s second reception gave Carolina the ball at the New Orleans 23, and the Panthers went ahead 10-3 on a 2-yard run by Howard Griffith three plays later. An interception by Bubba McDowell set up a 1-yard scoring pass by Kerry Collins on New Orleans’ next possession.

Jets 17, Dolphins 16

There was some good news for the Dolphins. Quarterback Dan Marino is expected to return next week after knee surgery.

Without him, the Dolphins have lost three in a row, including their latest one to the visiting Jets. Johnny Mitchell, whose fumble on the previous series helped give Miami the lead, provided the winning points by catching a 3-yard touchdown pass from Bubby Brister with 13:05 to play.

It was the Jets’ first fourth-quarter touchdown in 12 games, dating to Nov. 20, 1994, against Minnesota.

Bears 35, Oilers 32

Chicago built a 25-0 lead then held on as visiting Houston lost its third in a row, all by a total of 10 points. Darryll Lewis started the Houston comeback when he returned an interception 98 yards for a TD with 8 seconds to go in the first half, making it 28-15.

Houston pulled within 28-25 before Bears QB Erik Kramer ended a 73-yard scoring drive with an 18-yard TD pass to Jeff Graham in the fourth quarter.

Chris Chandler cut the lead to three again with a 6-yard scoring pass for Houston, but the Bears covered the Oilers’ onside kick and ran out the clock.

Jaguars 23, Browns 15

Former Washington Huskies quarterback Mark Brunell passed for 164 yards and a TD, and the visiting Jaguars scored twice within 2:49 of the first quarter. The victory put the Jaguars a half-game behind Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the AFC Central at 3-5.

No expansion team has ever won four games in its first season.

Brunell had a 6-yard touchdown pass to Cedric Tillman with 3:42 left in the first quarter, and Jacksonville went ahead 13-0 when Mickey Washington returned an interception 48 yards for a score with 53 seconds left in the quarter.

Redskins 36, Lions 30, OT

Darrell Green intercepted Scott Mitchell’s pass 3:49 into overtime and returned it 7 yards for a touchdown for Washington. Eddie Murray, a former Lion, sent the game to overtime with a 39-yard field goal with 4 seconds left.

The victory extended the Lions’ 60 years of futility in the nation’s capital.

Falcons 24, Buccaneers 21

Jeff George threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns, and Morten Andersen kicked a 30-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter as visiting Atlanta moved into a three-way tie for first in the NFC West.

The Falcons are off to their best start since 1986 and ended Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak and two-week reign atop the NFC Central.

Packers 38, Vikings 21

Green Bay’s Brett Favre tied a career best with four touchdown passes and fill-in tight end Mark Chmura caught five passes for a career-high 101 yards and a touchdown in the Packers’ victory over Minnesota.

With a record crowd of 60,332 at Lambeau Field, Favre hit 22 of 43 passes for 295 yards in leading the Packers into a first-place tie with Chicago in the NFC Central.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Sunday’s best Quarterbacks Erik Kramer, Bears 24-41-349 Vince Evans, Raiders 23-35-335

Running backs Marcus Allen, Chiefs 21-121-1 Bernie Parmalee, Dolphins 24-120

Receivers Isaac Bruce, Rams 9-173-0 Raghib Ismail, Raiders 3-125-2