Lions end skid on road

Finally, a road win for Detroit Lions.

Detroit ended its NFL-record 24-game streak of futility away from home Sunday, rallying to beat the mistake-prone Chicago Bears 20-16 in Lovie Smith’s debut as head coach.

Bracy Walker, who earlier returned a blocked field goal 92 yards for a third-quarter TD, intercepted a third-down pass in the end zone by Rex Grossman with 18 seconds to go, preserving the win.

Joey Harrington tossed a 4-yard go-ahead pass to Az-Zahir Hakim in the fourth quarter and Detroit held on for its first road victory since beating the Jets on Dec. 17, 2000.

Eddie Drummond’s 41-yard kickoff return and Harrington’s 30-yard pass to Corey Schlesinger set up the touchdown pass to Hakim with 9:54 to go, putting Detroit ahead 20-14.

Eagles 31, Giants 17

Terrell Owens flexed his muscles, flapped his arms and took his bows.

Owens had three touchdown catches, Donovan McNabb threw for 330 yards and tied a career high with four TD passes and Brian Westbrook ran for 119 yards, leading Philadelphia over visiting New York.

Two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner had a lackluster debut for the Giants, who lost their ninth straight game and first under new coach Tom Coughlin. Heralded rookie Eli Manning made his NFL debut in the final minutes, handing off to Tiki Barber for a 72-yard TD run on his first play.

Vikings 35, Cowboys 17

Daunte Culpepper showed Dallas just how good he can be.

Culpepper threw a career-high five touchdown passes, two to Randy Moss, and led Minnesota to a victory over the Cowboys in Minneapolis.

Culpepper finished 17 for 23 for 242 yards with no turnovers.

Meanwhile, 40-year-old Vinny Testaverde was 29 for 50 for 355 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, and his favorite target, Keyshawn Johnson, caught nine balls for 111 yards in their first game with Dallas.

Broncos 34, Chiefs 24

Quentin Griffin might make Denver forget Clinton Portis after all.

Griffin ran for 156 yards and scored three touchdowns in his first game as Portis’ replacement, lifting Denver to a victory over visiting Kansas City.

Griffin had touchdown runs of 25 and 47 yards and caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Jake Plummer.

Priest Holmes rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns for Kansas City.

Jaguars 13, Bills 10

Byron Leftwich was best when it counted most, stealing a victory with a touchdown pass as time ran out.

Ernest Wilford came down in traffic with Leftwich’s 7-yard toss to cap an 80-yard drive in the final 2:07 and lift Jacksonville to a win over Buffalo in Orchard Park, N.Y.

It was a remarkable effort from Leftwich, who had struggled all game and raised questions about his readiness to lead the Jaguars after failing to generate a touchdown drive in four preseason games.

The touchdown ruined coach Mike Mularkey’s debut with Buffalo.

Steelers 24, Raiders 21

Pittsburgh brought the Bus out of the garage and showed off its new Duce coupe.

The Steelers returned to their roots — a strong running game and creative pressure defense — to open an early two-touchdown lead, then held off several Oakland comebacks to win on Jeff Reed’s 42-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining.

Bettis, relegated to the bench behind Duce Staley despite being the No. 6 rusher in NFL history, was used only in goal-line situations but scored a career high-tying three touchdowns — all on 1-yard runs. He had more touchdowns (3) than yards rushing (1), as Staley, the former Eagles 1,000-yard rusher, did most of the damage with 91 yards in his Pittsburgh debut.

Jets 31, Bengals 24

Curtis Martin ran for 196 yards and a touchdown, and added another score on a 3-yard TD reception to help New York beat Cincinnati in East Rutherford, N.J.

The game marked the regular-season NFL debut for Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick in 2003. The Heisman Trophy winner commanded the offense well and made very few mistakes, going 18 of 27 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Chargers 27, Texans 20

LaDainian Tomlinson, largely a one-man show for San Diego during his first three seasons, ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and the Chargers revved up a mistake-free passing game and an opportunistic defense to beat host Houston.

It marked the first time the third-year Texans lost a season opener.

Redskins 16, Buccaneers 10

On the first series, Joe Gibbs called a clever play that sprung Clinton Portis 64 yards for a touchdown. After that, the Hall of Fame coach’s first victory in nearly 12 years was all about defense.

Portis ran for 149 yards and turnovers set up two of three field goals by John Hall to give Washington a victory over Tampa Bay in Landover, Md., to welcome Gibbs back to the NFL.

Browns 20, Ravens 3

For the first time since its NFL rebirth, Cleveland opened the season as winners.

Jeff Garcia threw a 46-yard TD pass and ran for another score in his Cleveland debut, leading the Browns to their first opening-week win since 1999.