Baltimore picks apart St. Louis
It was a rout waiting the happen: The winless St. Louis Rams and their depleted offense against a defense eager to prove it’s still the best in the NFL.
The Baltimore Ravens made the most of their opportunity, bullying Rams backup quarterback Gus Frerotte into six turnovers in Sunday’s 22-3 victory at Baltimore.
Playing for the injured Marc Bulger, Frerotte was forced to operate behind a depleted offensive line and with a receiving corps missing Isaac Bruce and Dante Hall. The harried quarterback threw a career-high five interceptions and lost a fumble, as the Ravens cruised to their most lopsided win of the year.
Matt Stover kicked five field goals and Willis McGahee had a 6-yard touchdown run for the Ravens, who built a 13-0 lead at halftime and coasted. It was the first time this season Baltimore won by more than seven points.
Kyle Boller was the Ravens’ starting quarterback in place of the injured Steve McNair, going 17 for 29 for 185 yards.
Packers 17, Redskins 14: At Green Bay, Wis., Charles Woodson returned a fumble 57 yards for the go-ahead touchdown as the Packers rallied to beat Washington in soggy conditions at Lambeau Field.
The Packers recovered from their first loss of the season against Chicago last Sunday, regaining momentum as they head into their bye. The Redskins baffled a pass-happy NFC North offense for the second week in a row after beating Detroit, but offensive mistakes cost them.
Chargers 28, Raiders 14: At San Diego, LaDainian Tomlinson matched his career high with four touchdowns, rushing for 198 yards on 24 carries and leading the Chargers to their eighth straight win over Oakland.
Tomlinson scored on runs of 3, 27, 13 and 41 yards to vault past John Riggins for fifth on the all-time TDs rushing list with 106.
The Chargers pulled into a tie atop the AFC West with Kansas City.
Buccaneers 13, Titans 10: At Tampa, Fla., Tennessee lost Vince Young, then watched the game slip away, too.
Matt Bryant’s 43-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining won it. Tennessee had a five-game road winning streak halted after the 2006 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year limped off the field with a strained quadriceps in the third quarter.
Jeff Garcia threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway less than five minutes after Young left the game. Garcia then led the Bucs on the winning drive after the Titans tied the score on LenDale White’s 2-yard run with 1:17 left.
Chiefs 27, Bengals 20: At Kansas City, Mo., Tony Gonzalez set the NFL record for touchdown catches by a tight end and the Chiefs rolled up an impressive – for them – 354 total yards in the win over Cincinnati.
Gonzalez caught Damon Huard’s 3-yard pass in the first quarter and broke Shannon Sharpe’s NFL record of 62 touchdown catches for tight ends and Larry Johnson rushed for 119 yards to lead Kansas City.
Eagles 16, Jets 9: At East Rutherford, N.J., Donovan McNabb threw for 278 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis to lead Philadelphia to the win over New York.
Brian Westbrook ran for 120 yards, and David Akers kicked three field goals as the Eagles improved to 8-0 all-time against the Jets. The Eagles are 9-0 in games after the bye under coach Andy Reid.
After having a week off following their loss to the Giants in which McNabb was sacked 12 times, the Eagles protected their quarterback and allowed three sacks.
McNabb finished 22 of 35, and Curtis caught five passes for 121 yards.
Jaguars 37, Texans 17: At Jacksonville, Fla., David Garrard threw two touchdown passes and Maurice Jones-Drew had 260 all-purpose yards, as the Jaguars won their fourth straight.
The Jaguars dominated this one, and it could have been worse had they not fumbled three times. The turnovers kept it close until the final quarter.
Jones-Drew had a 7-yard TD run early in the fourth period, making it 23-9. Paul Spicer sacked Matt Schaub on the ensuing possession, causing a fumble that Daryl Smith picked up and ran 77 yards to seal it.
Browns 41, Dolphins 31: At Cleveland, the Browns scored on three of their first four possessions and held off Miami to hand the Dolphins a franchise-record ninth consecutive loss.
After the Dolphins pulled within 27-24 in the third quarter, Anderson threw his second and third TD passes of the game to Braylon Edwards to put it out of reach.