Giants dominate Cowboys
Halfway through the season, it’s safe to say the Super Bowl champion New York Giants are the team to beat in the NFC, and the injury ravaged Dallas Cowboys — the preseason favorite — will need to make a run after their bye just to make the postseason.
Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes, Brandon Jacobs rushed for 117 yards and a score and the Giants defense took advantage of the continued absence of the injured Tony Romo to intercept three passes in a 35-14 victory on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.
Manning threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to Kevin Boss, 5 to Steve Smith and 11 to Amani Toomer, with the scores by Smith and Toomer being set up by Corey Webster’s interceptions of Brad Johnson, Romo’s replacement.
The Giants’ three interceptions all led to touchdowns.
Bears 27, Lions 23: Rex Grossman came off the bench to replace injured quarterback Kyle Orton and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:36 left, helping the Bears rally from a 10-point deficit for a victory over winless Detroit at Chicago. Matt Forte had 126 yards rushing for the Bears, who lost Orton to a right ankle injury late in the first half.
Vikings 28, Texans 21: Holding Andre Johnson to 62 yards on four receptions and a late score, Minnesota forced three turnovers and got three touchdown passes from Gus Frerotte in a victory over Houston at Minneapolis. The Texans lost starting quarterback Matt Schaub at halftime with an injury to his left knee.
Jets 26, Bills 17: Abram Elam returned an interception thrown by Trent Edwards 92 yards for a touchdown, sparking a New York win over bumbling Buffalo in a key midseason division matchup at Orchard Park, N.Y. The Jets (5-3) have won four of five and have caught the Bills in the division standings.
Cardinals 34, Rams 13: Arizona’s 24-point second quarter took the fight out of St. Louis. The Cardinals were in total command after scoring 10 points on turnovers and adding a pair of long scoring plays on touchdowns by Tim Hightower and Jerheme Urban in a victory at St. Louis. Kurt Warner held it together with his 45th 300-yard passing game, throwing for two touchdowns.
Ravens 37, Browns 27: Matt Stover booted three field goals — the last with 5:36 left — and linebacker Terrell Suggs returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown to end Cleveland’s last threat with 2:43 remaining as Baltimore rallied for a win over the up-and-down Browns at Cleveland.
Bucs 30, Chiefs 27 (OT): Jeff Garcia’s 24-yard touchdown pass and 2-point conversion toss tied it with 19 seconds left and Matt Bryant’s 33-yard field goal in overtime gave Tampa Bay a win over the Chiefs at Kansas City, Mo., after trailing by 21 points. Bryant was wide right on a 38-yard try on third down in the overtime drive. But a false start penalty negated the play. The Bucs tried another play, and Garcia connected with Jameel Cook for 9 yards, setting up a game-winning field goal.
Dolphins 26, Broncos 17: Miami bottled up Denver’s ground game and intercepted Jay Cutler three times in a win over the befuddled Broncos at Denver. Cornerback Will Allen returned the second one of Cutler’s mistakes 32 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. With Champ Bailey sidelined by a torn groin, Chad Pennington repeatedly picked on his replacement, Karl Paymah, who was victimized all afternoon by Greg Camarillo’s 11 receptions for 111 yards.
Falcons 24, Raiders 0: Even in the depths of the Michael Vick- and Bobby Petrino-inspired despair last year in Atlanta, the Falcons never sank as low as they sent the Raiders at Oakland, Calif. Matt Ryan threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes to Michael Jenkins and the Falcons held the Raiders to negative yards and no first downs in the first half. Oakland (2-6) finished with just 77 yards for its worst total since 58 in 1961 against the Chargers.