Defense, Sanchez get Jets to 3-0

— After looking vulnerable for the first time this season, the New York Jets' top-ranked defense came up big in the end.

David Harris had an interception and a big sack on consecutive drives, and Mark Sanchez threw two touchdown passes and ran for another as the Jets stayed undefeated by holding on for a 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Sanchez became the first rookie quarterback to start a season and win in his first three games, helping the Jets to the fourth 3-0 start in franchise history. Rex Ryan also joined Al Groh (2000) as the only Jets coaches to win their first three games.

New York's defense, which allowed its first touchdowns of the season, turned up the pressure in the fourth quarter and stopped Kerry Collins, who was 0 for his last 13 as the Titans fell to 0-3.

After Chris Hope intercepted Sanchez, the Titans got the ball back with a chance to tie. Five plays later, Harris stepped in front of a pass intended for Alge Crumpler to quash the drive.

The Jets couldn't put it away, though, going four and-out after a holding penalty. But, the defense - and another loud Meadowlands crowd - was there again to bail out New York.

After a 12-yard run by Chris Johnson and an incompletion, the Titans had a false start. Harris then sacked Collins for an 8-yard loss to push Tennessee back to its 33. Collins then misfired on his last two pass attempts to seal it for the Jets.

Sanchez finished 17 of 30 for 171 yards and touchdown passes to Jerricho Cotchery and Ben Hartsock. Collins was 15 of 37 for 170 yards and a touchdown, but threw two interceptions.

Johnson had 97 yards on 22 carries a week after he set a career high with 197 yards rushing.

EAGLES 34, CHIEFS 14

Philadelphia didn't need much from Michael Vick to beat visiting Kansas City Chiefs. They didn't need anything from Donovan McNabb or Brian Westbrook. Getting significant contributions from their youngsters and backups, the Eagles routed the Chiefs in Vick's return to the NFL. Kevin Kolb threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns, LeSean McCoy had 84 yards rushing and one TD, and DeSean Jackson and Brent Celek each had 100-plus yards receiving and one score for Philadelphia (2-1). McNabb missed his second consecutive game with a broken rib. Westbrook sat out with a sore ankle. It was no problem against the Chiefs (0-3).

PACKERS 36, RAMS 17

Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and visiting Green Bay sent St. Louis to its 13th consecutive loss. Rodgers was 13 for 23 for 269 yards. The Rams (0-3) have lost 30 of 35 since the start of the 2007 season.Rodgers and Greg Jennings hooked up on passes of 50 and 53 yards that set up touchdowns for Green Bay (2-1). Rodgers had a 46-yard pass to Donald Driver that set up another score, and he scored on a 4-yard run. Kyle Boller, who played three quarters after Marc Bulger bruised his shoulder, threw two touchdown passes and an interception for St. Louis. Steven Jackson carried 27 times for 117 yards and had five catches for 46 yards.

RAVENS 34, BROWNS 3

Joe Flacco threw for a career-high 342 yards,Willis McGahee scored two more touchdowns, and host Baltimore cruised to a victory over Cleveland. After Baltimore (3-0) held the Browns to 78 yards while building a 20-0 halftime lead, Cleveland Coach Eric Mangini pulled quarterback Brady Quinn in favor of Derek Anderson. The switch did nothing to turn around the fortune of a team that has been outscored 95-29 this season. Quinn went 6 for 8 for 34 yards and an interception. Anderson, who lost his job to Quinn last year, was 11 for 19 for 92 yards and 3 interceptions. The Browns (0-3) have scored one offensive touchdown in their past nine games dating back to last year.

JAGUARS 31, TEXANS 24

Maurice Jones-Drew had his first 100-yard game of the season and scored three touchdowns to lead visiting Jacksonville to a victory over mistake-prone Houston. Jones-Drew scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 8-yard run early in the fourth quarter and finished with 119 yards rushing. Houston (1-2) had several chances to tie the game. The last came when Chris Brown's fumble at the goal was recovered by the Jaguars in the end zone. The Texans challenged,but Jacksonville (1-2) kept the ball. The Texans had a touchdown nullified two plays earlier when Kevin Walter was called for offensive pass interference.

GIANTS 24, BUCCANEERS 0

Eli Manning threw for two touchdowns and Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw led a resurgence of a strong ground attack that was absent the previous two weeks, helping visiting New York (3-0) to a rout of Tampa Bay (0-3). It was the Giants' first shutout since a 36-0 home victory over Washington in October 2005. They hadn't blanked an opponent on the road since beating Philadelphia 23-0 in November 1983. Tampa Bay, which has lost seven in a row dating to an 0-4 December that cost it a playoff berth last season, was outgained 397 yards to 86 and did not have a first down until late in the third quarter.

PATRIOTS 26, FALCONS 10

New England (2-1) finally got its offense rolling with a balanced attack as Tom Brady threw for 277 yards and Fred Taylor ran for 105 in a home victory over Atlanta (2-1). One week after the Patriots were held without a touchdown in a 16-9 loss to the New York Jets, Brady threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Chris Baker and Taylor ran for an 8-yard score.

BRONCOS 23, RAIDERS 3

All that off-season dysfunction in Denver is a thing of the past. Josh McDaniels and Kyle Orton have the Broncos off to a 3-0 start. Orton threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall, and rookie Knowshon Moreno ran for 90 yards and a score to lead the Broncos to a victory over host Oakland (1-2). McDaniels caused an immediate stir when he was hired to replace the fired Mike Shanahan as coachin Denver last off-season. He alienated Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler before trading him to Chicago for Orton, then suspended Marshall in the preseason. But once the season started, things couldn't have gone much better for the Broncos.

CHARGERS 23, DOLPHINS 13

Philip Rivers had his usual big plays and a nifty little one that helped host San Diego (2-1) end a seven-game losing streak against Miami (0-3). Rivers scored on a 5-yard scramble late in the third quarter to highlight a victory over the winless Dolphins, who lost quarterback Chad Pennington to a shoulder injury early in the second half. In the shotgun on third-and-goal, Rivers couldn't find a receiver and the pocket collapsed, so he sprinted up the middle and into the end zone for a 10-6 lead.

SAINTS 27, BILLS 7

Will Smith had an interception and a sack to help visiting New Orleans (3-0) shut down Buffalo (1-2). The Saints prevented the Bills from mustering any type of a threat through three quarters. That's when Pierre Thomas took over, sealing the victory with two touchdown runs in the final 10 minutes. Thomas finished with 126 yards rushing, while scoring on 34- and 19-yard runs for a Saints offense that had scored 45 points in each of its first two games.

BEARS 25, SEAHAWKS 19

Jay Cutler pumped his fists. He hugged his linemen. And he raised both arms triumphantly - all inside the final 2 minutes as visiting Chicago beat Seattle. Exactly the scenes Chicago envisioned when it traded to Denver to get him. Cutler's miserable Chicago debut two weeks ago became forgotten when he completed all three of his passes on Sunday's decisive drive. The third was for 36 yards to Devin Hester with 1:52 remaining, rallying the Bears (2-1) to a victory over Seattle (1-2). Seattle, playing without seven injured starters, drove to the Bears' 29 with 30 seconds left. But Seneca Wallace, starting because quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was out with a broken rib, threwhigh and incomplete to Julius Jones on fourth-and-2 to seal the victory for the Bears (2-1).

COLTS 31, CARDINALS 10

Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, three in the second quarter, to power visiting Indianapolis over Arizona. Manning completed 24 of 35 for 379 yards with one interception. The Colts' quarterback had four touchdown passes in a game for the 18th time, moving him ahead of Johnny Unitas into third on the NFL career list, behind Dan Marino's 21 and Brett Favre's 20. Kurt Warner, under severe pressure much of the night, was 30 of 52 for 332 yards and one score but was picked off twice. Indianapolis (3-0) safety Antoine Bethea recovered a fumble at the 5-yard line to stop one Arizona (1-2) drive and intercepted a deflected pass in the end zone to thwart another.

Sports, Pages 17 on 09/28/2009

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