Just lose, baby
Winless no more.
The Titans, Buccaneers and Lions all got into the victory column Sunday, leaving only the Oakland Raiders with a perfect mark on the wrong side of the standings.
Tennessee surprised the Redskins in Washington 25-22, Tampa Bay edged Cincinnati 14-13 and Detroit downed Buffalo 20-17. Oakland lost at Denver 13-3 to drop to 0-5.
Travis Henry rushed for a career-best 178 yards on 32 carries, helping Tennessee (1-5) snap an overall eight-game slide and a nine-game road losing streak. Quarterback Vince Young got his first NFL win when Rob Bironas kicked his third field goal, a 30-yarder.
"I just think it's real important right now that our club understands how this feels, because it's been a long time," said coach Jeff Fisher, whose team was buoyed by last week's 14-13 close call against Indianapolis. "They deserved to win this game."
The Buccaneers (1-4) needed a diving 8-yard TD catch by Michael Clayton with 35 seconds remaining to rally past Cincinnati. The reception was initially ruled incomplete but was overturned after a replay, which showed the ball firmly in Clayton's hands as he flew through the air and reached across the goal line.
"I knew I scored," said Clayton. "It was our time. This team has been through so much."
As have the Lions, who also had a few close calls before moving to 1-5 with the first coaching victory for Rod Marinelli. Roy Williams had 10 receptions for 161 yards — both career highs — and scored a touchdown while Kevin Jones ran for a season-high 127 yards and a score to lead the Lions.
"I'm glad we got this because the coaching staff has really been under the microscope and they don't deserve that," Jones said.
Oakland has lost 11 straight dating back to last season after falling at Denver. The Broncos have allowed one TD in five games, the first team to do that since the 1934 Detroit Lions shut out their first seven foes.
Young rallied the Titans from an 11-point first-half deficit. He completed 13 of 25 passes for 161 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, easily his best day as a pro. He played much of the fourth quarter with his left ankle heavily wrapped after getting hurt on a scramble.
At Tampa, the Bengals (3-2) thought they had won when Clayton put the nose of the ball over the goal line on the fourth-down play, then lost control when he landed on the ground. Referee Mike Carey reversed the call, setting off a wild celebration on the home sideline.The winning TD capped a rollercoaster performance for rookie quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, making his second start for Tampa Bay in place of the injured Chris Simms. The sixth-round draft pick also threw a 2-yard TD pass to Alex Smith, but spent much of the day looking like the inexperienced player he is.
At Detroit, instead of the usual late mistakes that have cost the Lions in four of five opening losses, Detroit made the clutch plays. The Lions outscored the Bills (2-4) by four points in the fourth quarter after being outscored 47-14 in the final quarter in their previous five games.
At Denver, Jason Elam kicked two field goals, Tatum Bell ran for a short touchdown and Champ Bailey picked off another key pass. The offense-challenged Broncos (4-1) haven't allowed a touchdown in three home games and they're the only team NFL team since 1940 to start off a season by yielding just one TD through five games.The Raiders committed 13 penalties, including four false starts on backup right tackle Chad Slaughter, and fell to 0-5 for the first time since 1964.
Terrell Owens caught two third-quarter touchdown passes and another in the fourth, turning a tight game into a rout for the host Cowboys (3-2). Owens' touchdowns covered 3, 21 and 2 yards.
At New Orleans, Joe Horn finally found the end zone in a legitimizing win for the NFC South leaders.Horn did two shoulder-shaking end zone dances after catches of 14 and 48 yards, then John Carney hit a 31-yard field goal as time expired for the Saints (5-1). Horn finished with 110 yards on six catches, including a key 20-yard gain on the winning drive.
At Baltimore, Jake Delhomme threw for a career-high 365 yards and two touchdowns, and Carolina (4-2) slipped past the Ravens (4-2) for its fourth straight win.Steve Smith had eight catches for 189 yards and a touchdown.
At St. Louis, Josh Brown's 54-yard field goal as time expired helped Seattle regain first place from its NFC West rival.The winning kick came after a 5-yard penalty that briefly had the Rams (4-2) thinking they'd pulled off another improbable win. What happened was a simple illegal formation penalty against the Seahawks (4-1) as they spiked the ball to give Brown a chance for the long field goal. The Rams began to celebrate, believing a 10-second clock runoff would give them the win. But officials ruled that because the ball had been spotted and snapped properly, there was no runoff.
At San Francisco, LaDainian Tomlinson set a franchise scoring record with a career-best four touchdowns rushing, and Rivers passed for a career-high 334 yards and two more scores.Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson caught scoring passes from Rivers, who was practically perfect for the Chargers (4-1). Rivers went 29-of-39 with a poise beyond his five career starts, easily picking apart an injury-riddled secondary on a defense that already has allowed 194 points this season.
At Atlanta, Tiki Barber outplayed the NFL's best ground team by running for 185 yards and Jeremy Shockey caught a couple of touchdown passes.The Giants (3-2) fell behind 14-3 when Warrick Dunn broke off a 90-yard touchdown on Atlanta's first offensive play of the second half — the longest run in team history and a career best.Jets 20, Dolphins 17Laveranues Coles caught two touchdown passes and Mike Nugent kicked a pair of 33-yard field goals for the Jets.
