Ryan, Falcons hopeful after win

Rookie's solid performance gets Atlanta past Green Bay, over .500

Matt Ryan celebrates after the second of his two TD passes helped cement the Falcons' win in Green Bay. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

With every rock-solid read and on-target spiral, Matt Ryan takes another step toward making everybody forget Michael Vick, Bobby Petrino, and everything else in the Atlanta Falcons' ugly recent past.

The rookie quarterback from Boston College turned in another sharp performance as the Falcons beat Green Bay, 27-24, at Lambeau Field yesterday, upstaging a gritty showing by Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

It was the first road win of the season for the new and improved Falcons (3-2), putting a team that is supposed to be rebuilding over the .500 mark. Falcons coach Mike Smith had a feeling during warmups that his young quarterback wasn't going to get rattled on the road this time around.

"He said, 'Hey, this is pretty cool,' " Smith said. "Just nice, calm, cool, and collected."

And efficient.

Ryan completed 16 of 26 passes for 194 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Falcons wide receiver Roddy White caught eight passes for 132 yards and a touchdown, while Michael Turner ran for 121 yards and a touchdown.

Rodgers, starting despite a sprained shoulder that kept him out of practice for most of the week, finished 25 for 37 for 313 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, and nearly led the Packers (2-3) to a comeback. With Green Bay trailing, 17-7, late in the third quarter, Rodgers drove the Packers for a 50-yard field goal by Mason Crosby.

Then Ryan looked like a rookie for the first time all afternoon. After driving the Falcons to the Packers' 12, Ryan had tight end Ben Hartsock wide open in the end zone, but he threw a lollipop that was intercepted by Tramon Williams.

Rodgers then threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings to tie the game at 17.

But the Falcons answered with a 41-yard field goal by Jason Elam for a 20-17 lead. After Rodgers threw an interception to linebacker Michael Boley, who returned the ball to the Packers' 19, Turner scored on a 2-yard run.

Giants 44, Seahawks 6
The New York Giants are this year's New England Patriots - so far.

In a nearly flawless performance, Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes, Brandon Jacobs ran for two TDs, and the unbeaten Giants scored on their first five possessions to embarrass Seattle at Giants Stadium.

The win was the eighth straight for the Giants (4-0) dating to last year's playoffs, and it gave the Super Bowl champions their best start since 1990, when they posted a 13-3 record and also won the NFL title. The Giants rolled up 523 yards in offense, their most since collecting 524 yards against Green Bay in 2002.

The only break the Seahawks (1-3) seemingly got was that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck didn't seem to hurt his right knee seriously after being hit on the fourth play from scrimmage. He limped to the sidelines and finished 11 of 21 for 105 yards and an interception before being relieved late in the third quarter with New York ahead, 37-6.

The Seahawks were limited to 187 yards despite getting receivers Bobby Engram and Deion Branch back in the lineup for the first time this season. However, Branch left in the second half with a foot injury.

Manning, who was 19 of 25 for 267 yards, threw a 32-yard TD pass to Domenik Hixon on a 91-yard opening drive. He added a 23-yarder in the third quarter to Sinorice Moss.

Titans 13, Ravens 10
Kerry Collins threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Alge Crumpler with 1:56 left to rally unbeaten Tennessee past host Baltimore.

The Titans (5-0) trailed, 10-6, in the fourth quarter before Collins directed an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The march was aided by a penalty against Baltimore's Terrell Suggs, who was flagged for a blow to Collins's helmet - although the hit appeared to be little more than incidental contact.

The call came on a third-and-10 from the 20. Collins threw an incomplete pass on the play, but was provided with a new set of downs and coolly directed Tennessee into the end zone. Baltimore rookie quarterback Joe Flacco was then intercepted by Nick Harper, giving the Ravens (2-2) their second straight defeat.

Cowboys 31, Bengals 22
Dallas (4-1) led, 17-0, after only three drives, but ended up needing big plays from Terrell Owens, Tank Johnson, and Keith Davis to stave off bumbling Cincinnati.

Tony Romo was 14 of 23 for a season-low 176 yards, but threw three touchdown passes - two in the fourth quarter. He also threw an interception for the eighth straight game and lost a fumble.

Owens had only two catches, but one was a 57-yard scoring play that made it 24-16 with 11:46 left in the fourth quarter. The TD was set up by Johnson's recovery of Chris Perry's fumble. The Bengals (0-5) weren't done, though. Carson Palmer hit T.J. Houshmandzadeh for their second TD to make it 24-22 with 7:39 to go. But Palmer's pass to Ben Utecht on the 2-point try was knocked away by Davis.

Broncos 16, Buccaneers 13
Tampa Bay quarterback Brian Griese was knocked out of the game with a swollen right elbow on a blind-side blitz in the third quarter, and Jay Cutler guided a patient Broncos offense to a win in Denver.

Cutler, who piled up nearly 1,300 yards passing in winning the AFC's Offensive Player of the Month award in September, threw for a season-low 227 yards with a workmanlike 23-for-34 performance as he worked almost strictly the underneath routes to avoid Tampa Bay's dominant downfield defenders. Denver improved to 4-1.

The Buccaneers (3-2) blunted the Broncos' league-best offense, which came in averaging 33 points, but Denver's defense - which had been allowing 29.5 points a game - suddenly found traction after a miserable first month. Jeff Garcia didn't have much more success than Griese, completing 13 of 17 passes, but only for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Steelers 26, Jaguars 21
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns, helping visiting Pittsburgh snap a four-game losing streak against Jacksonville.

Roethlisberger finished 26 of 41, rebounding from an interception on his third pass that Rashean Mathis returned 72 yards for a score. Roethlisberger's perfect 8-yard fade pass to Hines Ward in the corner of the end zone put the Steelers (4-1) ahead, 26-21, with 1:53 remaining.

David Garrard completed 18 of 32 passes for 200 yards for the Jaguars (2-3), but their running game was stymied. Fred Taylor led the team with 19 yards on 10 carries.

Bears 34, Lions 7
Kyle Orton set career highs in yards and completions while throwing two TDs to lead visiting Chicago over Detroit.

Orton was 24 of 34 for 334 yards in helping Chicago (3-2) take the lead in the lackluster NFC North.

Detroit (0-4) played fourth-year quarterback Dan Orlovsky in the third quarter for the first time in his career, but it wasn't immediately clear if the move was made because starter Jon Kitna was hurt. The former University of Connecticut standout finished 13 of 23 for 97 yards and threw an interception.

Panthers 34, Chiefs 0
DeAngelo Williams had 123 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns as host Carolina (4-1) handed Kansas City its first shutout in nearly six years.

The Chiefs (1-4) were never in it. Larry Johnson, who had rushed for 319 yards in the past two games, had 2 yards on seven carries.