Cassel keeps Patriots rolling

Life without Tom Brady might not be so bad for New England after all.

Matt Cassel was efficient running the offense in his first NFL start, taking over for the injured quarterback and leading the Patriots over Brett Favre and the host New York Jets 19-10 on Sunday.

"I thought Matt did a good job," coach Bill Belichick said. "It wasn't perfect. We had some rough spots. He did a good job of making good decisions. He didn't put us in any bad situations and made some good positive plays. I thought he managed the game well."

Cassel, who hadn't started at any level since his senior year of high school, was 16 of 23 for 165 yards, Sammy Morris ran for a touchdown and Stephen Gostkowski kicked 4 field goals.

"At the end of the day, you've got to have more points than the other team and that's what we did, so I'm satisfied," Cassel said. "I didn't have too many butterflies going out. I've been in the system for four years, so I'm confident I know I can run it."

The Jets, slight favorites going in, and Patriots receiver Randy Moss said New England was still the team to beat even without Brady, who was lost for the season last Sunday when he injured his left knee against Kansas City.

The Patriots (2-0) then showed why, ruining the Jets' home opener and Favre's first regular-season home start for New York.

"We knew we had to play our best football to win," Favre said, "and we weren't able to do that."

New England won its 21st straight regular-season game, and beat the Jets for the eighth straight time at the Meadowlands.

"To come in here, to this hostile environment, and win when everyone picked you to lose, is great," safety Rodney Harrison said. "With all the stuff we had to go through and endure last week with Tom, this is a great victory."

Favre went 18 of 26 for 181 yards and a TD for the Jets (1-1), but the Patriots took advantage of a big mistake by the veteran.

With the Jets facing a third-and-22 from their 11, Favre ran out of the pocket to his left and flung a pass to Chansi Stuckey for 28 yards. Three plays later, though, Favre made a poor decision, hanging a pass intended for Chris Baker that was easily picked off by Brandon Meriweather. It was Favre's first interception with the Jets.

Giants 41, Cardinals 13: Eli Manning threw 3 touchdown passes, and the Giants sacked Marc Bulger six times while limiting the host St. Louis Rams to a fluke touchdown in a lopsided victory.

The Rams (0-2) came up with another dud in their home opener, which also served as a tribute to late owner Georgia Frontiere.

The Giants (2-0) have not lost a road game since their opener last season.

Tuck's 41-yard interception return in the fourth quarter sealed the victory, and he added a pair of sacks. Fred Robbins also had 2 sacks for the Giants.

Manning was 20-for-29 for 260 yards, including hitting Plaxico Burress on a 33-yard TD strike in the first quarter, Brandon Jacobs had 93 yards on 15 carries and 44-year-old kicker John Carney added field goals of 39 and 33 yards in the first half.

Titans 24, Bengals 7: Vince Young was not even with the team, but Tennessee ended a troubling and confusing week by winning in a breeze at Cincinnati.

Backup quarterback Kerry Collins threw low, tight passes that stayed on track in the Bengals' wind tunnel of a stadium. Collins threw his first touchdown pass in two years, rookie Chris Johnson ran for 109 yards, and Rob Bironas guided a low, curving kick between gyrating uprights for a 34-yard field goal. Linebacker Keith Bulluck provided the clincher, blocking Kyle Larson's punt in the end zone with his right arm, then snatching the ball off the ground for another touchdown.

Bills 20, Jaguars 16: Trent Edwards was good early and even better late, doing just enough to lead Buffalo (2-0) past host Jacksonville, the Bills' best start in five years.

Edwards completed his first 10 attempts and threw a perfect touchdown pass to James Hardy late in the fourth quarter. Edwards finished 20 of 25 for 239 yards, Marshawn Lynch ran for 59 yards and a score, and Buffalo's defense held Jacksonville (0-2) in check.

Redskins 29, Saints 24: Jason Campbell hit Santana Moss for a 67-yard touchdown pass that lifted host Washington (1-1) past New Orleans (1-1).

Campbell and new Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn's West Coast offense succeeded in Week 2 as spectacularly as it failed in Week 1. Campbell went from uncomfortable to prolific, completing 24 of 36 passes for 321 yards.

New Orleans' Reggie Bush returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown.

Niners 33, Seahawks 30: Joe Nedney shook off a missed field goal as time expired in regulation and kicked a 40-yarder 4:40 into overtime, sending San Francisco past host Seattle.

The loss left the four-time defending division champion Seahawks 0-2 for the first time since 2002.

San Francisco (1-1) overcame 8 sacks of J.T. O'Sullivan to beat the Seahawks for just the third time in 11 games, in the first overtime contest of the 19-game series between the two teams.

Cardinals 31, Dolphins 10: Kurt Warner looked like he did in his MVP days, Anquan Boldin certainly wasn't sulking over contract woes, and Larry Fitzgerald caught almost everything thrown his way as host Arizona routed Miami to go 2-0 for the first time in 17 years.

Warner completed 19 of 24 for 361 yards and 3 TDs with no interceptions. Boldin caught all 3 scores, a career high. Boldin had 6 receptions for 140 yards, a franchise record 22nd time he's passed the century mark. Fitzgerald caught 6 for 153 yards, his 14th 100-yard game.

Raiders 23, Chiefs 8: Rookie Darren McFadden ran for 164 yards and a touchdown, and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a team-record 56-yard field goal against an inept Kansas City team (0-2) that tried three quarterbacks. Dane Kiffin, amid reports that his job is in jeopardy, won for just the fifth time 18 games as coach of the Raiders (1-1).

Steelers 10, Browns 6: Ignoring his sore right shoulder and wind gusts of 60 mph, Ben Roethlisberger threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward as visiting Pittsburgh made it 10 straight wins over its closest rival, Cleveland.

During the game, it was disclosed on TV that Roethlisberger suffered a separated shoulder last week in a win over Houston. But Big Ben didn't seem bothered as he completed 12 of 19 for 186 yards and improved to 10-0 in NFL games inside his home state.