The Texans kicker’s field goal splits the posts with 25 seconds left in the game.
By The Associated Press

Kris Brown gave the Houston Texans a big kick Sunday.

Brown kicked his fifth field goal, a 35-yarder with 25 seconds left, as the second-year Texans stunned Miami 21-20. The Texans staged another season-opening upset to leave the Dolphins 0-1 for the first time in 12 years.

Last year, Houston became the first expansion team to win its opening game since 1961 by beating Dallas.

“We’re not shocked,” Brown said. “We took it as a slap in the face that we were the largest underdogs (14 points) on the opening weekend.”

Houston’s David Carr went 17-of-31 for 266 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown to Corey Bradford.

The Texans limited Ricky Williams to 69 yards rushing and forced the game’s only three turnovers, including an interception by Marcus Coleman that set up the winning score.

Brown also made field goals of 50, 36, 24 and 23 yards. He missed from 43 and 54 yards.

The Dolphins, touted as a potential Super Bowl team, had won 11 consecutive openers and 17 straight home games in August and September since 1994. They’re below .500 for the first time since the end of 1996.

49ers 49, Bears 7

SAN FRANCISCO – Jeff Garcia passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns, and Garrison Hearst caught a TD pass and rushed for another score as the 49ers sparkled in new coach Dennis Erickson’s debut.

Ahmed Plummer returned an interception 68 yards for a score. Jimmy Williams and Brandon Lloyd made exceptional special teams plays in San Francisco’s electric debut under Erickson, who replaced Steve Mariucci.

The 49ers took a 33-7 halftime lead with their biggest offensive output in a half since 1992. They punted just twice in the first three quarters.

Falcons 27, Cowboys 13

IRVING, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys bumbled in the debut of new coach Bill Parcells, and Doug Johnson threw third-quarter touchdown passes to the lead the Falcons.

Johnson, filling in for the injured Michael Vick, also dived 1 yard for a victory-sealing score early in the fourth quarter to spoil Parcells’ return to the sideline. He finished 16-of-27 for 228 yards with one interception, while Quincy Carter was 15-of-32 for 268 yards with an interception and a fumble.

Dallas’ Troy Hambrick had 53 yards on 14 carries in his debut as Emmitt Smith’s replacement.

Seahawks 27, Saints 10

SEATTLE – Matt Hasselbeck threw two touchdown passes and Shaun Alexander ran for 108 yards and scored twice to lead Seattle.

The Seahawks held the Saints to 103 yards rushing, meaningful because the they ranked last in the NFL last season, giving up 152.6 yards rushing per game.

Seattle scored 21 straight points in the second quarter, reaching the end zone on each of their possessions.

Deuce McAllister of the Saints had 99 yards rushing on 22 carries and Aaron Brooks was 29-of-47 for 274 yards with one interception.

He threw a 2-yard TD pass to Joe Horn in the fourth quarter.

Panthers 24, Jaguars 23

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jake Delhomme replaced an ineffective Rodney Peete at the start of the second half and energized Carolina’s rally with three touchdown passes.

Delhomme, one of a handful of offseason additions brought in to revamp Carolina’s sluggish offense, threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl on fourth-and-11 with 16 seconds remaining to win it.

Seth Marler attempted a 55-yard field goal as time expired, but Mike Minter blocked the kick and new Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio lost in his NFL debut.

Giants 23, Rams 13

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Kenny Holmes recovered one of Kurt Warner’s six fumbles for a touchdown, and the Giants sacked the St. Louis Rams’ quarterback six times and intercepted him once. Warner went to the hospital after the game with a concussion.

New York forced four turnovers and each started a drive that led to points.

Halfback Tiki Barber, who dislocated a finger in the first quarter, led the Giants with 146 yards rushing on 24 carries.

Vikings 30, Packers 25

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Randy Moss caught nine passes for 150 yards and a touchdown as the Vikings won in front of a record crowd of 70,505 at remodeled Lambeau Field.

The Vikings, who snapped a 12-game losing streak outdoors, built a 27-3 lead and held off Green Bay’s furious rally. The Vikings forced four turnovers, including three interceptions by Brett Favre, who hadn’t been picked off that many times in the first half since 1995.

Javon Walker’s 24-yard touchdown catch pulled Green Bay to 30-25 with 1:55 remaining.

But Ryan Longwell’s onside kick went out of bounds, and the Vikings took over thanks to a new NFL rule that doesn’t allow a rekick with less than five minutes left.

Chiefs 27, Chargers 14

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Priest Holmes showed no ill effects from offseason hip surgery, rushing for two touchdowns. Holmes had TD runs of 5 and 24 yards and 159 total yards in the first half as the Chiefs took a 24-0 lead.

From the opening drive, Holmes seemed confident, and he showed the entire repertoire of moves that enabled him to lead the NFL in yards from scrimmage each of the past two seasons.

Wide receiver David Boston, the Chargers’ biggest offseason acquisition, caught only two passes for 20 yards, and LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 34 yards.

Lions 42, Cardinals 24

DETROIT – Joey Harrington threw a career-high four touchdown passes as the Lions spoiled Emmitt Smith’s debut with the Cardinals and Anquan Boldin’s record for a receiver in his NFL debut.

Boldin, a second-round draft pick, caught 10 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns, breaking the mark of Washington’s Hugh Taylor, who had 212 yards in 1947.

Smith ran for 64 yards on 13 carries, extended his rushing record to 17,226. The Lions also gave coach Steve Mariucci a victory in his debut.

Steelers 34, Ravens 15

PITTSBURGH – Tommy Maddox threw three touchdowns passes and Pittsburgh’s Joey Porter-less defense roughed up Baltimore rookie quarterback Kyle Boller in his NFL debut.

Maddox went 21-of-29 for 260 yards and no interceptions. Plaxico Burress had six catches for 116 yards and Hines Ward had nine for 91 yards.

Boller was intercepted on Baltimore’s first possession, and it didn’t get much better from there. He went 22-of-42 for 152 yards, almost all of it well after the outcome was decided.

Broncos 30, Bengals 10

CINCINNATI – Clinton Portis ran for 120 yards and two first-half touchdowns, and the NFL’s worst team of the past 12 years went on another self-destructive binge that helped the Broncos roll.

The Broncos turned to their Rookie of the Year rusher to pull them through their new quarterback’s shaky debut. Jake Plummer was repeatedly off-target, threw three interceptions and was 12-of-25 for 115 yards.

Portis accounted for 159 yards on 24 runs and five catches.

Jon Kitna was 10-of-20 for 86 yards in the first three quarters, and finished with two interceptions, two fumbles and four sacks.

Colts 9, Browns 6

CLEVELAND – Peyton Manning drove Indianapolis 65 yards to set up Mike Vanderjagt’s 45-yard field goal with 1 second left.

Vanderjagt’s third field goal ended what figured to be a shootout between two of the AFC’s best offenses, but turned into an error-filled matchup of penalties, turnovers and blown chances.

Manning threw two interceptions, one in the end zone, in the first half and didn’t look sharp until late.

Marvin Harrison had nine catches for 44 yards.

Titans 25, Raiders 20

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Titans found a new hero, giving them some revenge against the Oakland Raiders.

Steve McNair threw two touchdowns and punter Craig Hentrich matched his career high by kicking three field goals as the Titans downed the Raiders 25-20 Sunday night. It was a messy opener that doubled as a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game. The Titans came in wanting to avenge the loss that kept them from their second Super Bowl.

in four seasons – and get a jumpstart for this season. Oakland won the AFC title game 41-24 in January and outscored the Titans 93-49 in two meetings last season that featured plenty of Tennessee mistakes.

This game had lots of errors, too. The teams combined for 28 penalties for 284 yards, but it was the Raiders who hurt themselves over and over. Their share was 17 for 173.

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AP-ES-09-08-03 0029EDT