League MVP Tom Brady limped off the field to the horror of the New England Patriots while the unretired Brett Favre made a successful debut in leading the New York Jets to victory in the NFL on Sunday. Brady hurt his left knee when he was tackled by safety Bernard Pollard midway through the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs. Without their star quarterback, the Patriots still won 17-10. Last season, Brady set a NFL record with 50 touchdown passes, but it ended in disappointment with the Super Bowl loss that spoiled New England's bid for the perfect season. Matt Cassel, who had thrown only 39 passes as Brady's backup for the past three seasons, took over and did surprisingly well, completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown. But New England needed solid defense at the end to keep the lead. Damon Huard, playing after Chiefs quarterback Brodie Croyle left with a shoulder contusion late in the third quarter, completed a 68-yard pass to Devard Darling to the Patriots 5 with 53 seconds left. But they moved no further with two incompletions, a run for no gain by Larry Johnson, and a poorly aimed pass that fell to the ground wide of the end zone on fourth down. Jets 20, Dolphins 14: At Miami, six months after Favre decided to call it a career in Green Bay before changing his mind, his new beginning had a happy ending thanks to two late stands by the Jets' defense. Dwight Lowery batted away a fourth-down pass in the end zone with 9 minutes left, and Darrelle Revis intercepted Miami quarterback Chad Pennington - again in the end zone - with 5 seconds left. Favre finished 15-for-22 for 194 yards and his 161st victory, extending his NFL record for starting quarterbacks. Panthers 26, Chargers 24: At San Diego, Jake Delhomme threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dante Rosario as time expired, capping a desperation drive for Carolina's win. After Philip Rivers rallied San Diego with his third TD pass, Delhomme moved the Panthers to the San Diego 14-yard line with 2 seconds left before calling his final timeout. Delhomme dropped back on fourth down and found Rosario in the back of the end zone and the offensive players mobbed each other behind the posts. Cowboys 28, Browns 10: At Cleveland, Tony Romo completed 24 of 32 passes for 320 yards, Dallas' offense controlled the clock and strung together four long touchdown drives against Cleveland. The defense held one of the AFC's most potent offenses in check, and except for some silly penalties, the star-studded Cowboys had a dazzling debut. Cardinals 23, 49ers 13: At San Francisco, Kurt Warner passed for 197 yards and led three monotonously effective drives in the second half for Arizona's win. Anquan Boldin had all of his eight catches for 82 yards in the second half of Arizona's third straight opener against the 49ers, whose long-woeful offense looked downright competent under new coordinator Mike Martz. But the Niners' offense barely got on the field in the second half. Titans 17, Jaguars 10: At Nashville, Tennessee, the Titans sacked Jacksonville's David Garrard seven times and Cortland Finnegan intercepted him twice as Tennessee limited the depleted Jaguars to 187 yards offense, just 33 yards rushing by what was the NFL's second-best rushing team in 2007. Elsewhere it was: Steelers 38, Texans 17; Eagles 38, Rams 3; Saints 24, Buccaneers 20; Falcons 34, Lions 21; Bills 34, Seahawks 10; Ravens 17, Bengals 10; Bears 29, Colts 13.
