Anderson subs for Newton, leads Panthers to season opening win

Carolina went up big early in Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay, then hung on to win its first season opener since 2008, 20-14 at Raymond James Stadium.

Derek Anderson filled in for the injured Cam Newton at quarterback and tossed a pair of touchdowns: a five-yarder to Greg Olsen midway through the second quarter and a 26-yard scoring strike to rookie Kelvin Benjamin on the first play of the fourth that made it 17-0.

Tampa Bay (0-1) finally snapped the shutout bid when Josh McGown and Chris Owusu hooked up on a 19-yard touchdown with 7:23 to play in the game. McGown found Bobby Rainey for a six-yard score with just over two minutes to play that made it 17-14. With the Buccaneers driving again just 30 seconds later, Rainey made a catch, but fumbled and Carolina’s Bene Benwikere recovered.

Tampa Bay, which in 2013 was 30th in scoring and last in average yards, was held to just 264 total yards Sunday.

Here’s a look at the rest of Sunday’s NFL action.

New York Jets 19, Oakland 14

Geno Smith threw for 221 yards and the go-ahead, second-quarter touchdown as New York defeated the Raiders at home for the fifth consecutive time.

Smith found Chris Johnson for a five-yard score that put the Jets (1-0) up 10-7 with a half-minute to play in the second quarter. Chris Ivory added a 71-yard touchdown run on the first play of a fourth-quarter drive, part of a 102-yard day for the fifth-year back, and the hosts led 19-7.

Rookie quarterback Derek Carr, a second-round draft pick out of Fresno State, had a pair of touchdown passes - one each to Rod Streater and James Jones - for Oakland (0-1).

Pittsburgh 30, Cleveland 27

It was nearly a historic comeback, but in the end, the Steelers kept up their dominance over their division rivals.

Cleveland trailed 27-3, yet came all the way back to tie the game at 27-27 on Travis Benjamin’s nine-yard touchdown grab with just over 11 minutes left in the game. The Browns, who if they had won would’ve surpassed the previous franchise record for largest deficit overcome (the 1966 team erased a 20-point deficit in a win over the New York Giants) went backwards on its final offensive drive of the day, punting from their own 9 with 47 seconds to play.

The Steelers (1-0) began the winning drive on their own 43 and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger found second-year wide out Markus Wheaton for completions of 11 and 20 yards to the Cleveland 24. Shaun Suisham nailed a 41-yard field goal as time expired, lifting Pittsburgh to its 11th consecutive home win in the series.

Roethlisberger finished the day with 365 passing yards, including a 35-yard scoring strike to Antonio Brown in the second quarter that helped the Steelers build their big lead. Rookie Isaiah Crowell picked up consecutive touchdown runs in the third to start Cleveland (0-1) on its comeback.

Buffalo 23, Chicago 20 (OT)

Dan Carpenter hit a 27-yard field goal in overtime, giving the Bills their first-ever victory in Soldier Field.

Robbie Gould had sent the game to overtime with a 37-yard field goal with 35 seconds left in the fourth for Chicago (0-1).

After the Bears punted on the first drive of the extra session, C.J. Spiller had a 13-yard run, E.J. Manuel and Mike Williams connected on a 20-yard passing play and Fred Jackson rumbled for 38 yards to the Chicago 1. That allowed Carpenter to boot an easy game-winner and the Bills picked up their first win in the series since 2002.

Miami 33, New England 20

The defense didn’t allow a second-half point, helping the Dolphins come back from a pair of 10-point deficits.

Trailing 20-10 at halftime, Caleb Sturgis’ 24-yard field goal early in the third got Miami (1-0) started on its comeback. On the ensuing possession, Cameron Wake forced a fumble of Tom Brady and Louis Delmas recovered, setting up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to Mike Wallace that pulled the teams even at 20-20.

Over the final 22 minutes of the game, the Patriots (0-1) punted four times and Wake forced another Brady fumble. Meanwhile, Sturgis’ had a go-ahead, 22-yard field goal and new running back Knowshon Moreno scored from four yards out to put the Dolphins up 30-20 with three and a half minutes left in the contest.

Houston 17, Washington 6

The Texans snapped a 14-game losing streak, thanks to big days from its main offensive weapons.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 206 yards and a touchdown, mostly to Andre Johnson (93 receiving yards) and DeAndre Hopkins (89 yards and a touchdown) and Arian Foster ran for 103 yards as Houston, 2-14 a year ago, won for the first time since last September’s week two win over Tennessee.

Washington (0-1) led 6-0 after Darrel Young’s one-yard touchdown run with about six minutes left in the second quarter, but that was the only points the visitors would score.

The Redskins have lost nine consecutive games.

Philadelphia 34, Jacksonville 17

The host Eagles were shut out in the first half, then pitched a shut out in the second.

Jacksonville led 17-0, thanks in large part to a pair of touchdown connections between Chad Henne and un-drafted rookie wideout Allen Hurns.

The second half was a completely different story. Philadelphia (1-0) scored 34 unanswered points, tying the game at 17-17 on a 51-yard field goal by Cody Parkey, another un-drafted rookie from Auburn, on the first possession of the second half. The Eagles took the lead for good on Nick Foles’ 68-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin that made it 24-17.

Tennessee 26, Kansas City 10

Host Kansas City took a 3-0 lead 1:25 into the game on a 35-yard field goal by Cairo Santos, but it was all Titans after that.

Jake Locker tossed a pair of short touchdown passes to Delanie Walker (five yards) and Kendall Wright (six yards) and Ryan Succop kicked three of his four field goals as the Titans scored 23 unanswered points to take control.

Kansas City’s defense continued on a downward spiral that included a devastating performance in last year’s playoffs. Over the final eight games of last season they surrendered an average of 28.6 points, part of which was allowing 35 second-half points and blowing a 28-point lead in a loss to Indianapolis in a Wild Card playoff game in January. That trend continued Sunday as Tennessee (1-0) collected over 400 total yards, including 266 from Locker.

Minnesota 34, St. Louis 6

The Vikings got big plays from running back Cordarrelle Patterson (67-yard touchdown run in the third) and Harrison Smith (81-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth) to win their opener.

It was also an excellent day for the Vikings defense, which was one of the NFL’s worst a year ago. Minnesota (1-0) had another interception to go along with Smith’s pick that made it a 34-3 game, while sacking St. Louis (0-1) quarterbacks five times to hold an opponent without a touchdown and to single-digit points for the first time in 18 games.

Cincinnati 23, Baltimore 16

Andy Dalton found A.J. Green for the go-ahead, 77-yard touchdown with about five minutes left.

Baltimore (0-1) had come all the way back from a 15-point deficit and taken a 16-15 lead on an 80-yard touchdown pass by Joe Flacco to new receiver Steve Smith. That happened with 5:46 to play in the fourth; 48 seconds later, Cincinnati (1-0) responded with a bomb of its own for the game-winner.

Cincinnati, which snapped a four-game losing streak in Baltimore, took a 15-0 lead into halftime on the strengths of five Mike Nugent field goals. Justin Forsett’s 13-yard scoring run in the third made it 15-7 and the Ravens got to within 15-10 on a 38-yard field goal by Justin Tucker in the early stages of the fourth.

Both Flacco and Dalton went over the 300-yard mark with 345 and 301, respectively.

San Francisco 28, Dallas 17

The 49ers had a 21-3 lead after one quarter and scored all of their points by halftime in winning their fourth consecutive season opener.

San Francisco (1-0), which snapped a three-game losing streak in the series, defeating the Cowboys (0-1) for the first time since 2002, took the lead for good just 54 seconds in when Chris Culliver scooped up a Demarco Murray fumble - the first of four Dallas turnovers - and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, Vernon Davis caught touchdowns of 29 and two yards from Colin Kaepernick.

Murray atoned for the fumble with a 118-yard night, his eighth-carer 100-yard game, including a third quarter touchdown run from two yards.

Denver 31, Indianapolis 24

Julius Thomas caught touchdown passes from Peyton Manning on three consecutive second-quarter possessions, helping the Broncos snap a six-game losing streak in the series.

Denver (1-0), which bested the Colts for the first time since January, 2005 (the regular season finale in which the then-Colt Manning rested for the upcoming playoffs and played just one series), led 24-0 with 1:57 to play in the second quarter after Thomas’ third score.

Andrew Luck, who had 370 yards passing, tossed two touchdowns and ran for another to rally Indianapolis (0-1). The Colts had a chance to tie and got to the Denver 43 with 2:10 to play, but Luck misfired on two of his final three passes to help the host Broncos hang on.