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Vince Young threw for a touchdown in his first start since the 2008 season opener, Chris Johnson set a franchise record by rushing for 228 yards, and the Tennessee Titans won their first game of the season by routing the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-13 Sunday.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Tim Graham



EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Rex Ryan can’t believe his team lost to the Miami Dolphins.



Not once, but twice.



The Dolphins backed up their Week 5 victory over the New York Jets by beating them again Sunday at the Meadowlands. The Dolphins won despite gaining their third-fewest yards in team history and the Jets’ defense allowing their fourth-fewest ever.



The Jets had the ball for eight more minutes than the Dolphins and out-gained them 378-104. The Dolphins averaged 2.0 yards a play, 1.9 yards per pass attempt. On seven Wildcat plays, the Dolphins gained 6 yards. Only one play went for more than a yard.



The Jets recorded six sacks, limiting the Dolphins to 52 net yards passing.



“It stinks,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said of being swept. “That’s the truth. We totally outplayed them, but got beat.”



Then Ryan delivered a pointed comment.



“I’d rather be in their locker room with a win than here,” Ryan said, “even though I’d rather be in this one moving forward.



“We have a better record right now, so I’ll still take this locker room.”

	AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
	Eagles tailback Leonard Weaver made his presence felt against the Giants on Sunday.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Matt Mosley



PHILADELPHIA — All the talk in the offseason was about how Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb would finally have enough weapons around him to do some serious damage. But I don’t recall Leonard Weaver‘s name coming up a lot in those conversations.



On Sunday, the former Seahawks fullback made like a seasoned tailback, racing through the Giants’ once-vaunted defense. The Eagles waited exactly three plays before unleashing Weaver — and he responded with a 41-yard touchdown run. Weaver, a non-factor in the running game for much of this season, finished with eight carries for 75 yards, helping to lead the Eagles to a 40-17 win over the Giants.



The dominating win put the Eagles in a first-place tie with the Cowboys in the NFC East — and those two teams will meet next Sunday night at the Linc. For now, we have to consider the Giants an afterthought in the division race. Quarterback Eli Manning played his worst game of the season — and that’s saying something based on his performances against the Saints and Cardinals. It’s not as if the Giants were going to keep up with the big-play Eagles anyway, but Manning’s two first-half interceptions were inexcusable. He set up the Eagles for two touchdowns — not that their offense needed much assistance.



Weaver, who signed with the Eagles during free-agency last March, was caught off-guard by his heavy involvement in the running game. He said there were no signs during practice last week that he would be an important part of the game plan.



“It was kind of a shock at first,” Weaver said. “During the week, I really didn’t run the ball. It felt good to know that Andy Reid and [offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] would trust me in that way and trust me enough to give it to me a couple times.”



Weaver was supposed to assume a larger role in pass protection because of the absence of Brian Westbrook (concussion), but Reid and Mornhinweg decided to turn him into a playmaker. Once again, the Eagles lost the time of possession battle — because they kept scoring so quickly. The Saints provided the league with a blueprint for shredding the Giants’ secondary two weeks ago, and the Eagles followed directions superbly.



For starters, the Giants’ safeties can’t cover anyone in space — especially someone with DeSean Jackson‘s speed. The Giants had just trimmed the Eagles’ lead to 16-7 with 1:54 left in the first half. On the next play from scrimmage, Jackson froze Giants safety C.C. Brown with a slight inside fake and then cut upfield for an easy 54-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach. The Giants didn’t get any push up front on the play, allowing McNabb plenty of time to deliver a perfect pass.



“All week in practice, we knew that if they ran a Cover 2 on that play, it was going to be great for us,” Jackson said. “We run that play a lot and I cross the field. So I faked the cross and rode it back out, there was nobody else there and Donovan made a great throw.”



McNabb immediately pointed at Mornhinweg, who called the play. It was an afternoon where pretty much everything worked for the Eagles — and that’s why Reid singled out his offensive and defensive coordinators after the game.



“That was a heck of a call,” Reid said of the touchdown pass to Jackson. “Donovan was fired up because [the Giants] played it just like we hoped they would play it. Sometimes those things work out. Marty had a good feel on it, he and Donovan had talked about it, and it was a great job on both their parts.”



Perhaps the most demoralizing part of Sunday’s loss for the Giants was being dominated at the line of scrimmage. The Eagles’ patchwork offensive line blew open huge holes for Weaver and rookie running back LeSean McCoy. The two of them were so effective that no one missed Westbrook, a player who has had huge games against the Giants. And Eagles right tackle Winston Justice was so effective against Pro Bowl defensive end Justin Tuck that reporters may finally stop asking him about the infamous ’07 game in which McNabb was sacked 12 times.



For now, the Giants are a team without an identity. They’re still in the thick of the playoff race at 5-3, but they’ve effectively blown their margin for error during a three-game losing streak. And at least for one week, they’re sitting behind both the Eagles and Cowboys in the division race. It’s far too early to bury them, but they’re not a good team right now.



“It’s a complete embarrassment and disappointment,” said linebacker Antonio Pierce after the game. “We didn’t tackle, we gave up big plays, we didn’t cover. We’re not communicating. We all have to look at each other in the mirror and we all have to make a change, because what we’re doing right now is not working.”



After two subpar efforts from McNabb, he was 17-of-23 for 240 yards and three touchdowns against the Giants. For unknown reasons, the Giants used one-on-one coverage against Eagles tight end Brent Celek — with very limited success. Celek made safety Michael Johnson think he was going to cross his face before cutting his route upfield to make a 17-yard touchdown catch early in the first quarter.



Celek, who had four catches for 61 yards, has quietly emerged as one of the top tight ends in the NFC. He’ll have a hard time being voted into the Pro Bowl because of the likes of Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten, but he certainly belongs in the conversation.



Now, the Eagles will try to complete a three-game sweep of their division rivals. That loss to Oakland seems like a long time ago — and that’s a really good thing for Philly.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas



What John Fox’s team did Sunday — going into Arizona and dominating the Cardinals — showed Fox still has something.



He just needs to remember what that something is. It’s as simple as just playing Fox football. That’s what the Panthers did against the Cardinals. They ran the ball extremely well and played excellent defense. Most important of all, they didn’t ask quarterback Jake Delhomme to go out and win the game for them.



There’s a lesson in all that and it makes you wonder why the heck Fox didn’t go that route on a rainy night in Charlotte back in January when the Panthers hosted Arizona in a playoff game and got destroyed.



That loss hung over Delhomme and the Panthers for the first six games of the season. It didn’t have to be that way. But, for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom, Fox got away from his basic philosophy. In that playoff game, he had Delhomme throwing all the time on a rainy night and basically abandoned what had been a very good running game all last season. In that game, Fox, who is supposed to be a defensive genius, pretty much forgot to cover Larry Fitzgerald.



Most of that stuff continued in a 2-4 start this season. But it all came back for the Panthers against the Cardinals this time and maybe that’s some sort of poetic justice. Delhomme was efficient, defensive end Julius Peppers was dominant and the Panthers ran the ball extremely well.



Maybe this continues and it at least shows the Panthers can be very good when things go right. Or maybe some of the early-season problems come back and keep the Panthers out of the playoffs.



For one day anyway, all appears right with the Panthers, who play the undefeated Saints in New Orleans next week. Maybe this shows Fox he needs to stay true to his basic philosophies and this team can be a true playoff contender.

Steven Jackson’s 25-yard touchdown run with 1:38 left lifted the St. Louis Rams to a 17-10 win over the Detroit Lions, snapping their 17-game losing streak.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Mike Sando





The rugged Carolina team that failed to show up against Arizona during the playoffs last season made an unexpected appearance at University of Phoenix Stadium in Week 8.



The Cardinals, perhaps a bit high on themselves after beating the Giants, seemed completely unprepared.



Instead of catching interceptions from Jake Delhomme as previous scripts suggested the case would be, the Cardinals threw them to Carolina. Kurt Warner, picked off five times, tends to have a game like this every so often. But the Cardinals’ defense, ranked No. 1 in yards allowed per game entering Week 8, failed to compensate. This defeat was a team effort.



Arizona’s performance demonstrated again that the Cardinals cannot be trusted to perform well consistently. The Cardinals can still be plenty dangerous when threatened or when the stakes are high. But they are rarely a sure bet when the evidence says they should be one. And they should have been a safe bet Sunday.



Warner often could not find open receivers when he did have time to throw. This has been a recurring theme for Arizona this season, and an unexpected one. The Cardinals cannot be at their best while feeding dump passes to running back Tim Hightower after failing to find open receivers. It’s one of the angles I plan to explore upon heading to the locker rooms momentarily.



On the injury front, Anquan Boldin did not return after aggravating his ankle injury. Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston, Jerheme Urban and Sean Morey were the receivers when Arizona went to its four-receiver offense.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert



GREEN BAY, Wis. — With half of its schedule complete, I would say Minnesota has put itself in a nicely padded and comfortable driver’s seat in the NFC North race.



Brett Favre departed Lambeau Field triumphantly on Sunday, throwing a season-high four touchdown passes against his former team. The Favre-Packers storyline made for a fun sidelight, but in the big picture here’s what you need to know: Entering their bye week, the Vikings have opened up a 2.5 game lead over Green Bay and Chicago in the NFC North.



They’ve swept the Packers, thanks in large part to Favre’s seven touchdown passes against them this season. That means the Packers will have to win three more games than the Vikings do for the rest of the season in order to overtake them for a division title.



The Bears are actually in better position. They have both games left against the Vikings, giving them a better ability to control their own destiny.



I’ll be back with more on and from Favre, who led a key touchdown drive to put the game away in the fourth quarter. But for now, let’s all agree Minnesota is in pretty good position from a Black and Blue perspective.

Rosenthal: There will be countless flowery stories written Sunday about Brett Favre’s revenge, Lambeau’s wasted jeers, Aaron Rodgers’ torment, and Packers G.M. Ted Thompson spending Sunday in his own private ninth circle of hell. This is not be one of those stories.

Rosenthal: The New York Giants are wobbling. And the NFC’s contenders are lining up one at a time to knock them out. It’s not just the three straight losses; it’s how the Giants have lost.

Posted by ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson



SAN DIEGO — The Raiders actually had a chance to send this game to overtime despite being badly outplayed.



It was all in JaMarcus Russell‘s hands and he couldn’t come through. The Raiders’ last drive was a disaster as they faced second and 28 and fourth and 20 situations. A Russell fumble and a false start sabotaged Oakland’s last chance.



The Raiders appeared doomed by having to rely on Russell, who was relegated to handing off for much of the game. This is how much the Raiders don’t trust him: They opted for a 48-yard field goal attempt near the end of the first half on third down instead of risking a Russell miscue.



In the end, it was another empty loss for Oakland, which limps into the bye at 2-6.



The Chargers continued to repair their season as they are now 4-3 after wins over the Chiefs and Raiders the past two weeks. The Chargers, who trail Denver by two games in the AFC West, now travel to face the New York on Sunday.



This wins wasn’t a perfect game for San Diego. It was sloppy at times and the Chargers couldn’t finish drives again. But San Diego did just enough and Russell did the rest.