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Week 1 Duce Staley is Philadelphia's wild card
By B. Duane Cross, CNNSI.com ATLANTA -- If the Philadelphia Eagles are playing it close to the vest, rest assured they are certain Duce's are wild in this high-stakes poker game. Duce Staley shredded NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys for 201 rushing yards and a touchdown Sunday in a 41-14 season-opening victory. For good measure, the fourth-year back added 61 receiving yards. He is the first Eagle to rush for 200 yards in a game since Steve Van Buren in 1949. Want more offense? Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell began the second half against the Cleveland Browns with eight consecutive completions en route to 24 completions for 301 yards and a TD in a 27-7 victory. Still not satisfied? OK -- New York Giants running back Tiki Barber ran for a career-high 144 yards and two TDs, including a 78-yard jaunt in the G-Men's 21-16 victory against the Arizona Cardinals. Receivers also got in on the offensive explosion. Shawn Jefferson's debut with the Atlanta Falcons was one to remember. A New England castoff, Jefferson torched the San Francisco 49ers' secondary for 148 yards, including a 48-yard TD, in a 36-28 victory. Arizona's David Boston, taking up the slack for the injured Rob Moore, had nine receptions for 128 yards and two TDs. If you get you kicks off gaudy statistics, this was the week. And speaking of big kicking stats, Atlanta's Morten Andersen had five field goals -- all in the first half. He broke Mick Luckhurst's team record for career field goals with 199. Andersen's 421 career field goals ranks second in NFL history. Kurt Warner and Brian Griese got into the numbers game on Monday night, shredding their respective opponents' defenses for big yardage. In fact, Warner's 441-yard game was the third best on an opening weekend in league history, trailing only Norm Van Brocklin's 554-yard game in 1951 and Dan Marino's 473-yard performance in 1994.
Quick hitsDetroit Lions journeyman Desmond Howard had a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown at New Orleans, sparking memories of his 99-yard kickoff return on the same field for Green Bay against New England in Super Bowl XXXI. ...Cleveland Browns punter Chris Gardocki tied an NFL record with 623 kicks without having one blocked, matching Dave Jennings' mark. ...Washington Redskins running back Larry Centers had seven catches to raise his career total to 611, passing Keith Byars (610) as the career leader in receptions for RBs. ...Minnesota Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper, in his first NFL start, rushed 10 times for 78 yards and three TDs in beating Chicago 30-27. ...The gametime temperature at Dallas was 109 -- 171 on the artificial turf. ...The Chiefs, winless in the preseason for the first time in franchise history, lost their first home opener in 12 years ...Green Bay has four losses in its last six games at Lambeau Field after winning 44 of the previous 46 home games in Green Bay and Milwaukee. ...Pittsburgh's 16-0 loss to Baltimore was the Steelers' first in a season opener at home since a 51-0 defeat to Cleveland in 1989. It was their seventh consecutive loss in Three Rivers Stadium against an AFC Central opponent.
Quoteable
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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