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Saints Miss Short Kick, and Falcons Make Them Pay

But somehow Hartley, who set a record with three field goals longer than 40 yards, hooked it wide left. Minutes later, the ’ charmed run ended and Falcons players stormed the Superdome field in celebration after Matt Bryant drilled a 46-yard field goal with 1 minute 55 seconds left in the extra period to lift Atlanta to a 27-24 victory Sunday.

“I missed basically an extra point,” Hartley said.

Atlanta would have won in regulation if not for Hartley’s tying 32-yard field goal with four seconds left.

After the Falcons won the coin toss to start overtime but failed to score, drove the Saints to the Atlanta 11. Resigned to defeat as he watched from the sideline, Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez took off his receivers’ gloves — “I thought for sure the game was over” — and even the longtime public-address announcer Jerry Romig let his typical “It’s good!” refrain slip out just as the officials began waving their arms to signal that the kick had sailed wide.

and Win

Tony Romo threw two touchdown passes to Roy Williams and the Cowboys got their first win by beating the , 27-13, in Houston. The owner feared the prospect of a humiliating 0-3 start and having an extra week to stew over it before his team hosts Tennessee on Oct. 10. “We were going to really be in bad trouble had we lost this ballgame,” Jones said. Now Dallas heads into its bye with a victory to build on rather than concerns about what changes Jones might make. The Texans (2-1) had hoped to go 3-0 for the first time.

¶With again struggling to move the ball through the air, Adrian Peterson rushed for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Vikings to a 24-10 victory over the . Peterson bounced off Lions tacklers all day and had an 80-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that put the game out of reach. “There was definitely a sense of urgency,” Peterson said. “Starting 0-2 was not the plan.” After showing feistiness in losses to Chicago and Philadelphia, the Lions (0-3) lost their 22nd straight road game — the third longest streak in league history — and their 13th in a row at the Metrodome.

Brady and Flacco Rebound

caught two of ’s three touchdown passes as the bounced back from a disappointing loss to with a 38-30 victory over the visiting , New England’s 14th straight win against Buffalo. C. J. Spiller, Buffalo’s first-round pick this year, scored his first touchdowns, on a 5-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick and a 95-yard kickoff return.

¶Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin, and the survived an off-day by their esteemed defense in a 24-17 victory over the Browns. Baltimore (2-1) allowed its first touchdowns of the season and failed to force a turnover, but it did not matter because of Flacco, who had come under fire after throwing four interceptions a week ago in a loss at Cincinnati. “Obviously, I’m happier this week than I was last week,” he said.

Surprises at 3-0

Charlie Batch, making his first start in nearly three years, helped the remain unbeaten with a 38-13 rout of the Buccaneers. Batch, 35, started only because was suspended and his replacement, Dennis Dixon, was hurt. “Everybody knows Ben’s the starter,” Batch said. “One thing I didn’t want to do was be that weak link.”

¶Dominating in every phase, the got three touchdown passes from Matt Cassel and sacked Alex Smith five times in a 31-10 victory over the visiting . The Chiefs are 3-0 for the first time since 2003. “Each win, we’re getting more and more confident,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said. The 49ers (0-3), who rolled up 417 yards Monday night against New Orleans, managed only a field goal until the final play from scrimmage.

Bitter Loss for

passed for three touchdowns without the injured Anthony Gonzalez and Pierre Garcon and the visiting beat the Broncos, 27-13. Kyle Orton threw for a career-best 476 yards on 37-of-57 passing and the Broncos (1-2) outgained the Colts (2-1) by more than 100 yards. But Denver failed to get into the end zone on five trips inside the 20In Other Games

threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score in the Eagles’ 28-3 win over the Jaguars. Vick completed 17 of 31 passes for 291 yards, mostly staying in the pocket and picking apart host Jacksonville’s beleaguered secondary. One of the few times he did run, he broke a tackle, juked a defender and scored from 17 yards. The (2-1) improved to 2-0 with Vick as their starter.

¶Leon Washington returned two second-half kickoffs for touchdowns of 101 and 99 yards, and the held off Philip Rivers and the , 27-20. Rivers passed for a career-high 455 yards.

¶ shook off two interceptions to throw a clinching touchdown pass to Cedric Benson in the fourth quarter of the ’ ugly 20-7 victory over the , who started the rookie Jimmy Clausen but found he was unable to jump-start their turnover-prone offense. Benson also had a 1-yard touchdown run for the visiting Bengals (2-1), who won last week without scoring a touchdown. “This isn’t the B.C.S.,” cornerback Leon Hall said. “We just need to win.”

¶The backup running back Kenneth Darby scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, helping the overcome an injury to Steven Jackson and end a 14-game home losing streak with a 30-16 victory over the . The Rams (1-2) won for only the second time in 29 games over all, but lost Jackson to a groin-muscle injury in the first half.

¶Sebastian Janikowski missed a 32-yard field goal as the game ended to allow the Cardinals to escape with a 24-23 victory over the in Arizona’s home opener, a game littered with mistakes on both sides from start to finish. The kick, after a pass interference call against Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, was wide left. Janikowski missed two others, a 41-yarder and a 58-yarder, that were wide right.

Falcons Keep Winning, Even if Few Seem to Notice

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.. No NFL team has a better record than Mike Smith’s Falcons, and perhaps none has made fewer headlines.

They practice, they play and they win without hype. There’s little drama and even less national publicity in this post- era.

Maybe that’s why the Atlanta coach laughs when asked whether there has been more national demands on his time with the 7-2 Falcons atop the NFC.

“Uh, no,” Smith said. “They don’t want to talk to me.”

Not even after his team’s exciting last-minute 26-21 win over the last week. Even the Falcons’ losses have been impressive — at Philadelphia and in overtime at Pittsburgh.

Doesn’t matter. Smith, who carries one of the lowest profiles of any coach in the league, never detours from the all-business script that his players follow faithfully, if almost anonymously.

And if the nation yawns, that’s fine. Call these Falcons dull, but call them winners.

“I just feel like we’re flying under the radar and we’re doing a good job of that and we’re just going to stay where we’re at,” receiver Roddy White says.

There’s not a lot of flash in the Falcons, who place an emphasis on running the ball and stopping the run. It’s not a style that commands a lot of attention, but it has Smith on pace for his third straight winning record with a franchise that had never before had back-to-back winning seasons.

Few outside of Atlanta may know much about even the team’s top players.

White’s numbers are up there with the NFL’s best receivers. He’s a clutch performer with an engaging personality and the most-quoted player on the team, not that many outside of Atlanta have noticed.

White doesn’t criticize teammates or second-guess his coach. He doesn’t earn repeated fines from the league for his tweets. He doesn’t have his own TV show.

This is Smith’s team, and foolery is not tolerated.

It’s little wonder why White and his teammates are so willing to wrap themselves in their blanket of anonymity.

The Falcons had more than their share of headlines the last few years, and little of it was positive. While Vick is flourishing in Philadelphia, his fall from grace while the face of the Atlanta franchise overshadowed the team for two years.

There was the Jim Mora Jr., firing, which came after he expressed on talk radio his desire to coach at the . The Falcons hit bottom when Mora’s replacement, Bobby Petrino, quit with three games remaining in a 4-12 2007 season.

The moves prompted Falcons owner Arthur Blank to pledge going forward that he would choose substance and character over flash and style. To get it done, he hired general manager Thomas Dimitroff — a little-known director of college scouting for the .

Dimitroff’s hiring led to Atlanta signing Smith — the ‘ defensive coordinator — free agent running back Michael Turner and drafting quarterback Matt Ryan.

“Matty Ice” as Ryan is known, was the 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. But like many of his teammates — including White, Turner and defensive end — Ryan isn’t in discussions about the NFL’s elite.

White, a three-time Pro Bowler, has 70 catches, seven for TDs, and is second in the league with 934 yards receiving. Turner has 733 yards rushing and should easily post his second 1,000-yard season in three years. Abraham is fourth in the league with 8 sacks.

Then there’s Ryan, coming off a breakout game against the Ravens in which he threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner to White with 20 seconds remaining. Ryan’s 16 TD passes with only five interceptions are almost identical to this year’s numbers from and , but it’s still too early for Ryan to be grouped with the top quarterbacks.

It all adds up to Atlanta playing for a still-skeptical national audience. Winning seems to generate more questions about whether they are for real than buzz about their success.

The Falcons aren’t complaining, particularly Abraham.

He played under the media microscope during his six seasons with the and is happy with the peaceful quiet — and success — of the Smith regime.

“I kind of like it,” Abraham said. “I think it’s good for us that people are still talking about other teams being better than us. We’re just going to continue to keep winning and as long as we keep winning I really don’t care necessarily about what they’re saying.”

Chargers Place Merriman on Injured Reserve and Are Ready to Release Him

Technically, the Chargers could re-sign him. That almost certainly will not happen because General Manager A. J. Smith has had a contentious relationship with Merriman and his agents.

Drafted in 2005, Merriman had 39 ½ sacks in his first three seasons. Because of a variety of injuries, he has had only four in the three seasons since.

He was suspended for four games in 2006 after testing positive for steroids.

He also brought unwanted attention off the field. He was arrested just before the 2009 season after Tila Tequila, the reality television star, accused him of battery and at his suburban San Diego home. No charges were filed, and Merriman and Tequila settled dueling lawsuits.

After sitting out most of this year’s off-season workouts and part of training camp to protest his contract status, he was slowed by an Achilles’ injury and then a calf injury. He had only five tackles and no sacks in limited action.

A publicist released a statement in which Merriman was quoted as saying: “I am approaching this situation as an opportunity to grow as a player and to bring my leadership and talents to a new organization.”

FAVRE BOTHERED BY ELBOW quarterback , who has started a record 289 straight games, said he would consider sitting out a game or two this season if the tendinitis in his right elbow got worse. Favre, 41, did not practice Wednesday.

CHANCE VICK COULD PLAY Coach Andy Reid said he had not ruled out quarterback , recovering from a rib cartilage injury, from Sunday’s game against Vick’s old team, the Atlanta Falcons. Kevin Kolb is expected to start, but Reid said that Vick could return to practice by the end of the week. If that does not happen, Vick will miss his second game.

CUTLER COMING BACK Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said he expected to start Sunday against the after missing a game because of a concussion. Cutler said doctors “wanted to make completely sure” he was ready before clearing him Monday. He said that he felt good enough to play against Carolina last Sunday but that extra precaution was taken.

KIPER RESPONDS TO CLAIMS Mel Kiper Jr., a college football analyst for , defended himself after an article in Sports Illustrated accused him of helping a sports agent win college football players as clients.

Kiper is an influential voice during the draft, offering fans his impressions on how high players will be chosen, and by which teams.

In the article, a former agent, Josh Luchs, said that Kiper worked with another agent, Gary Wichard. One passage described how Wichard asked Kiper to call him while he was trying to recruit a player to give the impression that the agent had deep connections in the news media.

“In the agent business, people know Gary and Mel are close, and some people suspect that Mel ranks players more favorably if they are Gary’s clients,” Luchs wrote.

Kiper defended his reputation.

“Conversations with players, which are occasionally facilitated by agents, are a valuable way to get to know the players,” Kiper said in a statement. “These conversations have never compromised my integrity, and my 32-year record supports that.”

ESPN ended its own investigation into the matter after Kiper issued his statement. KEN BELSON

GIANTS’ KIWANUKA RECOVERING Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who missed the last two games with a bulging disk in his neck, rode a stationary bike in practice and did agility drills on the sideline. Although surgery has not been ruled out, he spoke optimistically about returning this season.

Center Shaun O’Hara, who missed the last three games with a left ankle injury, participated in individual drills and hoped to practice Thursday and play Sunday.

“It’s taken longer than I would have liked,” O’Hara said. “I’m pushing.” MARK VIERA