frank gore to the house again. 80 yards, touchdown, niners! >> this is "sportscenter." backing up the trash talk. the jets skk, -- the jets asking, with can you hear us now? the g-men looking to leave 100,000 speechless. and a san diego slugfest comes down to defense. >> sproles, the d'back, he gets a hit in the backfield. the ravens stop him. >> don't miss how the bears booted a champ. and a race in time. they're stunned by the texans. frank gore is running and running. the tigers fall back. and why the race isn't a open and shut case for the yankees. the sprays for the sprint cup is on. they're locked in a fantastic

finish. "sportscenter" coming at you now. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- "sportscenter" on your tube. kevin negandhi with john anderson. you think you have a big screen at home, you've got nothing on jerry jones and the cowboys. >> but if you punt a football on your tv at home mom will be furious with you. giants-cowboys, 100,000 football crazed texans, official grand opening in the new cowboy stadium. it is jerry world. there's the big board kevin referenced. gigantic. closing minutes of the first half. this is what the people saw whether looking at the field or the scoreboard. 14-13, cowboys. tony romo, what happened there, hank? jason witten, incomplete. kenny phillips thinks he has a touchdown. tom coughlin says let's review

this. off the heel of witten into the hands of phillips. here's the problem, we'll give you an interception and there was a whistle to put the play dead. we can't give you a touchdown. it worked out fine. mario manningham will cap the drive with a touchdown but not before drama, a little juggling but hauls it in for the score. 10 catches are, 150 yards for. giants lead 20-17 at the half. in the third quarter they've counted up all those people, 105,121. the 121 came from new york. jerry jones is happy and please everyone, buy a snack. back to the game. third and goal, cowboys. tony romo, rough night slinging it. did all right running it there. cowboys lead 24-20 heading to the fourth quarter. this is when you make your money in the nfl, third and 8 for the giants. eli manning over the middle. steve smith, how about 22 yard there with the magic bean.

smith and manning hooked up 10 times. giants up 27-24. later in the fourth, 30-24. marion barber. off he goes. he'll come up lame and the ball gets loose. hamstring or quad injuries cannot cause a fumble. barber comes out of the game. put in felix jones. seven carries, 96 yards to put the cowboys up one. giants' ensuing drive. manning, very cool in this thing. find his boy manningham. 25-38, 330 yards for eli. look at it again. jay ratliff gets a hand up on it. manningham has it. lawrence tynes will line up for a 37-yard field goal. the owner watching. his kick sub and it is good. but the giants have not won the game because we do another one of those things where the coach calls a time-out. if you want to see what it looks like. wade, he has the guy's attention. call it right now. all the stuff you saw didn't count.

we'll try it again. lawrence tynes wilburn off the second on the clock, for the win, 33-31, g-men. the owner is not happy with how it turned out. huge disappointment for dallas and a huge win for new york. interestingly enough, the giants won the first game they played at texas stadium in 1972 and they like the road, 16-3 away from home now in their last 19 road games. romo finishes 13-29, 127 yards and three picks. manning, the farther he threw it, the better he was, 12-16, a passer rating of 156.3 on throws of more than 10 yards down the field. that's next level from j-mac. here's coach coughlin who loves his guys. >> my hats off to the giants' team and also to the cowboys for the kind of football game they played, too. they battled, we came back and it was one of those type of games right to the wire. >> we're doing some good things in some areas but any time you

get -- you don't have any turnovers and the other team gets four, it's hard to overcome. >> guys have been working hard and putting themselves in a position to have a successful season but i kind of took that away today and if guys keep doing what they're doing, keep getting better and keep grinding it out we'll keep going forward and i'll improve and i'll f ake delhomme. boomer and t.j. now on "the blitz." ah, "the blitz" for week two the final weekend of summer.

chris berman with tom jackson. in two divisions let's start with the a.f.c. east. the winner of one game would be the only team to be 2-0 in the division and that would be the patriots at the jets. here we go somewhere in the swamps of jersey where the jets fans were fired up. maybe this is the time to break their eight-game losing streak at home against belichick. larry razzo, woody and o'connell, all captains. first offensive play, mark sanchez. you're playing the patriots, look out. it's almost a touchdown for new england. so that's how it began offensively, minus 17. for tom brady, this is how it began. well, it never really got started. randy moss is the intended receiver and dorrell revis with a big pick. patriots, second quarter. wes welker, edelman from kent state had a nice game. 29-yard pickup and sets up a

gostkowski field goal. brad smith can throw it. wait a minute, is that mark sanchez throwing a block on jarvis green? >> you take another look. his teammates will appreciate him sticking his nose in right there blocking jarvis green to get a first down. >> sets up a field goal, 9-3, new england. he had all the yardage in the first half. did the jets come out firing in the third quarter. sanchez off a play fake to jericho cotchery to the 11. they came out with authority and you saw the play. watch, zing, to dustin keller, starting to make a name for himself, second-year jet. 10-9, j-e-t-s. now it's 13-9, jets. sanchez to leon washington. let's get little washington on third and 13 from their own 12. make a first down. fourth quarter, same drive. chansi stuckey dropped the touchdown but caught this one, 20 more yards and sets up a

jets field goal. 16-9. fourth quarter, third and 1, patriots. brian thomas and bart scott stuff fred taylor. everybody in the middle is going wild. nearing two minutes to go. the jets trying to ice the game. here finding pressure, thomas, ty warren sack sanchez and they get one more chance but will have to go a long way. how many times have you seen it? the patriots, uh-ho. the jets, uh-ho. you know what's coming, edelman, 17 yards. tom throwing it early. >> throwing it before he wanted to. kris jenkins applying pressure. >> brady to edelman. it's now third and 10. tom brady, you see the clock with over a minute to go, erik smith breaks it up nicely, the pass for ben watson. looking for joey galloway. and dwight lowery is there. there's a rush, there's the defense. and in the end, it was defense

that won the day for the new york jets. a quick handshake, rex ryan's jets. they're the a.f.c. east team that's 2-0, beat bill belichick's patriots 16-9. tom brady in 15 starts has lost only three to the jets. we told you an eight-game-winning streak at the meadowlands with the patriots over the jets. all that gone by the boards as rex ryan smiles. >> the patriots are a hell of a football team. i just thought we were the better team today and that's all we said the whole time going in that we believe we are the better team today and we went out and showed it. i think our fans were huge in this victory. in fact, we're giving the game ball to our fans. it will be up in our trophy case because we thought they were the difference. >> they outplayed us and outcoached us and performed better than we did over the last 60 minutes and that was pretty much the story of the

fame. we had our chances and didn't take advantage of them and they had their chances and they did. >> it's frustrating. we had high expectations for this game and we just didn't put it together very well. eve got -- we've got to get back to work and take the positives from the game an learn from the mistakes we made and move forward because we play a tough team next week. >> so first things first, game ball to the jets fans, long time jets fans who i spoke with after the game, they said they hadn't heard a crowd like that since shea stadium which goes back a long way and they appreciated that defense. >> it was a great chess match. you see what the patriots wanted to do, get the ball out of tom brady's hands quickly because pressure would offensive board tried. patriots end up with zero sacks on the day for tom brady but not indicative of the pressure brought to bear. you saw him having to deliver the ball a split second before he was ready to do it. that was the story of the entire day defensively.

how quickly do you throw? no offensive touchdowns for the patriots today. that's the story. >> right. i like how we showed you in the highlights the way sanchez and the jets came out. like they came out of the locker room -- we talked all week and after halftime though we're behind in the scoreboard, we really believe we can do this and played that way. the patriots, defensive playmakers, will be a while to establish them? >> i was pretty impressed with the way they played team defense today. they gave themselves a chance to win the football game. they'll get better every week and have to wait for some guys to develop and become those leaders they're missing right now. >> as the summer turns to fall on the calendar, the new york jets are ahead in the a.f.c. east. we've only just begun on "the blitz." still to come, the chargers

squeak out a win in week one. the ravens with an emotional leader ending any thoughts of a sequel. >> in the backfield, the ravens stop him. ray lewis comes up the middle and it's all over. the hay's in the barn. >> jay cutler does an about-face. the bears quarterback throwing a pair of touchdowns. let's see how a foot did in the steelers. we go one-on-one with peyton manning. why the future hall of famer says he's not comfortable being compared to colts legend johnny u. plus, one win from his sweep, the twins had the tigers backpedaling. the twins looking for any way to stop the bleeding. to stop the bleeding. see how they ( instrumental rock music playing )

radar to help watch for the unforeseeable. infrared to help protect. satellites to help guide. electricity to adjust how powerfully or efficiently you drive. someday we'll all drive like this. the first-ever hs hybrid. excited about this game going into the season. lastor the slug 'em teams had them over the sling 'em teams. of the high scoring teams san diego is kind of the last one

stanged. baltimore they leave no one standing here we go from the murph. in the chargers home opener, philip rivers and company barely won monday night. the ravens, they bring everyone but they forget derrick sproles. and rate here at the 30, it's woop, ed reed turn around of all people so l.t. isn't playing. sproles gets the brunt of it. 7-0, lightning bolts. willis mcgay heat, three-yard touchdown. rejoe flacco off his back foot. kelley washington wide open, 27 yards. we're going to dance. how did he get wide open? >> look at the fake. it's the bubble screen. you see the fake of washington. acts like he's going to throw a block. actually the first time i've

seen that. >> a little wrinkle. the ravens are able to do more. ray lewis, think he can do it in his 1th year. i guess to. river nonchalants it and landry makes a pick. the defense giving yards. they lead 21-16. now flacco to the stormien mormon todd heap. nine-yard touchdown. 28-16. speaking of a big season, philip rivers and vincent jackson. beautiful triple coverage. >> you put it on the receivers catch, great one by jackson. >> rivers has his armed looked at, 31-26, under three minutes to go. how is it feeling? i feel good enough to go visit jackson again. you betcha. 38 yards. under a minute to go. chargers at the ravens 23 but down five and need a touchdown. rivers to nene from boise

state. frank walker a good play. >> frank walker batting the ball away at the last second. >> next play, second down, rivers now underneath to nene who had -- makes the move but tried to get it and almost fumbles it or could have. third and 2. they throw one on third and 2. it's incomplete. now fourth and 2. everybody on their feet. and there's ray lewis. you might want to watch him. play's over. the play's over. darren sproles, who's going to expect a run on fourth and 2. >> ray lewis. watch him. he feeds that whole clear. if you get blocked down, blocked up you step up and nobody has done it better than ray lewis. boy does he get in the backfield in a hurry. >> ray lewis in his 14th season saves the day, a superior game, a fun one to watch. philip rivers throwing for 436 yards against the ravens but joe flacco and the company kept

the heat on offensively scoring 31 points and ray lewis' 12th tackle of the day sealed the deal. >> when a game is on the line as soon as phillips dropped down i thought and got it. he was there, man. honestly that was probably to me because for my teammates i told them we would not lose this game and probably one of the greatest plays in my career because of my team, because of what we did as a team. >> wait a minute. i heard ray say something. within of the greatest plays of my career. >> quite a career. >> pretty good career. his team is going places. i know preseason doesn't matter, 4-0 plus 2-0 equals -0. >> you mentioned slug 'em, sling 'em. they used to be slug 'em. now you have flacco and company becoming a prolific offense throwing the ball downfield and ed reed and ray lewis and company when that defense is playing to their potential they catch up and this will be

something to deal with and something to see. the baltimore ravens, there's been a shift. >> for san diego, injuries. jamaal williams, out, l.t. out. it's on philip rivers to win at least in this quarter and boy even though they lost this day, pretty impressive. he and sproles can carry them. >> you can't help but like him. he's on your team you love him. if they're playing defense you, they can't stand will. >> the ravens win it and teams known for defense like the ravens 2-0. did i say defense? steelers-bears, not only now but through their history. at soldier field. you knew this would be low scoring even without troy polamalu and brian urlacher. jay cutler trying to shake off the four picks last week. bang. that's tyrone carter playing for polamalu nailing gregg olson. >> cover two safety deep and comes over and gets a tremendous lick on him. scary hit. >> third and goal from the 6. cutler to kellen davis it. let's go to a bigger tight end.

touchdown. tied at 7-7. here it is again. >> great job at getting your body in between the defender and ball. good delivery by jay cutler. >> now tied at 7-7. big ben drops back and feels the rush like few do to rashard mendenhall. he gets up. two bears miss him. going the other way, big ben involved here and on hunter hillin hire. a replacement for urlacher. everything going on in this play, first down, mendenhall. first and 10, bears 41. mendenhall with a big hole this time. right up the gut. he could go all the way to the 2-yard line. setting up first and goal, pittsburgh. and ben, surveying the scene. and makes the move outside. takes it himself. leaps into the end zone, 14-7 urlacher looking on, wants to be out there to help. bears at their own 48.

fourth quarter. cutler to olsen. how is he doing? finding his time. the two collide but he holds the ball. >> what a throw by jay cutler. >> third and goal. what do they have in fort knox, it's gold, right? jay cutler throwing to johnny knox and it's gold. tied at 14-146789 now pittsburgh coming back. third and 2. ben roethlisberger, these two, santonio holmes with a hero in the super bowl. oh, that sends jeff reed out who missed a makable field goal earlier fourth quarter. who? really? we stay tied. jeff reed normally pretty darn good but not on this day. just over 3:00 to go. bears driving, dumped to matt forte. this is a good-looking play. gene harris knocks it loose but greg olsen recovered, now on the ball. 20 seconds ago, we said gold at

fort knox, robby is solid gold with a field goal. 44-yard field goal good. and the bears go on to beat the steelers 17-14. bears with a rough early schedule and they faced last week with jay cutler with the four picks and come back against the super bowl champion team that had 10 days off. beat them 17-14. a relieved quarterback. >> means a lot. it means a lot to this team which is a lot of pressure and expectations since i got here and orlando got here and the defense stepped it up. glad to get this one off our back and move on. >> while a chin strap game and a big way to go for chicago because it could have gotten bad. >> well, i think they're so encouraged when jay cutler plays like this you see the strength of his game, the strong arm, the accuracy and ability to throw even off his back foot and put the ball where he wants and if he's careful with the football which

he was today there is i think that he can be an outstanding quarterback in this league and defensively yes they miss urlacher but give credit to the front four. >> no turnover, chicago. >> that's right, no turnovers. that will win you a football game. >> even a low-scoring game like this. the teams with the 10 days off, what do we know? it didn't do them any good. we know we're coming back on "the blitz." >> the tigers are in the driver's seat but the pressure building as detroit's lead is down to two in the a.l. central. twins eyeing a sweep. bottom first, jason kubel, runners on the corners, in the hole. placido polanco the spin. makes the play. orlando cabrera comes in. twins get on the board first. three innings later, carlos guillen with one on, goes to right, stays in the yard.

still doing the damage. the triple, third of the season will bring in mags and we're tied at 1-1. next inning now, twins up 2-1. polanco at the dish with two on for him. polanco going to right. that will bring in two runs. the tigers now back up 3-2. later in the inning now it's 4-2 ryan raburn pinch-hitting with two on, two outs. raburn going down swinging. in the eighth, raburn is in the game and would deliver against francisco liriano, number 13 on the season. tigers win 6-2 and they snap the twins' six-game-winning streak and extend their division lead to three games. big, big win for detroit as they stop minnesota's momentum and the lead once again back to three. the tigers at cleveland and chicago this week before heading home for the final seven games which include a

four-game home stand against the twins. mean while the twins head out on the road for the next 10 games before closing at home against the royals. the tigers' magic number is 11. still to come on "sportscenter," packers-bengals, won and lost in dramatic fashion last week. see how they switched role this is sunday. and peyton manning, why he's not comfortable with brett favre in viking horns and how powerful the word "retirement" can be. >> people start to ask me, what about -- they threw that "r" word out to me and if you mention the r word it creeps in your mind. plus i still feel young. >> the race for the chase. the points leader off to a great start thanks to a three-lap dash to the finish. stay with us.

week two of the nfl, drew brees taking his act to philly and the titans beaten at their own game and the packers racing the clock. important american things get their start in new hampshire. every four years the road to the white house begins when the state holds the first presidential primary and sunday the chase for the sprint cup began on the track in loudon. there are no term limits in nascar so jimmie johnson is free to win a fourth straight cup championship if his ride is fast enough. mark martin the top seed entering the chase won a season high four races and at age 501 smart enough to know you don't have to chase, you just have to stay patient and let things come to you. martin signed a two-year contract extension and is locked in with hendrick until 2011. the champ, jimmie johnson. kasey kahne's day was horrible, he blew his engine and was fourth entering, 12th leading after a 38th place finish. pit stop problems. issues getting the car served.

clint busch comes out of his pit stall and david ragan flies in there and parked it nice and when the traffic is done he takes the big brown car and out he goes. excellent work by him. juan pablo montoya, 100th sprint cup start and 34th birthday and on a restart with 13 laps to go drives by hamlin and johnson and gets kurt busch in second trailing mark martin. he's one spot where he started on the day on the pole. seven laps to go. marcos ambrose bumps into a.j. allmendinger. we've got a caution, yellow alert. mark martin's crew chief on what's going on. >> we had the best car out there. juan has a good car. mark is the man to do the job. >> he's listening to journey in his head phones. three laps to go, montoya sticks his nose out and martin hold him off in number five. the final, allmendinger spins