Combined Reports


SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco 49ers, who bought the best defense money can buy in the off-season, finally reaped a big dividend on their investment -- and Steve Young finally proved he can win the big one.


After being shredded for 94 points while losing three games to the Dallas Cowboys the past two years, the 49ers' rebuilt defense held the Cowboys to one touchdown for more than 58 minutes while recording a 21-14 victory before a record 49er crowd of 69,014 at Candlestick Park.


With the victory, the 49ers tied the Cowboys for the best record in pro football at 8-2 and gained the tiebreaker edge in the battle for home-field advantage in the playoffs.


Young, who has spent his career living in the shadow of quarterback Joe Montana, fooled the Cowboys' defense with bootleg runs while rushing for 60 yards and passing for two touchdowns. "Today, Steve got the monkey of his back," offensive lineman Harris Barton said.


Young's counterpart, Troy Aikman, threw three interceptions against a 49er defense that also kept Emmitt Smith in check. The players even gave the game ball to owner Eddie DeBartolo, who shrewdly worked the salary cap to allow the 49ers to bring in such players as Gary Plummer, former Cowboy Ken Norton, Deion Sanders, Ricky Jackson and Richard Dent.


"People were still questioning whether we could play great defense against a great team," Plummer said. "We played (well) against Tampa Bay and Detroit and Washington and everybody said, 'So what?' After today's performance, I don't think they're going to be able to say, 'So what?'"


Merton Hanks, who was able to move back to free safety when the 49ers signed Sanders, intercepted two of Aikman's passes and appeared to have a third one although the officials disallowed it.


The 49ers also held Smith to 78 yards, his lowest total in the past four games against San Francisco. Only 26 of his yards came in the second half, when San Francisco played an eight-man front.


Despite bruising his thumb on a teammate's helmet in practice Friday, Aikman passed for 339 yards, including a 90-yard strike to Alvin Harper in the first quarter that set up Dallas' opening touchdown.


Aikman twice was picked off on passes inside the San Francisco 20.


In other games Sunday:


Patriots 26, Vikings 20. At New England, Drew Bledsoe threw for 426 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown strike to Kevin Turner at 4:10 of overtime, rallying New England to a 26-20 triumph over the Minnesota Vikings.


Bledsoe, who set league records for passing attempts (45) and completions (70), helped the Patriots overcome a 20-0 second-quarter deficit. The second-year quarterback threw for 426 yards, eclipsing his own single-game record of 421, set against Miami in the season opener.


The winning touchdown pass to Turner capped the opening drive of overtime, a nine-play, 66-yard march. Minnesota's Warren Moon completed 26 of 42 passes for 349 yards and combined with Bledsoe to break NFL records for attempts (112) and completions (71). Neither quarterback threw an interception.


Bengals 34, Oilers 31. At Cincinnati, Jeff Blake had his second straight 300-yard passing performance and Doug Pelfrey ended a game with the winning field goal for the second straight week as the Cincinnati Bengals outscored the Houston Oilers, 34-31.


Blake completed 23-of-33 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns, three to Carl Pickens, to lead the Bengals to their second straight victory after eight losses.


Chargers 14, Chiefs 13. At Kansas City, Stan Humphries' five-yard touchdown pass to Duane Young with 6:41 remaining gave the San Diego Chargers a 14-13 victory over Kansas City and a two-game lead over the Chiefs in the AFC West.


The touchdown came three plays after safety Darren Carrington intercepted a Joe Montana pass and returned it to the Kansas City 8-yard line.


Montana drove the Chiefs 49 yards in the final two minutes. He threw a 22-yard pass to Danan Hughes, but the clock ran out before Kansas City could line up for a potential winning field goal.


Bears 17, Dolphins 14. At Miami, James Williams blocked Pete Stoyanovich's 45-yard field goal try with two seconds left to give the Chicago Bears a 17-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins.


The Bears (6-4) snapped a 14-14 tie on Kevin Butler's 40-yard field goal with 59 seconds left. The ensuing kickoff left the Dolphins at their 34-yard-line with 47 seconds left and no timeouts.


Dan Marino hit Irving Fryar for 29 yards on the first play. Miami moved to the 28 before the kick was blocked.


Saints 33, Falcons 32. At New Orleans, Morten Anderson's 49-yard field goal with eight seconds left in the game capped a New Orleans second-half comeback as the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons, 33-32, the second straight week the Saints had a game decided in the waning seconds.


Lions 14, Buccaneers 9. At Detroit, Barry Sanders ran for 237 yards, matching the sixth-best performance in NFL history, to lead the Detroit Lions to a 14-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.


Sanders had 200 of his yards on 16 carries in the second half, including 117 in the third quarter.


Browns 26, Eagles 7. At Philadelphia, Matt Stover kicked four field goals to help the Cleveland Browns get off to their best start since 1965 with a 26-7 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.


Cardinals 10, Giants 9. At New York, Steve Beuerlein's nine-yard touchdown pass to rookie Bryan Reeves with 1:39 remaining lifted the Arizona Cardinals past the reeling New York Giants, 10-9. The Giants (3-7), who opened 3-0, have lost seven straight games, their longest losing streak in 14 years.


Packers 17, Jets 10. At Green Bay, Brett Favre threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers held on for their third straight win, a 17-10 triumph over the New York Jets.


Raiders 20, Rams 17. At the Rams, Jeff Hostetler threw two touchdown passes before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with a foot injury to lead the Los Angeles Raiders to a 20-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.


Broncos 17, Seahawks 10. Leonard Russel ran for 109 yards and an 11-yard TD with 5:43 left for Denver. Russell's winning run capped an 80-yard, nine-play drive led by John Elway, who completed all five of his passes on the drive and finished 17 for 32 for 146 yards.