Who says the NFL has to be a team sport?
Certainly not Deion Sanders, who again starred solo Sunday in San Francisco's 42-3 rout of the Atlanta Falcons.Playing for the first time against the Falcons in the city where he played football for five years and baseball for four, Sanders returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown, got in fistfight with Andre Rison and then sat on the bench for the second half with a groin injury.
After the game, Sanders and Rison met near midfield and hugged - twice.
"This is my house," Sanders said. "I built this house."
Sanders overshadowed Steve Young's near-perfect day - 15 of 16 for 143 yards and four TD passes - and left no doubt about the best team in the NFC West. The 49ers are 5-2, the Falcons 4-3.
"You see him get into a fight and you think `what's he doing? What's he doing?" Young said. "Then he returns an interception 93 yards for a touchdown. It's a tribute to his playing ability."
In other games Sunday, Miami beat the Los Angeles Raiders 20-17 in overtime, Arizona edged Washington 19-16 in overtime, the New York Jets downed New England 24-17, Pittsburgh topped Cincinnati 14-10, Indianapolis stopped Buffalo 27-17, the Cowboys beat the Eagles 24-13, Rams edged Giants 17-10 and the Chargers beat the Saints 36-22.
Kansas City is at Denver on Monday night. Cleveland beat Houston 11-8 on
Thursday. The 49ers jumped to a 21-0 lead in the first 15:06 on Young's 10-yard TD pass to Ricky Watters, Tim McDonald's 49-yard TD return of a Craig Heyward fumble and Young's 1-yard TD pass to Jerry Rice.
Then the game went into Prime Time. Just 3:22 into the second quarter, Sanders locked up with his former teammate and when the play ended, Sanders swung first and each player got in a few punches before officials stepped in and penalized the cornerback.
The play led to a 34-yard field goal by Norm Johnson and set up an exciting sequence as the Falcons got the ball again and moved to the 49ers' 10 on a pass interference call against Sanders. Three plays later, Sanders intercepted Jeff George's pass raced down the sideline past the Atlanta bench. He turned and started pointing at the Falcons and talking to them as he went into his patented high-step routine.
At the half, it was 28-3 and the Falcons never had a chance as Atlanta had six turnovers. Young was replaced by Elvis Grbac early in the third quarter.
Dolphins 20, Raiders 17, OT
At Miami, Bernie Parmalee rushed for a career-high 150 yards, including a 26-yard dash to set up Pete Stoyanovich's 29-yard field goal 5:46 into overtime. Parmalee also recovered a fumbled punt by Tim Brown to set up the tyingh TD in the fourth quarter.
Despite Dan Marino's subpar outing (17 of 37 for 186 yards and two TDs), Miami (5-2) moved into sole possession of first place in the AFC East.
The Raiders (2-4) had their own problems, with Jeff Hostetler (8 of 23 for 95 yards and one TD) arguing with coach Art Shell on sidelines after being benched late in the first half.
Cardinals 19, Redskins 16, OT
At Washington, Steve Beuerlein threw a tying TD pass with 19 seconds left in regulation, and Todd Peterson kicked a 29-yard field goal with five minutes left in overtime for Arizona (2-4). Redskins rookie Heath Shuler was intercepted five times, the final time by Terry Hoage, who returned it to the Washington 12 and set up the winning kick. The Redskins are 1-6.
Jets 24, Patriots 17
At East Rutherford, N.J., Johnny Johnson rushed for 122 yards, Brad Baxter had two short TDs and the Jets overcame six sacks and two turnovers by shutting down Drew Bledsoe (22 of 41 for 242 yards and one interception). Boomer Esiason, still bothered by an ankle injury, lost two fumbles and was 12 of 17 for 107 yards.
Steelers 14, Bengals 10
At Pittsburgh, the Steelers' Neil O'Donnell (15 of 22 for 190 yards) threw TD passes of 14 yards to Ernie Mills and 13 yards to John L. Williams in just over three minutes of the second quarter. Cincinnati dropped to 0-6.
Barry Foster, the AFC's second-leading rusher, twisted his left knee on his first carry and missed the rest of the game for Pittsburgh (4-2).
Colts 27, Bills 17
At Orchard Park, N.Y., Jim Harbaugh threw for 206 yards and two TDs and the Bills fell out of first in the AFC East. Harbaugh was 18 of 22 before leaving in the fourth quarter with a bruised throwing hand. On Don Majkowski's first pass, he hit Floyd Turner for a 19-yard touchdown score - the Colts' first fourth-quarter TD all year - to make it 24-10 with 8:14 to go.
Chargers 36, Saints 22
At New Orleans, Natrone Means ran for three touchdowns and John Carney kicked five field goals as the San Diego Chargers remained the NFL's only unbeaten team, defeating the New Orleans Saints 36-22.
Means, who rushed for 120 yards, also had a pair of second-half touchdowns called back because of holding penalties. Each time, the Chargers settled for a field goal.
Still, San Diego improved to 6-0 for its best start since going 11-0 to open the 1961 season.
When Means wasn't finding holes to run through, Stan Humphries was finding receivers to throw to, completing 17-of-29 for 186 yards.
By the time Carney added a 28-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, San Diego had scored on eight of 11 possessions. The Chargers were not forced to punt until the final period.
Cowboys 24, Eagles 13
At Irving, Texas, it's the same old story. In the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboys are still the neighborhood bully.
The NFL's top-ranked defense intercepted Randall Cunningham four times Sunday while Troy Aikman threw two touchdown passes and Emmitt Smith rushed for over 100 yards and scored a touchdown to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-13 in a showdown for the division lead.
It was the 10th consecutive victory over an NFC East foe for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions stretching back to last season. Dallas, which has defeated the Eagles five consecutive times, is 5-1 and the Eagles dropped to 4-2.
Smith did what he always does against Philadelphia, gain over 100 yards. In his last four games against the Eagles, he had gained 163, 114, 237, and 172 yards, respectively, against them. His 106 yards on 26 carries Sunday marked the 28th time he had rushed for 100 yards in his five-year career.
Cunningham hurt the Eagles with three consecutive interceptions which led to two touchdowns after a rapid-fire start which saw Dallas trail 7-0.
Rams 17, Giants 10
At Anaheim, Calif., Chris Miller threw two first-quarter touchdown passes Sunday and the Los Angeles Rams maintained their mastery over the New York Giants with a 17-10 victory.
Although the Rams (3-4) are not considered one of the NFL's top teams, they have now beaten the Giants six of the last eight times they've met. The Giants (3-3), who won their first three games, have now lost three straight.
All the scoring came in the first half. Miller threw a 19-yard pass to Isaac Bruce 4:19 into the game after Joe Kelly intercepted Dave Brown's pass and returned it 31 yards to the New York 21.