Routs and revenge on NFL's opening

Cam Newton made an opening statement, Baltimore forced seven turnovers in exacting revenge and Indianapolis stumbled mightily without Peyton Manning in week one of the NFL season.The Baltimore Ravens forced a team record seven turnovers in defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-7 in a rematch of January's second round playoff contest. The Steelers won that game 35-7 before going on to the NFL final."Satisfied? I hate that word," said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. "But it's a great victory. The whole thing about having ghost and demons and monkeys on your back, that's not real to us. It's a football game and every game is a new game."Security was stepped up at every stadium around the country Sunday as American football fans joined their countrymen in remembering the victims on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks on New York and Washington.The added police presence included sniffer dogs that checked every vehicle entering the MetLife Stadium parking lot where the New York Jets hosted the Dallas Cowboys.NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell marked the day in Washington at the New York Giants-Washington Redskins contest."We remember our great country and the people that died in this tragic incident, the first responders and their families and all the people that kept our country safe," he said."This is a chance for everyone to come together and feel great about our country, the sacrifices so many people have had and what we all have in front of us. We've got a lot to be proud of."Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco tossed three touchdown passes and Haloti Ngata helped energize the defence as Baltimore easily beat the defending AFC champion Steelers. Ray Rice ran for 107 yards and scored two touchdowns as Baltimore jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.Last January, Baltimore squandered a 21-7 halftime lead with three turnovers of their own. But on Sunday, they forced three turnovers in the third quarter to convert a 14-point lead into a rout.Ngata was the driving force on defence, causing a fumble and deflecting a pass that led to an interception.The loss snapped Pittsburgh's eight-game winning streak in season openers.In Houston, the Indianapolis Colts got a taste of life without star quarterback Manning as the Texans seized control with the help of a 220 yard passing performance from Matt Schaub en route to a 34-7 victory.Runningback Ben Tate scampered for 116 yards and another touchdown and the Texans' defence dominated Manning's backup quarterback Kerry Collins.Four time MVP Manning did not travel to Texas with the team as he recovers from his third neck surgery. The Colts lured the 38-year-old Collins out of retirement less than three weeks ago to take Manning's place.Manning had started 227 straight games, including playoffs, before sitting out Sunday.In Phoenix, rookie Patrick Peterson made amends for a long afternoon at cornerback with an 89-yard punt return for the go-ahead touchdown and the Arizona Cardinals overcame a superb NFL debut by rising star Newton to escape with a 28-21 win over the Carolina Panthers.First round draft pick Newton completed 37 passes for 422 yards and two touchdowns to become the first rookie quarterback to throw for more than 400 yards in his debut game.Newton did it on the same field that he led Auburn to a college championship eight months ago."We were extremely close to winning," said Newton, who threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith. "But we just gotta go back and get better."The Panthers had first down at the Arizona 11 late in the game, and even got an extra down on an offside call, but failed to score. Steve Smith had eight catches for 178 yards for Carolina, including touchdown plays of 77 and 26 yards.Arizona quarterback Kevin Kolb was 18 of 27 for 309 yards and two touchdowns in his first game for the Cards.In other games Sunday it was, Chicago 30 Atlanta 12, Cincinnati 27 Cleveland 17, Buffalo 41 Kansas City 7, Philadelphia 31 St. Louis 13, Detroit 27 Tampa Bay 20, Jacksonville 16 Tennessee 14, San Diego 24 Minnesota 17, Washington 28 N.Y. Giants 14, San Francisco 33 Seattle 17 and New York Jets 27 Dallas 24.