American Football: Patriots' precision dismantles Jets

At the start of the season only two weeks ago, the consensus of expert opinion suggested that this season's Super Bowl would be contested by the St Louis Rams and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and that the New England Patriots would not be back to defend the title they won in such surprising fashion in January.

So much for the experts. The Steelers and the Rams have lost both their games so far, while the Patriots have made a blistering start to the new campaign. On Sunday, the Rams were confounded by the lowly New York Giants, hardly one of the game's big powers. Despite a late rally, they were unable to overhaul a 17-point deficit, ultimately losing 26-21.

Self-inflicted wounds haunted the Steelers, who had lost to the Patriots a week earlier, and sustained further damage in a 30-17 reverse at the hands of the Oakland Raiders. In total, Pittsburgh allowed five turnovers, and were unable to halt the progress of the Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon, who completed 43 of his 64 passes for 403 yards and a touchdown. A Raiders victory was assured when Terry Kirby raced 96 yards on a kick-off return early in the fourth quarter. Just to rub it in, Pittsburgh's former player Rod Woodson, equalled an all-time NFL record by recovering three Steeler fumbles.

Meanwhile, the Patriots sail serenely on. Last week they dealt with the Steelers despite being pre-game underdogs, but the manner in which they disposed of the New York Jets suggests this is a team which must be taken seriously.

The quarterback Tom Brady was again in fine form, throwing two touchdown passes as he dismantled the Jets defense with precision, and the Patriots scored a pair of defensive touchdowns, Tebucky Jones with a fumble return, and former Jet Victor Green with a 90-yard interception return. The 44-7 result accurately reflected the extent of New England's dominance.

Drew Bledsoe, the man Brady replaced in New England, is certainly enjoying life in his new home, Buffalo. Bledsoe's Bills were engaged in a wild shoot-out in Minnesota, where the lead changed eight times before Buffalo finally stunned the Vikings with a 45-39 victory in overtime.

Bledsoe was at his best, with three touchdown passes, showing sufficient poise to suggest that the Bills might surprise some of the more fancied teams this year. An extraordinary contest was taken to overtime when the Bills kicker Mike Hollis converted a massive 54-yard field goal to tie the scores as time expired.

Hollis' kick actually bounced off the crossbar, but the kicker was soon brought down to earth as he missed a 39-yard effort in overtime which would have won the game. Fortunately for him, Bledsoe spared his blushes, throwing a 48-yard touchdown to the receiver Peerless Price.