Saints coach Jim Haslett read a letter to his players from New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin the night before they were set to play the Carolina Panthers.

Haslett relayed what Nagin saw: dead babies, torn-apart families, a city in ruins following Hurricane Katrina. Yes, the Saints would do everything in their power to win the season opener, to provide a glimmer of hope to all those who lost so much.

They delivered, in thrilling fashion. John Carney kicked a 47-yard field goal with 3 seconds left, giving the Saints a 23-20 win over the Panthers on Sunday.

"He talked about the things he had seen, babies dying," receiver Joe Horn said. "You would only see it in a horror story. People were crying on his shoulder, saying they don't know where their son is, where the daughter is.

"I can't speak enough about how our heart goes out to them. The letter had an impact. We respect and acknowledge what everyone has gone through."

In New Orleans, a dozen weary police officers, on duty since before the hurricane hit, clustered around a police car to listen to the game.

"Man, this is what we needed," said James Porter, a patrol officer. "This almost makes you feel normal again."

At a small bar on Bourbon Street, where a Saints football helmet was painted on the ceiling, Steve Bartley was among several French Quarter residents listening to the Saints game on a battery-powered radio.

"On Sundays, I'm usually at a bar watching the Saints. It would be nice if we could see them, but this is the best we could do," he said.

They listened as Deuce McAllister ran for two touchdowns, and Aaron Brooks put the team in position for the game-winner with passes of 11 and 25 yards to Horn. After Carney made his kick, the Saints rushed out on the field to celebrate, their first joy since Katrina tore through New Orleans on Aug. 29.

Like the thousands of evacuees, the storm left them homeless and searching for a little bit of normalcy.

They found it on the field, scoring an important victory over an NFC South rival and an emotional win for their fans.

"In the back of our minds, we know we have to give them one tiny bit of hope," Brooks said. "We have complete faith in what we are doing because every time we go out there, it is our job to give them hope that every day will be a better day."

The Monday night game has Philadelphia at Atlanta in a rematch of the 2004 NFC title game.

On Thursday night, New England beat Oakland 30-20.

At San Diego, Drew Bledsoe became the 10th NFL player to throw for 40,000 yards. Bledsoe threw three touchdown passes, including a 2-yarder with 3:06 left to Keyshawn Johnson to win the game.Aaron Glenn sealed the victory when he intercepted Drew Brees' throw in the end zone with 24 seconds left. LaDainian Tomlinson was held to 72 yards on 19 carries, but scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter, his 13th straight game with a TD rushing to tie the NFL record held by John Riggins and George Rogers.

At Baltimore, the Colts barely missed their first shutout since 1997. Cato June returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown and the Colts limited Jamal Lewis to 48 yards rushing.Peyton Manning threw two touchdown passes and went 21-for-36 for 254 yards and no interceptions. Marvin Harrison had six catches for 69 yards.The Ravens lost quarterback Kyle Boller, who hyperextended a right toe while being sacked by Larry Triplett in the third quarter with Baltimore trailing 17-0.

At San Francisco, Tim Rattay threw two second-quarter touchdown passes, and Michael Adams intercepted Marc Bulger's pass in San Francisco territory with 52 seconds left.The 49ers held on for their first regular-season victory in regulation since Dec. 7, 2003. Both of the Niners' wins last season came in overtime against Arizona. Torry Holt caught 10 passes for 125 yards for the Rams.

At Miami, Gus Frerotte threw for 275 yards, Jason Taylor returned a fumble 85 yards for a score and Miami successfully kicked off the Nick Saban era.Frerotte, starting his first game for his sixth NFL team, went 24-for-36 with touchdown passes of 2 yards to Randy McMichael and 60 yards to Marty Booker. The Broncos lost cornerback Champ Bailey and running back Mike Anderson to injuries, and dropped an opener for only the third time in 13 years under coach Mike Shanahan.

At Minneapolis, rookie tight end Alex Smith caught two touchdown passes and Brian Kelly had two interceptions. Another Bucs rookie, Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, added a 71-yard touchdown run and finished with 148 yards on 27 carries.Daunte Culpepper threw his third interception to Derrick Brooks, on the final, desperation drive and finished 22-for-33 for 233 yards.

At Detroit, Brett Favre had three turnovers and Detroit won its opener for a third straight year. Joey Harrington threw two touchdown passes, including one to rookie Mike Williams with 4:13 left.Favre finished 27-of-44 for 201 yards with two interceptions and one fumble, and the Packers had their worst day offensively since Sept. 13, 1992, when Tampa Bay beat them 31-3, two weeks before Favre started his record streak of playing 227 straight games, including the playoffs.

At Kansas City, Mo., Larry Johnson rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries and Priest Holmes added 85 yards and a touchdown, while the improved defense came within 29 seconds of a shutout.The Chiefs forced seven fumbles and recovered two. Chad Pennington was sacked three times. Pennington, coming off shoulder surgery, was intercepted once and had several passes dropped.

At East Rutherford, N.J., Eli Manning threw for two scores, Willie Ponder returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score and Chad Morton returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.Kurt Warner, the former two-time MVP acquired by the Giants last year to guide Manning through his rookie season, finished 27-for-46 for 264 yards and one touchdown in his first start for Arizona.

At Jacksonville, Fla., Jimmy Smith caught seven passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns to key the victory.Jacksonville's defense was stout, as usual. The unit held Shaun Alexander to 73 yards on 14 carries. Tim Hasselbeck finished 21-of-38 for 246 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

At Cleveland, Carson Palmer threw two touchdown passes and finished 26-of-34 for 280 yards as the Bengals spoiled Romeo Crennel's coaching debut with the Browns.Making just his third start since 2003, Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer finished 26-of-43 for 278 yards and one touchdown.

At Orchard Park, N.Y., Rian Lindell made a career-high five field goals, and J.P. Losman engineered scoring drives on each of Buffalo's first five possessions to finish 17-of-28 for 170 yards and a touchdown.The defense generated five turnovers, five sacks and limited Houston to 107 yards.

At Landover, Md., the Washington Redskins allowed only 166 yards, and John Hall kicked three field goals. Washington lost QB Patrick Ramsey to a neck injury, but Mark Brunell entered to lead three drives for field goals, powered in part by the running of Clinton Portis, who rushed for 121 yards on 21 carries.Kyle Orton was the first rookie quarterback to start for Chicago on opening day in 51 years. He went 15-of-28 for 141 yards.