It was also the Redskins’ curtain-raiser for Mike Shanahan, and the longtime Denver Broncos coach watched his defense keep the Cowboys at bay when it mattered.
The Cowboys (0-1) moved inside the Redskins 40 on three of their first four drives and didn’t score, but the drive everyone will remember is the last one, which came after Graham Gano made a 49-yard field goal with 1:50 remaining to give the Redskins (1-0) a 13-7 lead.
With 3 seconds left, and the ball at the 13-yard line, Tony Romo scrambled to find Roy Williams open in the end zone. But Alex Barron was called for holding, negating the winning touchdown.
Romo completed 31 of 41 passes for 282 yards. Miles Austin caught 10 passes for 146 yards and scored the game’s only offensive touchdown.
Texans 34 Colts 24: In Houston, Arian Foster ran for a team-record 231 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Houston over Indianapolis.
Foster’s sensational opening-day effort allowed the Texans to end a six-game losing streak against Peyton Manning and the defending AFC champions.
Foster, an undrafted rookie who spent most of last season on the practice squad, had 33 carries in gaining the most yards by a Colts’ opponent. He had the NFL’s second-best opening weekend rushing performance since 1933, topped only by Buffalo’s O.J. Simpson’s 250 in 1973 against New England.
Foster also surpassed Domanick Davis’ team record of 158 yards rushing, set in 2004 at Jacksonville.
Manning completed 40 of 57 passes for 433 yards, the fourth-highest opening weekend passing yardage total since 1933, and three touchdowns. He threw a 10-yard TD pass to Dallas Clark with 4:54 left to cut Houston’s lead to 27-17, but Foster ran for 41 yards on the Texans’ next series and capped his day with an 8-yard TD run.
Packers 27 Eagles 20: In Philadelphia, Aaron Rodgers threw a pair of touchdown passes, Mason Crosby kicked a team-record 56-yard field goal and Green Bay won despite a vintage performance by Philadelphia’s Michael Vick .
In their first game since trading Donovan McNabb to Washington, the Eagles started with Kevin Kolb and finished with Vick. Kolb left with a concussion at halftime, so Vick played meaningful snaps for an extended period for the first time in nearly four years.
Vick, a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback during six seasons in Atlanta, invigorated an offense that was awful in the first half. He finished with 175 yards passing and ran for 103, but could overcome a 20-3 deficit.
Bears 19 Lions 14: In Chicago, Jay Cutler threw for 372 yards, including a 28-yard TD pass to Matt Forte with 1:32 left and Chicago held on against Detroit.
The Lions, who lost quarterback Matthew Stafford with a right shoulder injury late in the first half, nearly pulled out the win but Shaun Hill’s 25-yard pass to Calvin Johnson in the end zone with 25 seconds left was ruled incomplete after a review.
Two incompletions later, the Lions walked off the field with their 21st straight road loss.
Seahawks 31 49ers 6: In Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Seattle gave new coach Pete Carroll a winning start.
Carroll left Southern California after last season and is back coaching in the NFL for the first time in 11 years.
Cardinals 17 Rams 13: In St. Louis, Larry Fitzgerald caught a 21-yard touchdown pass for the go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter, helping Arizona spoil a solid debut by No. 1 pick Sam Bradford .
Buccaneers 17 Browns 14: In Tampa, Florida, Josh Freeman returned from a three-week layoff because of a broken thumb on his throwing hand and tossed a pair of touchdowns to help the Bucs overcome an 11-point deficit.
Freeman threw a 3-yard TD pass to Mike Williams late in the first half. The 6-foot-6, 248-pound quarterback kept the go-ahead drive alive with a key third-down completion, then found Micheal Spurlock in the end zone for a 33-yard score that put Tampa Bay ahead 17-14 with just under seven minutes to go.
Patriots 38 Bengals 24: In Foxborough, Massachusetts,  Tom Brady threw two of his three touchdown passes to Wes Welker to lead New England.
The season-opening victory came just three days after Brady was unhurt in a two-car crash then agreed to a contract making him the NFL’s highest paid player.
His day was made smoother by Welker, who caught eight passes for 64 yards less than eight months after surgery for a torn knee ligament.
Giants 31 Panthers 18: In East Rutherford, New Jersey,  the New York Giants opened their new $1.6 billion home by beating the Panthers with a big second half.
Trailing 16-14 at halftime, the Giants surged behind second-year receiver Hakeem Nicks , who caught his third touchdown pass from Eli Manning . Ahmad Bradshaw set up his own 4-yard TD run in the fourth quarter with a 39-yard romp that provided the cushion New York needed to get some revenge on Carolina.
The Panthers routed the Giants 41-9 in the hosts’ final game at Giants Stadium last December. But Carolina couldn’t match New York in the final two quarters before 77,245 fans — considered a sellout despite the unusual sight of hundreds of empty seats in the New Meadowlands Stadium.
Jaguars 24 Broncos 17: In Jacksonville, Florida,  David Garrard threw three touchdown passes, two to tight end Marcedes Lewis , and Jacksonville won a game the team called one of the most important in franchise history.
Garrard completed 16 of 21 passes for 170 yards. A big chunk of those went to Mike Thomas , who caught six passes for 89 yards. Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 98 yards.
The Jaguars, coming off a 7-9 season in which they blacked out nine of 10 home games, needed to get off to a good start to keep fans in the seats and eliminate more talk about relocation.
Tim Tebow’s debut made a victory even more imperative, especially since some Jaguars fans clamored for the former Florida star.
Steelers 15  Falcons 9, OT: In Pittsburgh, Rashard Mendenhall ran 50 yards for a touchdown 2:35 into overtime and the Steelers overcame a shaky start by replacement quarterback Dennis Dixon and a missed field goal attempt late in regulation.
With the Steelers leaning heavily on their running game and defense without suspended star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger , Mendenhall carried 22 times for 120 yards and the game’s only touchdown. Hines Ward made six catches for 108 yards in his club record 26th career 100-yard game.
Pittsburgh appeared ready to win it with 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but Jeff Reed , who has nine career game-winning kicks, was wide right on a 40-yard attempt.
Dolphins 15  Bills 10: In Orchard Park, New York, linebacker Karlos Dansby and Miami’s new-look defense provided the Dolphins with the quick start they were looking for.
Dansby, Miami’s top offseason free-agent addition, had a sack and eight tackles in helping the Dolphins limit the Bills to 166 yards on offense.
Ronnie Brown scored on a 1-yard plunge and Dan Carpenter hit field goals from 32 and 43 yards in allowing Miami to open the season with a win for the first time in five years. Chad Henne completed 21 of 34 passes for 182 yards for Miami.
The Bills supposed new-look offense had a familiar popgun appearance to it in Chan Gailey’s debut as coach.
Titans 38 Raiders 13: In Nashville, Tennessee, Chris Johnson ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns, Vince Young threw for two TDs and Javon Ringer had a TD, and the Titans avoided any comparisons to last year’s 0-6 start with a season-opening rout.
Oakland led 3-0 early after a Young fumble. Tennessee answered with 24 straight points to take control. The Titans also sacked new Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell four times and forced two turnovers they turned into 10 points.