NFL ROUNDUP \ News and notes

Colts: A day after hanging on for a 22-20 victory at Tennessee, a key road win in the AFC South, coach Tony Dungy gave his team a mixed review and suggested the Colts must play sharper if they intend to defend their Super Bowl title. “It was a good win for us, going into a tough place to win. That’s the glass is half full,” he said Monday. “The glass half empty is that we didn’t play as well as we did in Week 1.” Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning threw an uncharacteristic interception deep in his own territory that led to a Tennessee touchdown. Adam Vinatieri, the league’s best clutch kicker, missed a short field goal, had another bounce across the crossbar and had an extra point blocked. The defense that looked impressive against New Orleans struggled, at times, to get off the field. Dungy said he’s hopeful Freddy Keiaho (dislocated elbow) and Rob Morris (abdominal strain) will be back in the lineup this week against Houston (2-0)

Panthers: The weather was beautiful, the stadium was nearly full, and fans, dressed in black and blue shirts, were ready to cheer on their Panthers. And, as has become the norm, the home team disappointed. Losses such as Sunday’s 34-21 stinker to the Texans are nothing new for the Panthers, who have a better road record (23-18) than home (22-19) under coach John Fox. “It’s fun to win anywhere, but it’s special to win at home,” quarterback Jake Delhomme said Monday. “We had a good crowd and we didn’t play good football. I wish I had an answer for it.” The defeat, which dropped Carolina’s record in home openers to 3-10, was another puzzler a week after an impressive win at St. Louis. The Panthers jumped out to a 14-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old, and didn’t score again until the Texans had built a 20-point lead. “We didn’t do anything in the last 45 minutes that gave us a chance to win,” Fox said. “You turn it over, you have drops, you don’t execute on defense, on third down. All in all, you add that up and it’s usually not very good.”

Saints: Sean Payton showed no interest in calling out particular players on the winless Saints, or even criticizing their collective effort in a 31-14 loss at Tampa Bay that put last year’s NFL Cinderella story in an early 0-2 hole. There are no signs of any quitters or a lack of emotion on a squad that’s been outscored 72-24 in their first two games, the coach said. “I haven’t seen that at all. I don’t expect that. We’re in the second week of the season,” Payton said. “At the beginning of the season, I mentioned to them at some point during the course of the season you’re going to hit a skid ... you’re going to hit a stretch where you don’t play well, the games don’t go how you want. Obviously, you’d rather not hit that stretch the first two weeks in the season, but if you have the right guys in the locker room, which I think we do, then you know you’re going to get the right response.”

Vikings: Tarvaris Jackson’s groin injury has put Minnesota’s quarterback situation in question this week. Vikings coach Brad Childress said Jackson will start if he’s healthy, despite throwing four interceptions in Sunday’s overtime loss at Detroit. Jackson strained his groin earlier in the game on a run toward the sideline, and he felt a tug while setting up a screen pass on the first snap of the extra period. Brooks Bollinger came in, led the Vikings to midfield and fumbled a snap that the Lions recovered. They kicked the winning field goal five plays later.

Jaguars: Safety Gerald Sensabaugh is probably out for the season after injuring his shoulder Sunday against Atlanta. Sensabaugh was getting a second opinion Monday, but coach Jack Del Rio said he expected the third-year player to be placed on injured reserve. “We think he’s going to need surgery,” Del Rio said.

Texans: Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson could miss this week’s game against Indianapolis after injuring his knee against Carolina. Coach Gary Kubiak said an MRI on Johnson’s sprained left knee revealed no damage that would require surgery, but that it was “doubtful” he would play Sunday. Kubiak and Texans trainer Kevin Bastin said they should know more about Johnson’s condition after he is re-evaluated sometime in the middle of the week.

Associated Press