East Rutherford, N.J. ? A little bit older, a little more experienced, Peyton Manning was also a little bit better than Eli in the Manning Bowl.

The Indianapolis Colts also made fewer mistakes than the New York Giants on Sunday night in the first NFL game to feature two brothers starting at quarterback.

Big brother Peyton was 25-of-41 for 276 yards and a touchdown, and the Colts scored on five of their first seven possessions to defeat Eli and the Giants, 26-21.

“It was a great ballgame tonight,” Peyton Manning said. “I am glad it’s over – looking forward to some ‘regular’-season games. This wasn’t a regular game.”

If the much-hyped nationally televised matchup made Archie Manning and his wife, Olivia, proud, they hardly showed it: The parents displayed little emotion from the luxury box where they sat, the father often slumping uncomfortably into his chair and the mother sitting stiffly, staring straight ahead.

After it was over, the siblings came to midfield, surrounded by photographers, big brother patting little brother on the back of his head.

“I told him I loved him, I’m proud of him,” Peyton Manning said. “He played his butt off out there, made some huge plays, kept our defense off-balance and put a lot of pressure on our offense to score.

“I was impressed. He is poised, very cool back there, polished. He is going to be a heck of a player for a long time.”

Adam Vinatieri, the hero of two Super Bowl victories by the New England Patriots, kicked four field goals in his first game for the defending AFC South champions, including a 32-yarder with 1:12 to play to push the lead to five points.

Indianapolis colts quarterback peyton Manning, right, walks off the field with his brother, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, after the two played each other. Peyton's Colts beat Eli's Giants, 26-21, Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

Dominic Rhodes also scored on a one-yard run early in the fourth quarter for a 23-14 lead.

Eli Manning threw a late interception that followed a questionable offensive-pass-interference call against Tim Carter. Without that call, the completion would have given the Giants a first down at their own 37. Instead, Peyton Manning took over and moved Indianapolis 19 yards for an insurance field goal.

The two mistakes were just the big ones by Eli.

Giants defenders dropped two potential first-half interceptions that could have stopped scoring drives. Jay Feely missed a 40-yard field goal, and the Giants had a plethora of penalties that slowed or ended drives, including an illegal snap by center Shaun O’Hara with 17 seconds to play that forced officials to take 10 seconds off the clock.

That allowed Eli Manning to throw one more pass – and it fell incomplete.

The Giants, who also got a 110-yard rushing effort from Tiki Barber, had closed within 23-21 on a one-yard touchdown run by Brandon Jacobs with 8:01 to play. It marked the second time that the Giants, who had trailed 13-0 late in the first half, had rallied to close the gap to two points.

Peyton Manning was nearly unstoppable in the first half. The Colts had the ball four times, scoring on each possession. Big brother hit 17 of 27 passes for 196 yards, converted nine of 11 third-down chances and helped Indianapolis control the ball for 17:37 in taking a 16-7 halftime edge.

Patriots 19, Bills 17

Foxborough, Mass. – New England came back from an ugly start, going ahead on a fourth-quarter safety to beat Buffalo.

The Patriots trailed by 10 points at halftime in their first season opener in three years not preceded by the unveiling of a championship banner.

It was Bill Belichick’s 100th career victory as a head coach.

Saints 19, Browns 14

Cleveland – Reggie Bush neither dazzled nor disappointed in his NFL debut, but he got a win, teaming with Drew Brees to lead rebuilt New Orleans and give coach Sean Payton a win in his first game.

Bush, whose arrival in New Orleans has given the city’s football fans renewed optimism in the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, finished with 141 total yards. The Heisman Trophy winner had 61 yards rushing on 14 attempts, caught eight passes for 58 yards and returned three punts for 22.

John Carney kicked four field goals, the last one with 5:42 remaining, and Brees, who signed a free-agent contract in March, threw a 12-yard TD pass to rookie Marques Colston in the third quarter.

Lions 9, Seahawks 6

Detroit – The defending NFC champions got off on the right foot when Josh Brown kicked a 42-yard field goal on the last play of the game.

The Seahawks, who led the NFL in scoring last season, started the game-winning drive at their 20 with 3:13 left after Lions’ new coach Rod Marinelli decided against a long field-goal attempt. All the scores in the game came on field goals.

Maurice Morris, who shared time with last year’s league MVP Shaun Alexander, set up the game-winning kick with a 17-yard run on the same field where the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh seven months ago.

Falcons 20, Panthers 6

Charlotte, N.C. – John Abraham had two sacks and forced two fumbles in his first game with the Falcons, while Michael Vick threw two touchdown passes as Atlanta made up for two losses by a combined score of 68-17 last season.

Warrick Dunn rushed for 132 yards for the Falcons, who had 252 on the ground in all, the second most allowed by the Panthers.

Behind a revamped defensive line, the Falcons dominated the Panthers, who managed only two long field goals from John Kasay as they played without All-Pro receiver Steve Smith, inactive due to a right hamstring injury.

Ravens 27, Buccaneers 0

Tampa, Fla. – Steve McNair started his first game for the Ravens, but it was the defense that stood out as Baltimore broke an 11-game road losing streak.

Chris McAlister returned one of the Ravens’ three interceptions 61 yards for a touchdown, and 340-pound rookie Haloti Ngata lumbered 60 yards with a tipped pass to set up a field goal.

Rams 18, Broncos 10

St. Louis – Jeff Wilkins kicked a franchise-record six field goals, and the new-look St. Louis defense forced five turnovers.

The Rams clinched the victory when Denver quarterback Jake Plummer threw his third interception.

Scott Linehan’s NFL coaching debut was a success, but much of it was owed to Jim Haslett, the new St. Louis defensive coordinator who was the New Orleans Saints’ head coach the previous six seasons.

The only touchdown came on a one-yard run by Denver’s Mike Bell in a game that bore no resemblance to the last time the Rams and Broncos opened the season, a 41-36 shootout won by St. Louis in 2000.

Eagles 24, Texans 10

Houston – Donovan McNabb and Donte’ Stallworth are on their way to erasing the ugly scar Terrell Owens left on the Eagles.

McNabb threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns, including one to Stallworth, who had six catches for 141 yards.

The game was Stallworth’s debut with the Eagles after a trade from the Saints, and McNabb’s regular-season return after missing the final seven games of last season after surgery to repair a sports hernia. It was also a promising start to Philadelphia’s first post-T.O. season.

No. 1 pick Mario Williams had three tackles, but failed to make much of an impact while being shifted up and down the line in his and coach Gary Kubiak’s first game as Texans.

Jets 23, Titans 16

Nashville, Tenn. – Chad Pennington, returning from two shoulder operations in as many years, threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns.

The Titans trailed 16-0 until Travis Henry tied the game, rushing for two fourth quarter touchdowns within five minutes. His one-yarder with 5:58 left came one play after Pennington was sacked and fumbled at the one. The Titans added two-point conversions after each touchdown.

Pennington needed seven plays to put the Jets ahead after Justin Miller’s 41-yard kickoff return. The winning score came on a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Baker with 2:10 left.

The Jets’ Mike Nugent missed an extra point and two field-goal attempts.

Jaguars 24, Cowboys 17

Jacksonville, Fla. – Terrell Owens made his presence felt early and late.

As in, too early to hurt the Jaguars and too late to help the Cowboys.

Byron Leftwich threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score, and Fred Taylor had 115 combined yards to help Jacksonville beat the Cowboys, spoiling Owens’ much-anticipated debut with Dallas.

Owens finished with six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown, but the Jaguars held him without a catch through much of the second half.

Still, Owens keyed all three of Dallas’ scoring drives, including a 21-yard TD reception with 1:54 to play that cut the lead the 24-17.

Jacksonville recovered the onside kick and was forced to punt. The Cowboys got the ball back with 51 seconds to play, but Drew Bledsoe’s third-down pass was intercepted by linebacker Mike Peterson.

Bears 26, Packers 0

Green Bay, Wis. – Chicago barely let Brett Favre touch the ball, shutting out the three-time MVP for the first time in his 16-year pro career.

Quarterback Rex Grossman found Bernard Berrian for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive. It would be the Bears’ only offensive TD of the day, but Chicago moved the ball well enough to keep the game largely out of Favre’s hands.

Favre, who deliberated for several months before deciding to return to the Packers after a 4-12 season, threw only five passes in the first half – completing all five for only 70 yards.

Favre, in his 16th season, opened up the offense in the second half, but the quarterback couldn’t get the ball in the end zone and threw interceptions to Charles Tillman and Danieal Manning in the fourth quarter.

Cardinals 34, 49ers 27

Glendale, Ariz. – After 19 years in Arizona, the Cardinals finally have their own home – and maybe even a home-field advantage.

Kurt Warner completed 23 of 37 passes for 301 yards and three scores, the Cardinals turned two first-quarter San Francisco turnovers into touchdowns, and Arizona held on to beat the 49ers.

Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 63,407 in their $455 million, air conditioned new stadium, the Cardinals opened a season at home for the first time since the franchise moved to Arizona in 1988.