DENVER — The Denver Broncos were on such a lucky streak, why not roll the dice?

Showing ultimate confidence in his offense and maybe an equal dollop of distrust in his defense, Mike Shanahan went for the 2-point conversion with 29 seconds left and Jay Cutler hit rookie Eddie Royal over the middle to give the Denver Broncos a 39-38 win over San Diego yesterday.

"Sometimes you have to go with your gut," Shanahan said. "I just felt like it was a chance for us to put them away. I didn't want to count on the coin flip. I wanted to do it then, and obviously it worked out."

The Chargers (0-2) were both stunned and steamed at their second straight loss in the waning seconds.

The Broncos (2-0) had the ball because an errant whistle had erased Cutler's lost fumble two plays earlier.

Trailing 38-31, the Broncos reached the 1 but on second-and-goal, Cutler reared back to throw and the ball slipped out of his hands, bounced off the grass and into linebacker Tim Dobbins' arms.

"Fumble, I think," acknowledged Cutler, who blamed the slick, new ball.

Referee Ed Hochuli blew his whistle when the ball came out, ruling it an incomplete pass. A review showed that it should have been ruled a fumble. Instant replay rules, however, don't allow the opponent to gain possession in such situations.

"On the last play, it was clearly a fumble," Chargers coach Norv Turner fumed. "Ed came over, the official, and said he blew it. And that's not acceptable to me. This is a high-level performance game and that's not acceptable to have a game decided on that play."

Two plays after his fumble was overruled, Cutler hit Royal from 4 yards to make it 38-37.

Cutler again found Royal in the end zone for the winner on the exact same route.

Patriots 19, Jets 10: Matt Cassel was efficient running the offense in his first NFL start, taking over for the injured Tom Brady. Cassel, who hadn't started at any level since his senior year of high school, was 16 of 23 for 165 yards, Sammy Morris ran for a touchdown and Stephen Gostkowski kicked four field goals for New England (2-0). The Patriots ruined the Jets' home opener and Brett Favre's first regular-season home start for New York (1-1).

Giants 41, Rams 13: Eli Manning threw three touchdown passes and the Giants sacked Marc Bulger six times as visiting New York (2-0) overwhelmed St. Louis (0-2). Justin Tuck's 41-yard interception return in the fourth quarter sealed the victory, and he added a pair of sacks. Fred Robbins also had two sacks for the Giants. Manning was 20 for 29 for 260 yards.

Colts 18, Vikings 15: Taking a beating all afternoon, Peyton Manning peeled himself off the Metrodome turf and gave it right back to the Minnesota defense. Manning rallied visiting Indianapolis (1-1) from a 15-0 hole late in the third quarter, moving Adam Vinatieri into position for the winning field goal with 3 seconds left. Manning zinged a 20-yard pass on third-and-9 to Reggie Wayne up the seam before Vinatieri made his 47-yard kick to beat Minnesota (0-2).

Packers 48, Lions 25: Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes in the first four drives of his second start, helping visiting Green Bay (2-0) build a big lead. Green Bay led 21-0 midway through the second quarter, but fell behind by a point with 7:41 left after Calvin Johnson caught his second TD in the fourth quarter for Detroit (0-2). The Packers went back ahead with a field goal on the ensuing drive, then turned the game into a rout with three straight interceptions.

Steelers 10, Browns 6: Ignoring his sore right shoulder and wind gusts of 60 mph, Ben Roethlisberger threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward as visiting Pittsburgh (2-0) made it 10 straight wins over its closest rival. During the game, it was disclosed on TV that Roethlisberger sustained a separated shoulder last week in a win over Houston. He completed 12 of 19 for 186 yards against Cleveland (0-2).

Raiders 23, Chiefs 8: Rookie Darren McFadden ran for 164 yards and a touchdown, and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a team-record 56-yard field goal for visiting Oakland (1-1) against Kansas City (0-2). Lane Kiffin, amid reports that his job is in jeopardy, won for just the fifth time in 18 games as coach of Oakland. The Chiefs' young defense gave up 300 yards rushing, including 90 by Michael Bush.

Titans 24, Bengals 7: With Vince Young not even with the team, visiting Tennessee (2-0) ended a troubling and confusing week by winning in a breeze. Backup quarterback Kerry Collins threw low, tight passes that stayed on track in Cincinnati's wind-tunnel of a stadium. Collins threw his first touchdown pass in two years, and rookie Chris Johnson ran for 109 yards against Cincinnati (0-2).

Bills 20, Jaguars 16: Trent Edwards was good early and even better late, doing just enough to lead visiting Buffalo (2-0) to its best start in five years. Edwards completed his first 10 attempts and threw a touchdown pass to James Hardy late in the fourth quarter against Jacksonville (0-2). Edwards finished 20 of 25 for 239 yards, and Marshawn Lynch ran for 59 yards and a score.

Panthers 20, Bears 17: Jonathan Stewart rushed for all but one of his 77 yards in the second half and scored two touchdowns, including the go-ahead TD late in the fourth quarter, and host Carolina (2-0) stopped Chicago (1-1) on fourth-and-1 with under 2 minutes left. The Panthers scored the game's final 17 points, recovering from a mistake-prone first half, behind their improved defense.

Cardinals 31, Dolphins 10: Kurt Warner looked like he did in his MVP days, Anquan Boldin certainly wasn't sulking over contract woes, and Larry Fitzgerald caught almost everything thrown his way for host Arizona (2-0). Warner completed 19 of 24 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions against Miami (0-2). Boldin caught all three scores, a career high. Fitzgerald caught six for 153 yards, his 14th 100-yard game.

Buccaneers 24, Falcons 9: Rookie Matt Ryan was intercepted twice in the first half and Tampa Bay's Brian Griese turned the miscues into a touchdown and field goal. Ryan threw incompletions on his first nine passes before settling down to keep visiting Atlanta (1-1) in the game with three field-goal drives that trimmed a 17-point deficit to eight with 5 minutes to go against Tampa Bay (1-1).

Redskins 29, Saints 24: Jason Campbell hit Santana Moss for a 67-yard touchdown pass with 3:29 left that won the game for host Washington (1-1). It was Redskins coach Jim Zorn's first victory. Campbell completed 24 of 36 passes for 321 yards against New Orleans (1-1).