The Detroit Lions traded wide receiver Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys just prior to the NFL’s trading deadline on Tuesday afternoon. The player pegged as the most likely to be dealt, Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez, stayed put.

The Cowboys surrendered first-, third- and sixth-round draft picks in 2009 to the Lions for Williams and a seventh-round selection next year.

NFL scores week 4

Life without Tom Brady might not be so bad for New England after all.

Matt Cassel was efficient running the offense in his first NFL start, taking over for the injured quarterback and leading the Patriots over Brett Favre and the New York Jets 19-10 on Sunday.

“I thought Matt did a good job,” coach Bill Belichick said. “It wasn’t perfect. We had some rough spots. He did a good job of making good decisions. He didn’t put us in any bad situations and made some good positive plays. I thought he managed the game well.”

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.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got to have more points than the other team and that’s what we did, so I’m satisfied,” Cassel said. “I didn’t have too many butterflies going out. I’ve been in the system for four years, so I’m confident I know I can run it.”

The Jets, slight favorites going in, and Patriots receiver Randy Moss said New England was still the team to beat even without Brady, who was lost for the season last Sunday when he injured his left knee against Kansas City.

The Patriots (2-0) then showed why, ruining the Jets’ home opener and Favre’s first regular-season home start for New York.

“We knew we had to play our best football to win,” Favre said, “and we weren’t able to do that.”

New England won its 21st straight regular-season game, and beat the Jets for the eighth straight time at the Meadowlands.

“To come in here, to this hostile environment, and win when everyone picked you to lose, is great,” safety Rodney Harrison said. “With all the stuff we had to go through and endure last week with Tom, this is a great victory.”

Favre went 18-of-26 for 181 yards and a TD for the Jets (1-1), but the Patriots took advantage of a big mistake by the veteran.

With the Jets facing a third-and-22 from their 11, Favre ran out of the pocket to his left and flung a pass to Chansi Stuckey for 28 yards. Three plays later, though, Favre made a poor decision, hanging a pass intended for Chris Baker that was easily picked off by Brandon Meriweather. It was Favre’s first interception with the Jets.

“I just underthrew it,” Favre said. “I saw the guy and maybe I got a little greedy. … I made a bad throw. I’d like to tell you something different.”

On third-and-9 from the 30, Cassel threw a screen to Kevin Faulk, who got a few blocks and got down to the 8. Three plays later, Morris leaped over the pile for a 1-yard touchdown to make it 13-3.

“A lot of it is comfort level,” said Cassel, who backed up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern California. “I don’t have as much experience as Tom, of course, but I think I was OK managing the game.”

Gostkowski added a 28-yard field goal with 17 seconds left in the third quarter.

Favre led the Jets back into it, connecting with Stuckey for a 2-yard touchdown with 10:18 left, but Gostkowski kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 19-10 as the Patriots ticked 5 minutes off the clock.

NEW ORLEANS - Marques Colston, the New Orleans Saints’ top receiver during the past two seasons, had surgery on his left thumb and will miss four to six weeks.

Colston said he had a torn ligament resulting from a play Sunday when he reached forward to make a catch while taking a helmet-first hit to his hands from Ronde Barber.

“I don’t know if my thumb just got caught in an awkward position. It just bent all the way backward,” said Colston, who was wearing a cast over his left hand. “I guess the only silver lining is that I’m going to have a chance to come back and play a good portion of the season and hopefully be back in time for that playoff push.”

Colston tried to continue playing with the injury during the Saints’ 24-20 victory over Tampa Bay, but finished with only three catches for 26 yards. He made one catch after the injury.

Colston was a seventh-round draft choice out of Hofstra in 2006. At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, he provides quarterback Drew Brees a big target and emerged as one of Brees’ favorite receivers during his rookie year. Colston went on to compile 2,241 yards receiving for 19 touchdowns in his first two seasons.

His 168 catches are more than any NFL receiver has had through only two seasons. During the summer, Colston agreed to a three-year contract extension that could keep him in New Orleans through the 2011 season.

“It’s tough, especially when you lose a guy as productive as him,” Brees said after Wednesday’s practice. “But there’s always an opportunity for a younger guy to step up or guys that might not get as much playing time ordinarily to step up and contribute even more.

“I’m confident with all our guys. However we piece it together, whoever is on the field knows what to do and they know they’ll get their opportunities.”

Most of Brees’ 343 yards and all three of his touchdown passes in the victory over Tampa Bay involved receivers other than Colston.

How much tougher it is for other receivers to get open without Colston drawing double coverage remains to be seen. But the Saints also have a new receiving threat in tight end Jeremy Shockey, who made his debut last Sunday with six catches for 54 yards, including a drive-extending 10-yard catch on third down that set up a field goal.

“It was good for him to come out and play as many snaps as he did and make six catches, some of them very big, and third-down conversions,” Brees said. “Certainly, he’s a guy I’m not going to shy away from for any reason even if we haven’t gotten as much time together as we hoped we would have through training camp, the preseason and such.”

Colston’s absence is expected to open the way for Robert Meachem to dress for a regular-season game for the first time since being drafted in the first round a year ago. New Orleans visits Washington on Sunday.

“You see the smile on my face? It’s a dream come true,” Meachem said. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make my teammates and coaches proud and so my family back home can hold their heads high.”

Meachem, who had a solid preseason that included a 60-yard touchdown and a 49-yard catch, was not sure why he was left off the active roster in the opener. The active receivers in the game were Colston, David Patten, Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Terrance Copper. Copper and Moore both also play on special teams.

he felt comfortable with the five guys who were at receiver. He’s been in the league a long time, so he knows what he’s doing. I didn’t second-guess that,” Meachem said. “Being a competitor, I wanted to be out there. It hurt not being out there, but we got the victory.”

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