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Patriots beat Colts at NFL
The New England Patriots stayed on course for an unbeaten season and beat Super Bowl champion Indianapolis 24-20 on Sunday.
Indianapolis:
The New England Patriots stayed on course for an unbeaten season as Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in a four-minute span of the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Super Bowl champion Indianapolis 24-20 on Sunday.
The win in one of the NFL's biggest regular-season games ever made the Patriots (9-0) as stronger threat for the NFL's first unbeaten season since Miami did it in 1972 and gives them the first tiebreaker over Indianapolis (7-1) in the AFC playoffs.
New England, which had been averaging more than 41 points a game and had beaten eight opponents by an average of more than 25 points, trailed 20-10 after Peyton Manning scored on a 1-yard sneak with 9:42 left.
However, Brady's 55-yard completion to Randy Moss set up a 3-yard TD pass to Wes Welker. Rosevelt Colvin knocked the ball loose from Manning to force a punt on the next series.
Then Brady found Kevin Faulk over the middle for 13 yards for the winning score with 3:15 left.
Browns 33, Seahawks 30, OT
At Cleveland, Phil Dawson kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give the Browns a comeback win and their first three-game winning streak since 2001.
Jamal Lewis rushed for a career-high four touchdowns, the last with 2:17 remaining in regulation, for the Browns (5-3), who trailed 21-6 in the first half.
Derek Anderson brought them back, and Cleveland's poor defense, which came in as the NFL's worst-ranked unit, made a stop - helped by a review - on a fourth-down play in OT.
Dawson, who hooked an extra point in the first half, atoned for his miss by kicking the winner on second down 5:43 into OT - to send a crowd of more than 70,000 into a frenzy. The Browns went just 4-12 last season and were given little chance of being competitive this season.
Vikings 35, Chargers 17
At Minneapolis, Adrian Peterson raced to the NFL's single-game rushing record with 296 yards.
After giving up the longest play in league history on a missed field goal right before halftime, Minnesota (3-5) pressured Philip Rivers into one of the worst games of his career and made sure LaDainian Tomlinson didn't come close to matching Peterson's performance.
San Diego (4-4) lost a November game for the first time since 2003 and reverted to the shaky play on both sides of the ball that led to a 1-3 start.
But the Chargers got a 109-yard runback with a missed 57-yard field goal by Antonio Cromartie just before halftime, breaking the NFL mark by 1 yard.
But Peterson:
- topped 200 yards rushing for the second time in one season, a feat no other rookie has accomplished.
- scored two of his three touchdowns and gained 253 yards in the second half, helping the Vikings rally from a 14-7 deficit.
- reached 1,036 yards rushing for the season, putting him on pace to smash Eric Dickerson's rookie record of 1,808 set in 1983.
Cowboys 38, Eagles 17
At Philadelphia, Terrell Owens caught 10 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown nearly two years to the day that the star receiver was banished from the Eagles.
Tony Romo threw three TD passes, Marion Barber had 106 total yards and one score and the NFC East-leading Cowboys improved to 7-1 for the first time since 1995 - when they last won a Super Bowl.
Desperately needing a victory to have any hope of defending their division championship, the last-place Eagles (3-5) were dominated on both sides.
It's the worst start for Philadelphia since Andy Reid became coach in 1999.
Packers 33, Chiefs 22
At Kansas City, Missouri, Brett Favre hit Greg Jennings for a 60-yard touchdown pass with 3:05 to go, giving the Green Bay quarterback victories over each of the other 31 teams in the league.
It's a career milestone that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady achieved just one week before.
The Chiefs (4-4) had taken a 22-16 lead on Damon Huard's 17-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez and a 2-point conversion run by Priest Holmes, who came in when Larry Johnson injured his foot a few minutes earlier.
Jennings, whose 82-yard touchdown catch on the first play of overtime lifted Green Bay (7-1) past Denver six days earlier, went streaking down the middle of the field.
He beat Patrick Surtain and Donnie Edwards for the Packers' sixth straight road win.
Mason Crosby added a 45-yard field goal and, with 59 seconds to go, Charles Woodson intercepted Huard's pass and went 46 yards for a touchdown.
The Packers scored 17 points in the final 3:05.
Saints 41, Jaguars 24
At New Orleans, Drew Brees threw for 445 yards and three touchdowns, and Mike McKenzie returned an interception 75 yards for a score as New Orleans won its fourth straight.
Now all the preseason hype seems a little more justified as the Saints (4-4) have become legitimate contenders in the NFC South again, only a half-game behind division-leading Tampa Bay (5-4).
This latest victory over Jacksonville (5-3) was the Saints' most impressive and the Saints also proved they can indeed play with the AFC, against which they were 0-5 since beating Cleveland on opening day of 2006.
Lions 44, Broncos 7
At Detroit, Jon Kitna threw two touchdown passes and the Lions scored twice on defense.
The Lions (6-2) have established themselves as a legitimate contender in the NFC and perhaps the surprise team in the league at the midway point of their season.
They already have twice as many wins as last year and have matched the most victories in any season under team president Matt Millen.
Detroit, which has won three straight, more than doubled its largest margin of victory since Millen took over in 2001.
Titans 20, Panthers 7
At Nashville, Tennessee, Vince Young and LenDale White each ran for a touchdown, and Albert Haynesworth had three of the Titans' season-high seven sacks as Tennessee got its third straight victory.
The Titans (6-2) finished their trip through the NFC South at 3-1 and ruined the Panthers' first game at Tennessee. White finished with 100 yards, his third straight game with 100 or more.
It was the Titans' defense that thrived in a sloppy game that featured 10 penalties each.
Buccaneers 17, Cardinals 10
At Tampa, Florida, stingy defense was the Buccaneers' hallmark for most of the past decade, and it was the key as they surpassed their victory total for last season.
In addition to Tanard Jackson's second-quarter interception, which set up a field goal, the Bucs limited the Cardinals to one first down and 78 yards total offense in the opening half.
Arizona (3-5), averaging 337.3 yards per game, finished with a season-low 195.
Jeff Garcia threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway, while Earnest Graham scored on a 2-yard run and had his first 100-yard rushing performance as a pro (124) for the Bucs (5-4), whose 4-12 record a year ago was the franchise's worst since 1991.
Redskins 23, Jets 20, OT
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Shaun Suisham tied a franchise record with his fifth field goal, a 46-yarder with 7:43 left in overtime.
Clinton Portis rushed for 196 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries as Washington (5-3) beat New York for the eighth time in nine meetings.
The Redskins, who won their second overtime game of the season after beating Miami in the season opener, had to erase a 14-point deficit in this one.
The Jets (1-8) tied it at 20 with 10 seconds left in regulation on Mike Nugent's 30-yard field goal, but New York couldn't do much after getting a 39-yard reception by Jerricho Cotchery to open the extra period.
Portis gained 37 yards on the drive to get the Redskins into field-goal position. Suisham, who also had kicks of 46, 40, 22 and 40 yards, nailed the winning kick.
Bills 33, Bengals 21
At Orchard Park, New York, rookie running back Marshawn Lynch threw for a touchdown and scored another rushing against the defensively porous and fully demoralized Bengals.
It was a breakout performance for Lynch, who had a career-best 153 yards rushing, including a 56-yard TD run that put the game away with 2:22 remaining.
He also had an 8-yard touchdown pass to Robert Royal that put the Bills ahead for good.
The Bills (4-4) won their third straight, their best stretch since winning six straight in 2004, and produced 479 yards of total offense, their most since getting 579 in a 42-23 win at Seattle to end the 2000 season.
The 33 points were also the most Buffalo has scored since a 37-27 win at Cincinnati on Dec. 24, 2005.
Falcons 20, 49ers 16
At Atlanta, Warrick Dunn became the first Atlanta back to run for 100 yards this season, Ovie Mughelli had the first rushing TD of his career and the Falcons won a matchup between two of the league's worst teams.
The game was blacked out locally, the first time that's happened in Atlanta since 2001. The Georgia Dome was far from packed after 56 consecutive sellouts, the city clearly losing interest in a losing squad that no longer has Michael Vick to liven things up.
Dunn rushed for 100 yards on 27 carries, including a 9-yard touchdown. Mughelli, a fullback who essentially serves as another offensive lineman, scored on a 1-yard plunge with just his third carry of the season.
Morten Andersen handled the rest of the scoring for the Falcons (2-6) with a couple of fourth-quarter field goals.
Texans 24, Raiders 17
At Oakland, California, Sage Rosenfels connected with Andre' Davis on a 42-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter that helped Houston snap a three-game skid.
Getting his first start of the season in place of the injured Matt Schaub, Rosenfels produced little for Houston (4-5) until after the Raiders (2-6) cut a 17-point deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter.
Ron Dayne, who rushed for a season-high 122 yards, bulled his way to the Oakland 42.
Then on third-and-2, Davis sped past cornerback Stanford Routt and caught the long TD pass that gave the Texans a 24-10 lead with 7:50 to go.
The win in one of the NFL's biggest regular-season games ever made the Patriots (9-0) as stronger threat for the NFL's first unbeaten season since Miami did it in 1972 and gives them the first tiebreaker over Indianapolis (7-1) in the AFC playoffs.
New England, which had been averaging more than 41 points a game and had beaten eight opponents by an average of more than 25 points, trailed 20-10 after Peyton Manning scored on a 1-yard sneak with 9:42 left.
However, Brady's 55-yard completion to Randy Moss set up a 3-yard TD pass to Wes Welker. Rosevelt Colvin knocked the ball loose from Manning to force a punt on the next series.
Then Brady found Kevin Faulk over the middle for 13 yards for the winning score with 3:15 left.
Browns 33, Seahawks 30, OT
At Cleveland, Phil Dawson kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to give the Browns a comeback win and their first three-game winning streak since 2001.
Jamal Lewis rushed for a career-high four touchdowns, the last with 2:17 remaining in regulation, for the Browns (5-3), who trailed 21-6 in the first half.
Derek Anderson brought them back, and Cleveland's poor defense, which came in as the NFL's worst-ranked unit, made a stop - helped by a review - on a fourth-down play in OT.
Dawson, who hooked an extra point in the first half, atoned for his miss by kicking the winner on second down 5:43 into OT - to send a crowd of more than 70,000 into a frenzy. The Browns went just 4-12 last season and were given little chance of being competitive this season.
Vikings 35, Chargers 17
At Minneapolis, Adrian Peterson raced to the NFL's single-game rushing record with 296 yards.
After giving up the longest play in league history on a missed field goal right before halftime, Minnesota (3-5) pressured Philip Rivers into one of the worst games of his career and made sure LaDainian Tomlinson didn't come close to matching Peterson's performance.
San Diego (4-4) lost a November game for the first time since 2003 and reverted to the shaky play on both sides of the ball that led to a 1-3 start.
But the Chargers got a 109-yard runback with a missed 57-yard field goal by Antonio Cromartie just before halftime, breaking the NFL mark by 1 yard.
But Peterson:
- topped 200 yards rushing for the second time in one season, a feat no other rookie has accomplished.
- scored two of his three touchdowns and gained 253 yards in the second half, helping the Vikings rally from a 14-7 deficit.
- reached 1,036 yards rushing for the season, putting him on pace to smash Eric Dickerson's rookie record of 1,808 set in 1983.
Cowboys 38, Eagles 17
At Philadelphia, Terrell Owens caught 10 passes for 174 yards and one touchdown nearly two years to the day that the star receiver was banished from the Eagles.
Tony Romo threw three TD passes, Marion Barber had 106 total yards and one score and the NFC East-leading Cowboys improved to 7-1 for the first time since 1995 - when they last won a Super Bowl.
Desperately needing a victory to have any hope of defending their division championship, the last-place Eagles (3-5) were dominated on both sides.
It's the worst start for Philadelphia since Andy Reid became coach in 1999.
Packers 33, Chiefs 22
At Kansas City, Missouri, Brett Favre hit Greg Jennings for a 60-yard touchdown pass with 3:05 to go, giving the Green Bay quarterback victories over each of the other 31 teams in the league.
It's a career milestone that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady achieved just one week before.
The Chiefs (4-4) had taken a 22-16 lead on Damon Huard's 17-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez and a 2-point conversion run by Priest Holmes, who came in when Larry Johnson injured his foot a few minutes earlier.
Jennings, whose 82-yard touchdown catch on the first play of overtime lifted Green Bay (7-1) past Denver six days earlier, went streaking down the middle of the field.
He beat Patrick Surtain and Donnie Edwards for the Packers' sixth straight road win.
Mason Crosby added a 45-yard field goal and, with 59 seconds to go, Charles Woodson intercepted Huard's pass and went 46 yards for a touchdown.
The Packers scored 17 points in the final 3:05.
Saints 41, Jaguars 24
At New Orleans, Drew Brees threw for 445 yards and three touchdowns, and Mike McKenzie returned an interception 75 yards for a score as New Orleans won its fourth straight.
Now all the preseason hype seems a little more justified as the Saints (4-4) have become legitimate contenders in the NFC South again, only a half-game behind division-leading Tampa Bay (5-4).
This latest victory over Jacksonville (5-3) was the Saints' most impressive and the Saints also proved they can indeed play with the AFC, against which they were 0-5 since beating Cleveland on opening day of 2006.
Lions 44, Broncos 7
At Detroit, Jon Kitna threw two touchdown passes and the Lions scored twice on defense.
The Lions (6-2) have established themselves as a legitimate contender in the NFC and perhaps the surprise team in the league at the midway point of their season.
They already have twice as many wins as last year and have matched the most victories in any season under team president Matt Millen.
Detroit, which has won three straight, more than doubled its largest margin of victory since Millen took over in 2001.
Titans 20, Panthers 7
At Nashville, Tennessee, Vince Young and LenDale White each ran for a touchdown, and Albert Haynesworth had three of the Titans' season-high seven sacks as Tennessee got its third straight victory.
The Titans (6-2) finished their trip through the NFC South at 3-1 and ruined the Panthers' first game at Tennessee. White finished with 100 yards, his third straight game with 100 or more.
It was the Titans' defense that thrived in a sloppy game that featured 10 penalties each.
Buccaneers 17, Cardinals 10
At Tampa, Florida, stingy defense was the Buccaneers' hallmark for most of the past decade, and it was the key as they surpassed their victory total for last season.
In addition to Tanard Jackson's second-quarter interception, which set up a field goal, the Bucs limited the Cardinals to one first down and 78 yards total offense in the opening half.
Arizona (3-5), averaging 337.3 yards per game, finished with a season-low 195.
Jeff Garcia threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway, while Earnest Graham scored on a 2-yard run and had his first 100-yard rushing performance as a pro (124) for the Bucs (5-4), whose 4-12 record a year ago was the franchise's worst since 1991.
Redskins 23, Jets 20, OT
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Shaun Suisham tied a franchise record with his fifth field goal, a 46-yarder with 7:43 left in overtime.
Clinton Portis rushed for 196 yards and a touchdown on 36 carries as Washington (5-3) beat New York for the eighth time in nine meetings.
The Redskins, who won their second overtime game of the season after beating Miami in the season opener, had to erase a 14-point deficit in this one.
The Jets (1-8) tied it at 20 with 10 seconds left in regulation on Mike Nugent's 30-yard field goal, but New York couldn't do much after getting a 39-yard reception by Jerricho Cotchery to open the extra period.
Portis gained 37 yards on the drive to get the Redskins into field-goal position. Suisham, who also had kicks of 46, 40, 22 and 40 yards, nailed the winning kick.
Bills 33, Bengals 21
At Orchard Park, New York, rookie running back Marshawn Lynch threw for a touchdown and scored another rushing against the defensively porous and fully demoralized Bengals.
It was a breakout performance for Lynch, who had a career-best 153 yards rushing, including a 56-yard TD run that put the game away with 2:22 remaining.
He also had an 8-yard touchdown pass to Robert Royal that put the Bills ahead for good.
The Bills (4-4) won their third straight, their best stretch since winning six straight in 2004, and produced 479 yards of total offense, their most since getting 579 in a 42-23 win at Seattle to end the 2000 season.
The 33 points were also the most Buffalo has scored since a 37-27 win at Cincinnati on Dec. 24, 2005.
Falcons 20, 49ers 16
At Atlanta, Warrick Dunn became the first Atlanta back to run for 100 yards this season, Ovie Mughelli had the first rushing TD of his career and the Falcons won a matchup between two of the league's worst teams.
The game was blacked out locally, the first time that's happened in Atlanta since 2001. The Georgia Dome was far from packed after 56 consecutive sellouts, the city clearly losing interest in a losing squad that no longer has Michael Vick to liven things up.
Dunn rushed for 100 yards on 27 carries, including a 9-yard touchdown. Mughelli, a fullback who essentially serves as another offensive lineman, scored on a 1-yard plunge with just his third carry of the season.
Morten Andersen handled the rest of the scoring for the Falcons (2-6) with a couple of fourth-quarter field goals.
Texans 24, Raiders 17
At Oakland, California, Sage Rosenfels connected with Andre' Davis on a 42-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter that helped Houston snap a three-game skid.
Getting his first start of the season in place of the injured Matt Schaub, Rosenfels produced little for Houston (4-5) until after the Raiders (2-6) cut a 17-point deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter.
Ron Dayne, who rushed for a season-high 122 yards, bulled his way to the Oakland 42.
Then on third-and-2, Davis sped past cornerback Stanford Routt and caught the long TD pass that gave the Texans a 24-10 lead with 7:50 to go.
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