The New England Patriots squandered a 21-point third-quarter lead, then went ahead again before surviving a late scare in defeating the Indianapolis Colts 38-34 for their eighth straight win on Sunday.
The Colts nearly pulled off the victory, but were stalled on fourth-and-goal from the Patriot one-yard line on the next-to-last play of the game, Edgerrin James being dragged down for a loss by New England end Willie McGinest.
Patriots passer Tom Brady hooked up with Deion Branch from 13 yards for the game-winning touchdown and a 38-31 lead with 8:36 to play.
The Colts' Mike Vanderjagt made it a four-point game with a 29-yard field goal -- his second of the day and 32nd straight -- with 3:27 to play, but Indianapolis could not break down the New England defense again.
Peyton Manning found Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Troy Walters for 13, 26 and six-yard touchdowns in a six-minute span lapping the third and fourth quarters to rally Indianapolis from a three TD deficit.
Brady earlier passed to Dedric Ward for another Patriot touchdown, with Mike Cloud scoring twice more for New England on short runs.
Bengals 24, Steelers 20
In Pittsburgh, Jon Kitna hooked up with Matt Schobel from 18 yards with just 13 seconds remaining for his third touchdown of the day as the surging Cincinnati Bengals (7-5) rallied to edge the Steelers (4-8) 24-20 after blowing an early 14-3 lead.
Kitna also found Kelley Washington from 51 yards and Chad Johnson from four as Cincinnati won for the sixth time in seven outings.
Eagles 25, Panthers 16
In Charlotte, North Carolina, David Akers booted 35, 48, 38 and 29-yard field goals and Duce Staley ran two yards for a TD as the Philadelphia Eagles knocked off the Panthers 25-16 for their seventh straight victory, their best run since 1980.
Donovan McNabb found James Thrash from 10 yards for another Philly touchdown. Jake Delhomme passed to Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad for Carolina scores.
Rams 48, Vikings 17
In St. Louis, Marshall Faulk ran for 108 yards, including 18, five and seven-yard touchdowns, as the Rams won their 12th straight game at home, thumping the slumping Minnesota Vikings 48-17.
Marc Bulger ran and threw for two more St. Louis scores.
Texans 17, Falcons 13
In Houston, Domanick Davis ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns as the Texans edged the Atlanta Falcons 17-13, handing them their tenth loss.
Houston starter Tony Banks left at the half with a broken right hand, replaced by David Carr, while Michael Vick came on in relief of Atlanta starter Doug Johnson and went 8-for-11 for 60 yards in his first action of the season after recovering from a fractured leg.
Ravens 44, 49ers 6
In Baltimore, the Ravens scored twice in the last minute of the first half on their way to a 44-6 rout of the San Francisco 49ers.
Anthony Wright hooked up with Marcus Robinson for his first of two passing touchdowns, then Ray Lewis returned one of four errant Jeff Garcia passes 29 yards for the other late first-half Ravens score.
Bears 28, Cardinals 3
In Chicago, Kordell Stewart passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns, hooking up with Marty Booker and Dez White, and ran eight yards for another as the Bears romped 28-3 over the Arizona Cardinals.
Bills 24, Giants 7
In East Rutherford, Drew Bledsoe threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns as the Buffalo Bills surprised the cross-state New York Giants 24-7.
RSS