The New England Patriots got another victory -- but quite a scare -- as they extended their NFL record for consecutive wins.
They stopped a late Seattle comeback to beat the Seahawks 30-20 Sunday, running their streak to 20 wins, including playoffs. They also tied the league record with their 17th consecutive regular-season victory.
PHOTO: AP
For a while, though, the streak appeared to be in jeopardy. The Seahawks, trailing 23-17, had a first down at the New England 13 with about 4 minutes left. But an intentional grounding penalty against Matt Hasselbeck forced Seattle (3-2) to settle for Josh Brown's fourth field goal, a 31-yarder with 3:01 to go.
Then the New England offense, facing a third-and-7 at its 40, came through with Tom Brady's 48-yard completion to a diving Bethel Johnson, only his third catch of the season, to the Seattle 12. The Seahawks challenged the play, but officials ruled Johnson had control of the ball before it hit the ground while he held onto it.
Three plays later, Corey Dillon put the game away with his second touchdown on a 7-yard run.
And just to show how seriously they take each play, the Patriots (5-0) stopped Shaun Alexander's run from their 1 even though there was no time left and they would have won even if Alexander scored.
Eagles 30, Panthers 8
In Philadelphia, overmatched and undermanned, the Panthers had no chance against the Eagles in a rematch of last season's NFC championship game.
Terrell Owens had all his 123 yards receiving in the first half and Lito Sheppard returned an interception 64 yards for a score for the undefeated Eagles (5-0).
Injury-depleted Carolina fell to 1-4. Only eight teams have overcome a 1-4 start to make the playoffs.
Jets 22, 49ers 14
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Chad Pennington led the Jets on a second-half comeback from a 14-3 halftime deficit and rookie linebacker Jonathan Vilma sealed the victory by intercepting Tim Rattay's poorly thrown pass with 1:44 to go.
New York made franchise history, improving to 5-0 for the first time. Curtis Martin finished with 111 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns, passing Marcus Allen for eighth place on the NFL career rushing list. Martin now has 12,282 career yards.
Pennington went 20-of-30 for 222 yards, including 11-of-14 for 117 yards in the second half.
Vikings 38, Saints 31
In New Orleans, Daunte Culpepper threw five touchdown passes for an NFL-record third time this season, leading the Minnesota Vikings to a victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Culpepper set the record without having favorite received Randy Moss, who went out with a hamstring injury, in the second half.
Culpepper completed 26 of 37 passes for 425 yards. The Vikings had 605 yards of offense.
Rookie running back Mewelde Moore had another big game for Minnesota, rushing for 109 yards and catching seven passes for 78 yards.
Packers 38, Lions 10
In Detroit, Brett Favre threw two touchdown passes and moved past Fran Tarkenton into fourth place on the NFL career list with 47,106 yards passing.
Green Bay (2-4) snapped its first four-game losing streak in 13 years. Detroit (3-2) fell to 1-2 at home.
Texans 20, Titans 10
In Nashville, Tennessee, David Carr threw for 266 yards and a touchdown, Kris Brown kicked field goals of 21 and 50 yards, and the Texans scored their first victory over the team they replaced in Houston.
Jaguars 22, Chiefs 16
In Jacksonville, Florida, Byron Leftwich threw two touchdown passes, including a 14-yarder to Cortez Hankton with 45 seconds to play to lift the Jaguars.
Leftwich also ran for a score as the Jaguars (4-2) snapped a two-game losing streak.
Falcons 21, Chargers 20
In Atlanta, Michael Vick overcame a 10-point deficit by running for one touchdown, throwing for another and then taking care of the clock as the Falcons (5-1) matched their win total from all of last season.
Vick, whose rights were traded from San Diego to Atlanta in 2001, threw for 130 of his 218 yards in the fourth quarter and had a hand in all three Atlanta TDs.
Browns 34, Bengals 17
In Cleveland, Jeff Garcia threw four touchdown passes -- one a 99-yarder to Andre' Davis to tie an NFL record -- and the Browns overcame their sloppiness for a win over the inept Bengals.
William Green rushed for 115 yards and Lee Suggs caught a 59-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter from Garcia as the Browns (3-3) moved to 3-0 at home for the first time since 1973.
Bills 20, Dolphins 13
In Orchard Park, New York, Takeo Spikes returned an interception 11 yards for a touchdown, helping spark Buffalo's victory in a game between the NFL's last two winless teams.
Aaron Schobel had 2 1/2 sacks and Ron Edwards added two, leading a strong defensive effort in which the Bills (1-4) limited Miami (0-6) to just 212 yards net offense.
Redskins 13, Bears 10
In Chicago, Clinton Portis had his best day since changing teams, and Washington throttled Chicago's inept offense.
Ending a four-game losing streak, the Redskins (2-4) sacked struggling Bears quarterback Jonathan Quinn three times in the final three minutes.
Steelers 24, Cowboys 20
In Irving, Texas, rookie Ben Roethlisberger completed 21 of 25 passes and threw for two TDs, completing 11 straight throws -- nine straight on Pittsburgh's last two scoring drives -- for a comeback win. Roethlisberger is the first rookie quarterback to go 4-0 since Phil Simms of the 1979 New York Giants. He also became the first Pittsburgh quarterback to win in Dallas since Terry Bradshaw in 1982.
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