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 champions 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.
PHOTO:AP
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.
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 field goal and Charles Woodson intercepted Huard's pass and went 46 yards for a touchdown.
In Sunday's other NFL games it was:
* Saints 41, Jaguars 24
* Lions 44, Broncos 7
* Titans 20, Panthers 7
* Buccaneers 17, Cardinals 10
* Redskins 23, Jets 20, OT
* Bills 33, Bengals 21
* Falcons 20, 49ers 16
* Texans 24, Raiders 17
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