Colts Survive, Steelers Sunk
The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints moved to a perfect 10-0 – but the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered defeat again in week 11 of the season.
While the Saints smashed the struggling Bucs on the road, the Colts were made to work hard for their victory in Baltimore.
Meanwhile, Brett Favre threw for four touchdowns to help the Minnesota Vikings go to 9-1 with a rout of struggling Seattle.
Dallas remain out in front in the NFC East by seeing off Washington despite mustering just seven points. The New York Giants remain hot on their heels, though, after an overtime triumph over the Atlanta Falcons
There was also a thrilling finish in Kansas City, as the Chiefs ended their long wait for a home win by stunning the Steelers in extra time.
Terrell Owens enjoyed a stunning day for the Buffalo Bills but it wasn’t enough to get the better of the Jacksonville Jaguars, while the Green Bay Packers continued their play-off push by holding off the San Francisco 49ers.
- Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts 17-15 Baltimore Ravens
The Indianapolis Colts are now a perfect 10-0 for the campaign after winning their 19th straight regular season game, though they had to do it the hard way in Baltimore.
Peyton Manning threw for 299 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions while Joseph Addai rushed for 74 yards and a score on the ground.
In the end, though, it was an ex-Raven who sealed the victory. Kicker Matt Stover knocked over the game-winning field goal against his former employers midway through the fourth quarter.
All Baltimore, who went 0-for-four in the red zone, had to show for 354 total yards of offence were five field goals from their current kicker, Billy Cundiff.
New Orleans Saints 38-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New Orleans overcame an early 7-0 deficit to score 35 points without reply and stretch their perfect record to 10-0.
The Buccaneers had given their fans hope of an upset at Raymond James Stadium when Josh Johnson found Michael Clayton from 18 yards out.
However Drew Brees and Mike Bell combined to make sure the Saints stayed unbeaten. After Brees’ three touchdowns through the air, Bell rushed for two more to help clinch a comprehensive win on the road.
Pittsburgh Steelers 24-27 (OT) Kansas City Chiefs
Ryan Soccop’s overtime field goal clinched a stunning victory for Kansas City over Pittsburgh, who suffered a double blow in defeat when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was forced out of the action with a head injury.
The Chiefs ended a 10-game losing run at home when Succop slotted over a 22-yarder that had been set up by Chris Chambers’ 61-yard catch and run.
Jamaal Charles scored two contrasting touchdowns for the hosts – running in from two yards out to tie the scores at 24 apiece having broken the deadlock in the first quarter with a 98-yard kick-off return.
Before getting hurt, Roethlisberger found Hines Ward and Heath Miller in the end zone to help the Steelers lead 17-7 at the break and then, after the Chiefs had rallied, found Rashard Mendenhall with an eight-yard strike.
Seattle Seahawks 9-35 Minnesota Vikings
Brett Favre completed 22 of 25 pass attempts, four of them for touchdowns, to help Minnesota maul struggling Seattle and move to 9-1 for the season.
The veteran quarterback overcame a scoreless first quarter by helping the Vikings amass 21 points without reply in the second.
When he made it 28-0 with a seven-yard pass to Sidney Rice, Favre was told to take a break. Tarvaris Jackson took over under centre and hooked up with Rice himself in the fourth quarter, the receiver’s second TD making it 35-3.
The Seahawks did manage to find the end zone themselves before the end of the one-sided game – Justin Forsett going in from a yard out on the ground.
Atlanta Falcons 31-34 (OT) New York Giants
The Giants registered their first win in five outings as Lawrence Tynes’ 36-yard field goal in overtime handed Atlanta a fourth straight defeat on the road.
Eli Manning went 25-of-39 for 384 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to tight end Kevin Boss during the second quarter.
New York also managed a rushing score from Brandon Jacobs but the Falcons rallied late to force extra time in the Big Apple.
After a pair of touchdowns from third-string tail-back Jason Snelling, Matt Ryan connected with Eric Weems and Tony Gonzalez to make it 31 apiece, the latter’s score coming with just 28 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Washington Redskins 6-7 Dallas Cowboys
Dallas’ offence failed to fire for the second successive week yet still did just enough to see off Washington and stay ahead in the NFC East.
The Cowboys looked in danger of failing to register a single point until Tony Romo teamed up with Patrick Crayton for a 10-yard TD in the fourth quarter.
The score, which came with just 2:41 to play in the contest, settled an otherwise forgettable game in which Dallas managed just 152 yards passing. They had only narrowly avoided a shut-out loss in Green Bay seven days ago.
The Redskins had led 6-0 thanks to a pair of Shaun Suisham field goals. With Clinton Portis already out, Washington found themselves down to their third choice running back when Ladell Betts was lost early on with a knee injury.
Cleveland Browns 37-38 Detroit Lions
Matt Stafford became the youngest player in NFL history to throw for five touchdowns as Detroit somehow won a crazy game against Cleveland.
Rookie quarterback Stafford hit tight end Brandon Pettigrew from one-yard out with time already expired after the Browns had been hit with a pass interference call on what should have been the final play of the game.
Defeat will be a bitter blow to the Browns and their quarterback Brady Quinn, who threw for 304 yards and four scores – three of which came in the second quarter.
At that stage Cleveland led 24-10 but the Lions came roaring back to get a rare victory, Stafford – who left the game briefly after a heavy hit – finishing with 422 yards through the air, though he did also have two interceptions.
San Francisco 49ers 24-30 Green Bay Packers
Aaron Rodgers threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns as Green Bay maintained their push for the play-offs by beating San Francisco.
Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson both found the end zone on passes from their quarterback, as the Packers surged into a 23-3 lead by half time.
Ryan Grant also excelled on the ground, rushing for 129 yards on 21 carries. His one-yard TD in the third quarter helped see off a San Francisco fightback.
Alex Smith, who the 49ers picked in the 2005 draft ahead of Rodgers, threw three second-half touchdowns including one to Michael Crabtree, giving the rookie wide receiver his first six-pointer in the NFL.
Buffalo Bills 15-18 Jacksonville Jaguars
Not even a huge day from Terrell Owens could help Buffalo get the better of Jacksonville, who have now won three games on the spin.
Jaguars quarterback David Garrard threw a touchdown pass to Mike Sims-Walker in the final minute and then ran in for the two-point conversion himself to seal a hard-fought home victory.
Maurice Jones-Drew had earlier scored on a three-yard run in the second quarter after Josh Scobee’s 29-yard field goal had broken the deadlock.
Owens did his best to get the Bills a win in the first game under interim head coach Perry Fewell. The wide out finished with 197 yards receiving on nine catches, one of which was a 98-yard touchdown.
Bears 17 Eagles 24
Chicago crashed to their fifth defeat in six games as the Philadelphia Eagles snatched victory.
The Bears had been leading 20-17 when Antonio Dixon blocked Robbie Gould’s 48-yard field goal attempt with 11 minutes left.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb, who threw for 244 yards, led the Eagles on 62-yard drive that was capped by LeSean McCoy’s 10-yard touchdown.
Raiders 20 Bengals 17
The Raiders left it late before claiming victory over the Bengals.
Oakland had trailed by 14 points early on but rallied to trail 17-10 with little over two minutes left.
However Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy with 33 seconds left to level matters.
And when Cincinnati’s Andre Caldwell then fumbled the kick-off, Sebastian Janikowski landed a 33-yard field goal to seal the victory.
Cardinals 21 Rams 13
Arizona Cardinals made it six wins from their last seven games – and 5-0 away from home – with a 21-13 win over St Louis.
Kurt Warner completed 15-of-19 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns before he was forced off after he was caught by Oshiomogho Atogwe.
Backup quarterback Matt Leinart, though, found Early Doucet for a crucial 20-yard third-down completion to put the result beyond doubt.
Tim Hightower also had 110 yards on 14 carries for the Cards.
Patriots 31 Jets 14
New England have opened up a two-game lead in the AFC East after they inflicted a sixth defeat in seven games on the Jets.
NY quarterback Mark Sanchez had a day to forget as he was intercepted four times – three times by Leigh Bodden – to concede 17 points.
The Jets had threatened a dramatic comeback as they bounced back from 24-0 down to trail by 10 points when Sanchez was intercepted for the third and fourth times.
Chargers 32 Broncos 3
The San Diego Chargers moved to the top of the AFC West division after a 32-3 rout of Denver.
The Broncos had looked unbeatable as they opened up with 6-0 start to the season, however they have now lost their last four – with San Diego winning five on the bounce to go clear.
Philip Rivers led the way as he completed 17 for 22 pass and led the Chargers to scores on seven of 10 drives. Nate Kaeding also weighed in with four field goals.
