Sudden success
With stunning swiftness, the Seahawks, Vikings and Eagles earned wild victories.
All three used big plays by their special-teams units Sunday for comebacks that seemed almost unimaginable earlier in the day.
Seattle scored 10 points in the final 40 seconds for a 13-10 victory over Dallas. Jordan Babineaux's 15-yard return of an interception on Drew Bledsoe's sideline pass with 5 seconds left set up Josh Brown's 50-yard field goal as time expired. Matt Hasselbeck's 1-yard pass to Ryan Hannam had tied it.
"Every drive, we were in the huddle saying, `Hey, let's make some plays' — after a while, you get sick of hearing that," Hasselbeck said. "We actually had to go do it."
As did the Vikings, who trailed 17-0 in the third quarter, stormed back to take a 20-17 lead, only to see Green Bay tie it with 24 seconds to go. But Paul Edinger kicked a franchise-record 56-yarder as time ran out, his third field goal of the game.
"I took off running after it, like I was going to catch it or something," Edinger said. "I can't even describe it. It's a great feeling. I wish you could experience it."
The Eagles experienced a kicking game high, too. Quintin Mikell blocked Nate Kaeding's kick and the ball bounced perfectly to Matt Ware. He returned it 65 yards for the winning score with 2:25 remaining in Philadelphia's 20-17 victory against San Diego.
"Usually, it takes a funky bounce after a block, but this one came right up and it was, `Whoa! Look at this!'" Ware said. "I said, `This is it,' and started running. You know, high knees and pumping arms, and the guys were blocking for me. It's been since high school that I scored a TD."
Another down-to-the-wire finish came at the Meadowlands, where Eli Manning's 2-yard pass to Amani Toomer with 5 seconds remaining lifted the Giants over the Broncos 24-23.
On Monday night, the New York Jets are at Atlanta. New England, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and Carolina were off.
Brown made a 55-yard field goal in the second quarter for Seattle (5-2). After his winner, he threw his helmet off and was mobbed by teammates."I took my helmet off, that way they couldn't throw me to the ground," Brown said. "There is a little planning in there."Last year, also in Seattle, Dallas overcame a 10-point deficit with less than 2 minutes to play to beat the Seahawks 43-39.The Cowboys are 5-3.
At Minneapolis, the Vikings (2-4) got a halftime tongue-lashing from coach Mike Tice and responded. They had lost their last two games by a combined 58-13 and allegations of sexual misconduct by several players on a boat party emerged."We just needed a win, no matter how we got it," said Marcus Robinson, who caught a 27-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to spur the comeback.Brett Favre played a near-flawless first half and finished 28-for-36 for 315 yards and two scores for Green Bay (1-5).
At Philadelphia, San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson was held to a career-low 7 yards rushing on 17 carries and failed to score, ending his NFL record-tying streak of consecutive games with a touchdown at 18.But San Diego (3-4) couldn't put the game away after the Eagles (4-2) failed on a fourth-and-1 at their 30 late in the game. Mikell leaped in the air to swat away Kaeding's 40-yard attempt, Ware picked it up after one bounce and raced into the end zone.Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb set a team record with 35 completions in 54 attempts for 287 yards and one TD, and Terrell Owens caught his 100th career TD pass.
New York (4-2) snapped visiting Denver's five-game winning streak as Manning finished 23-of-42 for 214 yards and two touchdowns.Jason Elam kicked three field goals for the Broncos (5-2), but missed a 49-yarder with 5:18 left after New York's Tiki Barber scored on a 4-yard run to make it 23-17.
Mark Brunell threw for three touchdowns and Washington (4-2) piled up 448 yards and its most points since 1991, a Super Bowl season.Clinton Portis ran 19 times for 101 yards and three touchdowns against the porous defense of the visiting 49ers (1-5), Mike Sellers caught scoring passes of 2 and 19 yards, and Santana Moss had a 32-yard TD reception and finished with five catches for 112 yards, his fourth 100-yard game in five weeks.
At Houston, Peyton Manning went 21-of-27 for 237 yards and two touchdowns, and Edgerrin James ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Indianapolis is 7-0 for the first time in franchise history and Tony Dungy became the 34th NFL coach to win 100 games.The Colts reeled off 24 straight second-half points and held the Texans (0-6) to minus-4 yards after halftime.
At Oakland, LaMont Jordan ran for 122 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and Randy Moss added a 22-yard TD catch after being listed as doubtful with a variety of injuries.Kerry Collins completed nine of 10 passes on consecutive touchdown drives late in the second quarter and early in the third for the Raiders (2-4), who scored more than 20 points for the first time this season.The Bills are 3-4.
At St. Louis, Jamie Martin, subbing for the injured Marc Bulger, hit Kevin Curtis for a 42-yard gain to set up the winning score, a 5-yard reverse by Curtis with 5:58 left. Martin led the blocking on Curtis' clinching run.Mike Furrey's 67-yard interception return with 1:55 to go wrapped it up for the Rams (3-4), who are 1-1 without coach Mike Martz, hospitalized with a bacterial infection of a heart valve. Assistant head coach Joe Vitt has been running the team.The Saints (2-5) squandered a 14-point first-quarter lead and have lost three in a row.
At Cleveland, Jeff Garcia, kicked out by the Browns after one tumultuous season, ran for a touchdown and Jason Hanson kicked two field goals to lead Detroit (3-3).Garcia, making his first start in place of Joey Harrington, was 22-of-34 for 210 yards and didn't turn the ball over. Garcia missed Detroit's first five games with a broken left leg.Cleveland (2-4) scored its only touchdown on rookie Joshua Cribbs' 90-yard kickoff return.
Thomas Jones ran for 83 of his 139 yards in the final period for host Chicago (3-3). Tank Johnson helped seal the victory in the rain with two fourth-quarter sacks.Baltimore (2-4) got only 34 yards rushing from Jamal Lewis on 15 carries. Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis left in the fourth quarter with a thigh injury.
Josh McCown threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald with 5:20 remaining to lift host Phoenix (2-4). David Macklin returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown as Arizona turned three Tennessee turnovers into 17 points. Neil Rackers kicked field goals of 33 and 24 yards to improve to 20-for-20 this season.Tennessee (2-5) was without quarterback Steve McNair because of back and ankle injuries, and the Titans lost running back Chris Brown with a shoulder stinger.
