Colts, Saints find ways to win
The New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts keep finding ways to win. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally learned how Sunday.
The Saints and Colts each improved to 8-0 with come-from-behind victories. The Bucs are a meager 1-7 but they gained a glimmer of hope for the future as rookie Josh Freeman passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns in his first start.
At New Orleans, Drew Brees and the Saints' prolific offense rallied for the third straight game and are off to the best start in the franchise's 43-year history.
Brees overcame two early turnovers to pass for 330 yards and a touchdown in a 30-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans rallied from a 17-3 deficit.
The Saints have a realistic chance to sit at 10-0 when they host New England — the only team to finish a regular season 16-0 — on the Monday night after Thanksgiving. New Orleans next plays at St. Louis and then at Tampa Bay — a combined 2-14 this season.
At Indianapolis, Peyton Manning delivered another milestone performance, Joseph Addai produced a second straight winning score, and the Colts escaped with a 20-17 win over the when Houston's Kris Brown missed a 42-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
The Colts became the fourth team in league history with 17 straight regular-season wins. New England did it twice — winning a record 21 straight from 2006-08 and 18 in a row from 2003-04. Chicago won 17 straight from 1933-34.
Fittingly, the Patriots come to town next week with a chance to prevent Indy from matching their original record.
At Tampa, Fla., Freeman, the third quarterback selected in this year's NFL draft, led the Bucs to a 38-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers, ending the league's longest losing streak at 11 games.
Freeman threw a 7-yard touchdown to Sammie Stroughter on fourth-and-4 for the go-ahead score with under 5 minutes to play.
"I felt really relaxed," said Freeman, the 17th pick in the draft, taken behind Detroit's Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets.
"I didn't get too high or too low," the 21-year-old said. "I can't say I did anything spectacular. I just played within myself, and when we had opportunities, I took them."
Cowboys 20, Eagles 16At Philadelphia, Tony Romo threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin midway through the fourth quarter and the Cowboys won the 100th meeting between the division rivals.
Chargers 21, Giants 20At East Rutherford, N.J., Philip Rivers capped an 80-yard drive with an 18-yard pass to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds to play and the Chargers handed New York its fourth straight loss.Rivers was 24 of 36 for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Jackson.
Titans 34, 49ers 27At San Francisco, Chris Johnson, six plays after his 81-yard touchdown run was overturned, took a pitch from Vince Young and ran 2 yards for a go-ahead score.
Patriots 27, Dolphins 17At Foxborough, Mass., Randy Moss set up the Patriots' first touchdown with a one-handed, 36-yard grab at the Dolphins' 1-yard line, then scored on a 71-yard play after catching the ball about 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Bengals 17, Ravens 7At Cincinnati, Cedric Benson ran for 117 yards and a touchdown and the Bengals scored on their first three possessions to take control.
Cardinals 41, Bears 21At Chicago, Kurt Warner tied a career high by throwing five touchdown passes one week after throwing five interceptions, and Larry Fitzgerald added 123 yards receiving and two touchdowns.
Falcons 31, Redskins 17At Atlanta, Michael Turner ran for a season-high 166 yards, breaking away from former Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall on a 58-yard touchdown.
