Indianapolis remains perfect
The Indianapolis Colts are two wins away from the longest winning streak in NFL history.
The Colts kept Baltimore out of the end zone Sunday and got the go-ahead field goal from former Ravens kicker Matt Stover in a 17-15 victory, their 19th straight regular-season win over two seasons.
Indianapolis (10-0) overcame three turnovers, including two interceptions by Peyton Manning. The Colts' 19-game streak is the second-longest in NFL history behind a 21-game run by the New England Patriots (2006-08). Their eight consecutive 10-win seasons rank second behind San Francisco's 16 (1983-98).
Indianapolis has won its last four games by a combined 10 points. The Colts usually rely on Manning, who fashioned a huge comeback against New England last week. Nearly everyone contributed to this one.
"To be able to come out of this game with a win is huge," rookie coach Jim Caldwell said. "We're not going to ever sneeze at being 10-0, but we're doing it by a small margin these days."
Raiders 20, Bengals 17At Oakland, Calif., Bruce Gradkowski threw a 29-yard tying touchdown pass to Louis Murphy with 33 seconds left and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 33-yard field goal after Andre Caldwell fumbled the ensuing kickoff.The Bengals (7-3) have lost all 10 games in Oakland, including one playoff game.Oakland (3-7) rallied from an early 14-point deficit and trailed 17-10 with 2:06 left when Gradkowski took over at the 20-yard line. Gradkowski, who took the starting job from JaMarcus Russell this week, threw a 19-yard pass to Zach Miller, then a 16-yarder to Chaz Schilens on fourth-and-10.After a spike, Gradkowski found Murphy near the goal line. Murphy got loose from Morgan Trent and dived across the goal line for the tying score.Just when it seemed as if the game was headed to overtime, Caldwell was stripped by Brandon Myers on the kickoff, giving the Raiders the ball at the 17.
Lions 38, Browns 37At Detroit, an ailing Matthew Stafford threw his fifth touchdown pass from 1 yard to Brandon Pettigrew, and Jason Hanson's extra point with no time on the clock gave Detroit a thrilling win.Detroit was given the untimed play because safety Hank Poteat was called for pass interference in the end zone when Stafford heaved a desperation attempt. Stafford was hit after his throw to the end zone and appeared to hurt his left shoulder or chest area. He was replaced by Daunte Culpepper.The Browns, though, gave Stafford a chance to get back in the game by calling a timeout with the ball at the 1-yard line. Stafford returned and connected with fellow rookie Pettigrew to snap Detroit's six-game losing streak.The Lions (2-8) started the winning drive with 1:46 remaining and no timeouts. Stafford, the No. 1 pick in the draft, did just enough to rally them for the win — helped hugely by the call that went against the Browns (1-9).Brady Quinn threw four TDs, surpassing his previous career total, and helped Cleveland score a franchise-record 24 points in the first quarter.
Saints 38, Buccaneers 7At Tampa, Fla., Drew Brees threw for three touchdowns and the Saints shrugged off a slow start defensively to remain unbeaten.Robert Meacham caught touchdown passes of 4 and 6 yards in the first half. Third-string running back Mike Bell scored on runs of 3 and 1 yards in the second half, when New Orleans gained 147 of its 183 yards rushing. The Saints (10-0) have their first 10-game winning streak in franchise history.
Chargers 32, Broncos 3At Denver, Philip Rivers and a dominant defense led the Chargers into sole possession of first place, drubbing the Broncos, who couldn't move the ball effectively behind either of their quarterbacks.The Chargers (7-3) have won five straight and the Broncos (6-4) have dropped four in a row, turning the division race upside-down. Just five weeks ago, the Chargers trailed the Broncos by 3½ games.
<b>Patriots 31, Jets 14</b>At Foxborough, Mass., the defense Bill Belichick didn't want to put on the field a week ago kept the offense of the Jets off it.Leigh Bodden had three of the four interceptions thrown by Mark Sanchez and the Patriots' defense allowed just one touchdown and 226 yards. The victory gave New England (7-3) a two-game lead in the AFC East and sent the Jets (4-6) to their sixth loss in seven games.<b>Vikings 35, Seahawks 9</b>At Minneapolis, Brett Favre completed a career-high 88 percent of his passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns, and the Vikings delivered their most complete performance of the season.Favre completed 22 of his 25 throws for the Vikings (9-1). His previous career high was 85.2 percent against Detroit on Sept. 20. But he has completed at least 80 percent only two other times in his previous 18 seasons in the league.<b>Giants 34, Falcons 31</b>At East Rutherford, N.J., Eli Manning and the offense bailed out the Giants' top-ranked defense.Lawrence Tynes kicked a 36-yard field goal 3:54 into overtime to make up for an earlier miss after the defense blew a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter.Manning threw for a career-high 384 yards and three touchdown passes, including two to Kevin Boss, to help the Giants (6-4) snap a four-game skid coming off their bye week. Manning set up Tynes' winner when he connected with Mario Manningham for a 29-yard pass.<b>Cardinals 21, Rams 13</b>At St. Louis, Kurt Warner spent the second half pacing the sideline after taking a blow to the head, still in uniform but shut down for the day. Warner threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns while building a 21-3 cushion.Tim Hightower had 110 yards on 14 carries, the first 100-yard game of the season for a team ranked next to last in the NFL in rushing, helping the Cardinals (7-3) win for the sixth time in seven games and go 5-0 on the road.Steven Jackson became the first Rams player to post five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, gaining 116 yards on 24 carries with a fourth-quarter touchdown that cut the deficit to eight points for St. Louis (1-9).<b>Cowboys 7, Redskins 6</b>At Arlington, Texas, Tony Romo led a single scoring drive, hitting Patrick Crayton for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 2:41 left to preserve first place in the NFC East.The Cowboys (7-3) avoided getting shut out the previous week by scoring with 38 seconds left at Green Bay, then almost saw it happen again at home.<b>Packers 30, 49ers 24</b>At Green Bay, Wis., Aaron Rodgers made San Francisco pay for a draft-day snub in 2005. Rodgers threw touchdowns to Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, and Ryan Grant rushed for 129 yards and a score. The Packers (6-4) saw outside linebacker Aaron Kampman injure his left knee and cornerback Al Harris also injured a knee.Alex Smith, chosen by the 49ers (4-6) instead of Rodgers, recovered from a rough start to make things interesting with three second-half touchdowns.<b>Jaguars 18, Bills 15</b>At Jacksonville, Fla., David Garrard's second game-winning drive in as many weeks gave the Jaguars (6-4) their first three-game winning streak in nearly two years. Garrard threw a touchdown pass to Mike Sims-Walker with 56 seconds remaining, spoiling Perry Fewell's debut as interim coach of the Bills (3-7).<b>Eagles 24, Bears 20</b>At Chicago, Donovan McNabb threw for 244 yards against his hometown team, former Pitt star LeSean McCoy scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 10-yard run following Antonio Dixon's block of a field-goal attempt, and Philadelphia (6-4) came away with a victory over struggling Chicago (4-6).
