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Super struggles

Arizona Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes leaps into the crowd after returning a fumble for a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010, in Glendale, Ariz. The Cardinals won 30-20.
Saints, Colts off to mediocre starts

Super Bowl hangover, anyone?

The Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, and the team they beat, the Indianapolis Colts, both are 3-2 five weeks into the season. Neither is playing close to its championship form of a year ago, and are probably more lucky than good to be over .500.

Peyton Manning missed out on a 300-yard game, did not throw a touchdown pass and seemed out of sync, but the Colts got a late touchdown run from Mike Hart for a 19-9 win Sunday against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs.

Drew Brees threw three interceptions against Arizona and the Cardinals capitalized for a 30-20 victory with undrafted rookie Max Hall making his first start at quarterback.

New Orleans trails Atlanta (4-1) in the NFC South, with Tampa Bay at 3-1, while Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Houston and Tennessee are tied in the AFC South.

"Certainly there are things we can work on and improve on, but that is kind of the game we expected coming in," Manning said of the Colts' tough outing against the Chiefs, who came into the game as the NFL's last remaining unbeaten team.

Manning led the Colts to field goals by Adam Vinatieri of 20, 24, 47 and 42 yards before Hart, replacing the injured Joseph Addai, scored from 11 yards out with 4:02 left. Ryan Succop had field goals of 45, 35, and 43 yards for the Chiefs.

Kansas City's loss marks the first time since 1970 that the NFL has no 4-0 teams.

Saints coach Sean Payton says his team's continued failure to produce in the red zone, as well as turnovers, poor kick coverage and penalties are taking a toll.

"If we are going to expect different results we have to play better than today," he said after the Saints managed one TD and two field goals on four trips inside the red zone. Also, John Carney missed a 29-yard field goal attempt that would have given his team a 16-13 lead in the third quarter.

Hall completed 17 of 27 passes for 168 yards, but had some luck and a lot of help from his defense. Hall fumbled twice, but both times teammates recovered, with one ending in a 2-yard TD run by tackle Levi Brown.

Titans 34, Cowboys 27Chris Johnson scored a pair of 1-yard TDs in the fourth quarter to lift Tennessee over mistake-prone Dallas, a team that had high hopes of becoming the first host team to play in the Super Bowl.The Cowboys (1-3) fell behind 17-3 with penalties and errors on defense. Dallas managed to tie it at 17 and 20, then a tipped pass that was intercepted set up Johnson's first touchdown of the final period.

Eagles 27, 49ers 24Kevin Kolb passed for 253 yards while capably filling in for injured Michael Vick, and Quintin Mikell returned Alex Smith's fumble 52 yards for a TD early in the fourth quarter.

Ravens 31, Broncos 17The Ravens (4-1) moved a half-game ahead of the idle Steelers atop the AFC North after Ray Rice ran for 133 yards and two TDs and the best pass defense prevailed over the best passing offense.

Lions 44, Rams 6The Lions (1-4) got into the win column to end a 10-game slide as Stefan Logan tied a team mark with a 105-yard kickoff return. Shaun Hill threw for 227 yards and connected with Calvin Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew and Nate Burleson for touchdowns in Detroit's most-lopsided victory since beating expansion Jacksonville 44-0 in 1995.

Redskins 16, Packers 13, OTWashington's fate came down to the final snap for the fourth time in five weeks, and this time Graham Gano came through with a 33-yard field goal 6:54 into overtime.

Bucs 24, Bengals 21Josh Freeman threw a tying TD pass with 1:26 to go, then moved Tampa Bay in range for Connor Barth's 31-yard game-winning field goal with 1 second left after Carson Palmer threw his third interception of the game.

Falcons 20, Browns 10Defensive end Kroy Biermann's spectacular diving interception and return for a touchdown with 4:01 left lifted the Falcons.With Jake Delhomme facing third-and-7 at the 47, Biermann leaped to deflect the pass and then made a headfirst catch. Knowing he had not been touched, Biermann then scrambled to his feet and rumbled 31 yards for the clinching score.

Raiders 35, Chargers 27Oakland snapped a 13-game losing streak against San Diego with some big plays down the stretch.Michael Bush ran 3 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:39 remaining and Tyvon Branch returned a fumble by Philip Rivers 64 yards for a score.

Giants 34, Texans 10Eli Manning threw two of his three touchdown passes to Hakeem Nicks and the Giants held Houston to a franchise-low 24 yards rushing. Nicks finished with career highs of 12 catches and 130 yards. Manning was 27 of 42 for 297 yards, and threw his third TD pass to Steve Smith.

Bears 23, Panthers 6Matt Forte ran for 166 yards and two TDs, Julius Peppers had an acrobatic interception against his former team and Chicago (4-1) won despite four interceptions from backup Todd Collins.

Jaguars 36, Bills 26David Garrard shook off an interception and lost fumble with three TD passes — two to TE Marcedes Lewis — to rally Jacksonville (3-2).Mike Sims-Walker's 7-yard touchdown put the Jaguars ahead for good, 27-20 late in the third quarter.Lewis scored on 1- and 27-yard receptions.

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