NFL Roundup: Colts spotless, Eagles done
The Colts became the fourth team in NFL history to go 13-0, beating Jacksonville 26-18 Sunday. Their next step in their spotless season comes at home against San Diego, and only the second team to win their first 14 games. The other? The 1972 Dolphins, whose 17-0 record is the only perfect mark in league history.
Not that Indy is thinking about it.
“We definitely want to win,” coach Tony Dungy said. “We’re going to play to win and go from there. We’re going to keep our mantra: one game at a time. We’re going to do everything we can to beat San Diego and we’re not going to look ahead.”
The Eagles (5-8) haven’t got the playoffs to look ahead to. After four straight trips to the NFC title game, and a Super Bowl berth last February, Philadelphia was eliminated from contention with a 26-23 overtime loss to the New York Giants.
Decimated by injuries and discord, Philadelphia became the fifth consecutive team to miss the playoffs after losing the Super Bowl the previous season. Six of the 10 players that went to the Pro Bowl last year were lost to injuries, free agency or suspension, including Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and the banished Terrell Owens.
“It’s tough when you don’t have that cohesiveness and its hard to jell,” safety Sheldon Brown said. “But I’m proud of the guys. They fought, but as I know, we expect to win here and that’s the bottom line.”
In other games, it was: New England 35, Buffalo 7; Miami 23, San Diego 21; Dallas 31, Kansas City 28; Denver 12, Baltimore 10; Tampa Bay 20, Carolina 10; Pittsburgh 21, Chicago 9; Cincinnati 23, Cleveland 20; Minnesota 27, St. Louis 13; Seattle 41, San Francisco 3; Washington 17, Arizona 13; Tennessee 13, Houston 10; the New York Jets 26, Oakland 10; and Green Bay 16, Detroit 13 in overtime.
On Monday night, New Orleans is at Atlanta.
Colts 26, Jaguars 18
At Jacksonville, Peyton Manning threw two touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison and Mike Vanderjagt kicked four field goals. Manning, who had 122 yards passing in a 10-3 win against the Jaguars (9-4) in the second week of the season, nearly doubled that at halftime, and finished 24-of-36 for 324 yards. Harrison caught six passes for 137 yards.
“I appreciate history,” said Manning, born in 1976, three years after Miami completed the undefeated season. “I know the names, but not a lot of guys in this locker room do. It’s a different generation.”
The Jaguars had their five-game winning streak snapped.
Giants 26, Eagles 23 (OT)
At Philadelphia, Jay Feely’s 36-yard field goal with 3:55 left in overtime lifted the first-place Giants (9-4). They lead Dallas by a game in the NFC East, which the Eagles have dominated for four seasons, but are 0-5 in this year.
Feely, who cost the Giants a victory in Seattle two weeks ago by missing three late kicks, made four field goals. Tiki Barber had 124 yards rushing and one TD catch and the Giants overcame Eli Manning’s three interceptions in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Osi Umenyiora sacked Mike McMahon and Kenderick Allen recovered McMahon’s fumble at the Eagles 27, setting up Feely’s winning kick four plays later.
Patriots 35, Bills 7
In the snow, Tom Brady finished with 329 yards passing and two touchdowns against the unraveling Bills (4-9) at Orchard Park, N.Y. Corey Dillon added a 12-yard touchdown run and 102 yards rushing. Troy Brown and Christian Fauria each caught short touchdown passes as the two-time Super Bowl champions (8-5) scored the first 35 points and closed in on the AFC East title.
Dolphins 23, Chargers 21
At San Diego, Gus Frerotte threw two touchdown passes to Chris Chambers in the third quarter and the Dolphins ended the Chargers’ five-game winning streak, severely damaging their playoff hopes.
The Dolphins (6-7) won their third straight and remained alive for the AFC East title, two games in back of the Patriots.
Antonio Gates caught an 8-yard TD pass from Drew Brees with 15 seconds left, but the Dolphins recovered the onside kick as San Diego fell to 8-5.
Cowboys 31, Chiefs 28
In the day’s wildest game, Drew Bledsoe threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns, including a 1-yarder to Dan Campbell with 22 seconds left to give the host Cowboys (8-5) the win.
Kansas City’s Lawrence Tynes missed a 41-yarder on the final play. The Cowboys have had all but two games decided by a touchdown or less; two of their last three losses came on a field goal as time expired.
Kansas City (8-5) wasted Larry Johnson’s 143 yards rushing and three touchdowns and ended a three-game winning streak.
Broncos 12, Ravens 10
At Denver, Kyle Johnson made a tiptoe catch for a touchdown, Champ Bailey set a franchise record with an interception in his fifth straight game and the Broncos (10-3) gained a game on their AFC West rivals. They lead the Chiefs and Chargers by two games and are tied with Cincinnati for the second-best record in the AFC. Jake Plummer threw for 236 yards.
Baltimore (4-9) was victimized by two interceptions and a lost fumble committed by QB Kyle Boller.
Bucs 20, Panthers 10
Carnell “Cadillac” Williams ran for 112 yards and a pair of a touchdowns to lead the Bucs into a tie with the host Panthers for the NFL South lead at 9-4. Both teams have NFC South rivals Atlanta and New Orleans remaining on their schedules.
The Tampa Bay defense held Carolina to 276 yards as the Bucs snapped a five-game losing streak against the Panthers.
Steelers 21, Bears 9
At Pittsburgh, the sometimes-forgotten Jerome Bettis wasn’t bothered by the snow in scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 101 yards as the Steelers (8-5) ended Chicago’s eight-game winning streak.
Bettis, held to 22 yards on 14 carries in his previous two games, had his first 100-yard game since getting 117 last Dec. 26 against Baltimore. He had only 186 yards in Pittsburgh’s first 12 games.
Chicago (9-4) is now just a game ahead of Minnesota in the NFC North.
Vikings 27, Rams 13
At Minneapolis, the Vikings (8-5) forced six turnovers and held Steven Jackson to 67 yards rushing in their sixth straight victory. Brian Williams led the way with two interceptions as the Vikings confused and battered rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was 26-of-44 for 235 yards and five interceptions for the fading Rams (5-8).
Koren Robinson, Michael Bennett and Ciatrick Fason all scored touchdowns for the Vikings on the ground.
Bengals 23, Browns 20
At Cincinnati, the flat Bengals used Rudi Johnson’s season-high 169 yards rushing, and Shayne Graham kicked a 37-yard field goal on the final play.
Cincinnati (10-3) reached double-digits in victories for the first time since 1988, its last Super Bowl season.
With Carson Palmer struggling to complete throws in the wind, Johnson carried a season-high 30 times and did most of the work in a 43-yard drive to Graham’s winning kick.
The Browns (4-9) also couldn’t overcome two penalties in the closing minutes. Leigh Bodden was called for interference and illegal contact on Chad Johnson to set up Graham’s game-winner.
Seahawks 41, 49ers 3
At Seattle, Matt Hasselbeck completed eight of his first nine passes for three touchdowns over the first 15:22, and the Seahawks (11-2) cruised. Hasselbeck finished 21-for-25 for 226 yards and a season-high four scores in three quarters of Seattle’s team-record ninth straight win. Bobby Engram caught two touchdowns.
NFL rushing leader Shaun Alexander added 108 yards on 21 carries and his league-leading 23rd rushing score late in the third quarter against the Niners (2-11).
Redskins 17, Cardinals 13
Clinton Portis ran for 105 yards as the visiting Redskins (7-6) rallied from a 10-3 deficit to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Portis ran 15 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 10 in the third quarter, and Antonio Brown gave the Redskins the lead for good 17-13 with a 91-yard kickoff return with 3:29 left in the third quarter.
Kurt Warner passed for 255 yards for the Cardinals (4-9).
Jets 26, Raiders 10
Curtis Martin, out for the rest of the season, missed his first game since 1998 with a sore right knee, but third-string running back Cedric Houston and third-string quarterback Brooks Bollinger led the Jets (3-10), who broke a seven-game losing streak.
Bollinger threw for one touchdown and set a team record with 56 yards rushing by a quarterback, Houston scored the first touchdown of his career and John Abraham had two sacks that caused fumbles. Marques Tuiasosopo threw two interceptions, lost two fumbles and was sacked six times for the visiting Raiders (4-9).
Packers 16, Lions 13, OT
At Green Bay, the Packers (3-10) won it on Ryan Longwell’s 28-yard field goal, but it was the running of Samkon Gado (171 yards, one TD) and a goal-line stand that was decisive.
The Packers (3-10) were backed up in their territory after the defensive stand ? Na’il Diggs stopped the Lions’ Jeff Garcia on a fourth-and-goal sneak.
The Lions (4-9) wrapped up Gado in the end zone with 6:59 remaining in regulation. Gado tried to toss the ball forward as he was being tackled and was flagged for intentional grounding, resulting in a safety that would have put the Lions ahead by 15-13. But officials huddled and overturned the call, saying it was a forward pass and Gado was outside the tackle box, giving the Packers another chance.