Colts (3-0) now road warriors; Pats' Brady-to-Moss a hit
The Indianapolis Colts lost all three AFC South road games last season.
So winning two straight this year is encouraging, even if they didn't play as well as they'd like on Sunday.
Joseph Addai ran for 2 touchdowns, and Adam Vinatieri added 3 field goals to lead the visiting Colts (3-0) to a 30-24 win over the injury-ravaged and mistake-prone Texans to remain undefeated after beating Tennessee last week.
"As long as we're getting the wins, we can still correct that kind of stuff," said Colts receiver Dallas Clark. "We'll take advantage of it down the road. That shows you what kind of team we have here. We haven't played great -- it's always been something here and there -- but we're still finding ways to win."
Houston (2-1) entered the game without star receiver Andre Johnson, who sprained his knee last week, and lost running back Ahman Green to a knee injury on the first series of the second quarter. Backup Ron Dayne was inactive because of bruised ribs, so the Texans had to rely on third-stringer Samkon Gado for the rest of the game.
Rookie Jacoby Jones, who started for Johnson, left in the third quarter with a separated shoulder, and center Steve McKinney left with a knee sprain in the fourth quarter.
And defensive tackle Cedric Killings was taken off the field on a stretcher after a headfirst collision with Indianapolis receiver Roy Hall. The 310-pound Killings, playing special teams, hit Hall on a block as Jerome Mathis was returning a kickoff in the second quarter. The Texans said Killings suffered a neck injury and coach Gary Kubiak said he was moving his arms and legs and talking on the field. Killings was taken to a hospital.
"It was a tremendous effort on everybody's part and we paid the price for it," Kubiak said. "We're pretty beat up."
Still, Houston got within 30-24 when Vonta Leach caught a 1-yard pass from Matt Schaub with 2:49 remaining in the game. The Texans got the ball back with 19 seconds left, but Schaub was sacked and time ran out.
"They played most of the game without their two best backs and then their best receiver, and they continued to fight back," said Colts coach Tony Dungy. "We just couldn't get that right play to knock them out of things. But we made enough plays when we needed them."
Houston cut the lead to 27-17 on a 1-yard run by Gado early in the fourth quarter. That score was set up by a 41-yard catch by Andre' Davis. Vinatieri's third field goal of the day had pushed the Colts' lead to 30-17 in the third period.
"We marched down there and we got some scores," Dungy said. "In the end, that was the difference. We want to come away with points. We prefer to come away with touchdowns. We did score every time we got down there. We had chances for touchdowns. We'll get sharper and we'll be fine."
Schaub was 27 of 33 for 236 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Houston finished with just 40 yards rushing and Gado had 12 yards rushing and a fumble.
Cornerback Dunta Robinson said he was proud of how the team didn't give up after getting down by 13 points in the fourth quarter.
"It's a new team. There's no quit in us," he said. "In the past the game might have got out of hand. But now we expect to win football games, no matter who we are playing, no matter who is injured."
The Texans had a chance to cut the lead to seven with about five minutes left in the third quarter when a 74-yard punt return by Jones got Houston to the Indianapolis 29. But on the next play, Schaub threw into triple coverage and was intercepted by Gary Brackett.
Peyton Manning, who was 20 of 29 for 273 yards and a touchdown. found Reggie Wayne for a 64-yard pass, but was sacked on third down and the Colts settled for a field goal that made it 27-10.
Patriots 38, Bills 7: Tom Brady and Randy Moss team up for touchdowns as if they've played together all their lives.
Brady threw 2 of his 4 scoring passes to his new deep threat, and host New England (3-0) rolled to its third straight rout by clubbing the Bills.
Brady and Moss have combined for 5 touchdowns and 403 yards, as Moss became the first receiver in NFL history to gain at least 100 yards receiving in each of his first three games with a new team. Moss, obtained from Oakland in a draft-day trade, finished the day with 5 catches for 115 yards.
The Bills (0-3) lost quarterback J.P. Losman to a knee injury when he was sacked and lost a fumble on his third play.
Seahawks 24, Bengals 21: Nate Burleson caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Matt Hasselbeck with one minute remaining to rescue sputtering Seattle from visiting Cincinnati.
Glenn Holt then got hit with a flying shoulder from Lance Laury while returning the ensuing kickoff. Deon Grant recovered the fumble with 54 seconds remaining to seal the win for Seattle (2-1).
Kenny Watson, subbing for ineffective and then injured Rudi Johnson, ran 8 yards with 2:42 left to rally the Bengals to a 21-17 lead. T.J. Houshmandzadeh tied his career high with 12 catches and had 141 yards receiving with a touchdown for the Bengals (1-2), who lost for the 31st time in 43 trips to the West Coast.
The Seahawks began the ensuing drive at their 40, and Hasselbeck's 15-yard pass to Burleson put Seattle in Bengals territory. On fourth-and-1 with 1:41 to go, Shaun Alexander -- who finished with 100 yards on 21 carries -- ran 14 yards off tackle to the 22 to set up the go-ahead score.
Giants 24, Redskins 17: A Giants defense that had allowed 80 points in its first two games allowed only 83 yards after halftime, and it stopped host Washington on four plays from first-and-goal at the 1 in the final minute.
New York (1-2) scored the final 21 points and rallied from a 2-touchdown deficit.
Plaxico Burress, who had three drops and no catches in the first half, had 5 receptions for 86 yards in the second for the Giants -- including a 33-yard catch-and-run in which he put a move on Carlos Rogers before outrunning Sean Taylor to the end zone.
The Redskins (2-1) drove for a chance to tie in the final minutes. A 27-yard punt return by Antwaan Randle El put the ball at the Giants' 35 with 2:19 to play. Jason Campbell kept the drive alive with a 15-yard pass to Santana Moss on fourth-and-8, and a 20-yard strike to Randle El put the ball at the 1. But the Redskins couldn't finish the job.
Reuben Droughns scored on a pair of 1-yard runs -- New York's first rushing touchdowns of the season -- and Mathias Kiwanuka had a pair of sacks -- doubling the defense's output for the year. Eli Manning completed 21 of 26 passes for 232 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
Buccaneers 24, Rams 3: Hard-hitting safety Jermaine Phillips and reserve cornerback Phillip Buchanon intercepted passes as revamped Tampa Bay throttled visiting St. Louis' struggling offense.
Seldom-used running back Earnest Graham entered in the fourth quarter and scored on runs of 8 and 28 yards for Tampa Bay (2-1). Carnell "Cadillac" Williams rushed for a 7-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and Matt Bryant kicked a short field goal in a brief but intense rainstorm to give the Bucs a 3-0 lead at the half.
St. Louis (0-3) remained winless despite Steven Jackson rushing for 115 yards on 30 carries and catching 4 passes for 18 yards.
Steelers 37, Niners 16: Mike Tomlin's record after three games as Steelers coach is the same as Bill Cowher's was in 1992. Perfect.
Host Pittsburgh played nearly error-free for the third week in a row, as Allen Rossum returning a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and Willie Parker running for 133 yards in a defense-driven victory over San Francisco (2-1).
The Steelers shut down the Niners the same way they did the Browns (34-7) and the Bills (26-3) the last two weeks, allowing no big plays and repeatedly coming up with key third-down stops.
Jacksonville 23, Denver 14: Fred Taylor rushed for 84 yards as Jacksoville (2-1) controlled the clock for nearly 39 minutes in shutting down the league's top tailback and its most prolific offense to beat host Denver.
Denver's Travis Henry ran just 11 times for 35 yards. The Broncos (2-1), who piled up 911 yards in their first two games, managed just 265. The Broncos had no choice but to go to the air in the fourth quarter, and Sammy Knight sealed the win with his first interception for Jacksonville in the closing minutes.
Trailing 20-14, the Broncos decided to go for it on fourth-and-5 from their own 9 with 4:20 remaining. Tight end Daniel Graham dropped a potential first down pass and then spiked it in frustration, giving the Jaguars the ball at the 4. John Carney's third short field goal, this one from 18 yards, provided the final margin.
Raiders 26, Browns 24: A week after a late timeout wiped out Sebastian Janikowski's game-winning kick for Oakland, first-year coach Lane Kiffin successfully used the same strategy to help the host Raiders beat Cleveland when Tommy Kelly blocked Phil Dawson's last-second field goal attempt.
The Browns (1-2) drove from their own 9 to the Oakland 23 in the final 1:04 without a timeout to set up Dawson's 40-yard try. Right before the snap, Kiffin called timeout just as Denver coach Mike Shanahan did to him a week ago in the Broncos' overtime win.
Like Janikowski a week ago, Dawson split the uprights with the kick that did not count. His attempt when it did was low and blocked by Kelly, setting off a midfield celebration by the Raiders following their first win since last Oct. 29 against Pittsburgh.
LaMont Jordan for 121 yards and a go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter after Daunte Culpepper relieved an injured Josh McCown to lead the Raiders (1-2). McCown threw a 41-yard TD pass to Ronald Curry in the first half and Janikowski made all 4 field goal attempts.
Panthers 27, Falcons 20: Carolina overcame a 361-yard, 2-touchdown performance by Joey Harrington and an injury to Jake Delhomme, taking control after Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall lost his cool to beat host Atlanta.
DeShaun Foster rushed 122 yards and scored a couple of TDs, but Carolina (2-1) may have lost its quarterback for a while. Delhomme injured his throwing arm in the third quarter and didn't return.
Atlanta (0-3) went ahead 17-10 on Harrington's second TD pass, a 13-yarder to Alge Crumpler early in the third quarter.
On the first play from scrimmage after the Falcons' go-ahead touchdown, Delhomme went deep down the sideline for Smith. Clearly beaten, Hall dragged down Smith for a 37-yard interference penalty. On the next play, Hall gave Smith a shove to the upper chest, drawing a 15-yard personal foul. Then, after Delhomme was sacked, Hall drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for continuing to jabber at Smith.
Delhomme took advantage with a tying 5-yard scoring pass to Jeff King. Hall even appeared to get into it with his own coach, Bobby Petrino, before being dragged away by a couple of teammates.
Jets 31, Dolphins 28: Chad Pennington left no question whether his injured right ankle was completely healed. Showing no ill effects from the injury that sidelined him last week, Pennington threw 2 touchdown passes and ran for another as the host New York Jets beat Miami.
Leon Washington returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score, and Thomas Jones had his first big game for the Jets (1-2) by rushing for 110 yards on 25 carries.
At 0-3, Cam Cameron is off to the worst start for a first-year Miami coach since George Wilson dropped his opening five games with the AFL expansion team in 1966.
Ravens 26, Cardinals 23: Kurt Warner of Arizona orchestrated a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback, only to be outdone by another backup quarterback.
Kyle Boller moved host Baltimore into position for Matt Stover's winning 46-yard field goal as time expired.
The Ravens (2-1) led 20-3 at halftime and 23-6 entering the fourth quarter, but struggled in the final 15 minutes for the second straight game. Warner rallied the Cardinals (1-2) to a tie at 23-23 with 1:50 left.
That left it up to Boller, who replaced an ailing Steve McNair in the fourth quarter. Starting at the Baltimore 20, Boller went 5-for-5 for 32 yards, and the Ravens benefited from a questionable personal foul call on safety Adrian Wilson to get into position for Stover's kick.