Seau showboats as Pats roll to 5-0

The Patriots have had plenty to celebrate this season. Junior Seau finally gave in to the temptation.

Now he's ready to pay the price.

In a move more suited to an 18-year-old college player than an 18-year veteran like Seau, he raised the ball high while returning an interception in Sunday's 34-17 win over the visiting Cleveland Browns, New England's fifth one-sided win in five games this season.

"It was a fun time and, obviously, I'm going to get reprimanded," Seau said.

He had 2 of New England's 3 interceptions and Tom Brady threw for 3 touchdowns, tying an NFL record with at least 3 in each of his first five games. The Patriots became the fourth team to start a season with five wins by at least 17 points, although Sunday's margin was their smallest.

Coach Bill Belichick, an anti-showboating advocate, finds mistakes to correct no matter how well the Patriots play. All he has to do this time is watch the play by Seau, who actually thought about lateraling.

"Coach wouldn't have liked that either," he said. "So I didn't want to have two whammies in one play."

Belichick, for the most part, loves Seau as a player.

"Junior adds a lot of energy to our defense," he said, but "I don't know what Junior is thinking sometimes."

Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow thinks the Patriots are the NFL's best team.

"They're great. It's obvious," he said. "They've won three Super Bowls."

They improved to 5-0 without a big contribution from Randy Moss, who entered the game as the NFL leader in yards receiving and total touchdowns. He had just 3 catches for 46 yards.

He was double-teamed most of the time, so Brady went to other receivers, throwing touchdown passes of 7 and 25 yards to Benjamin Watson and 34 yards to Donte' Stallworth.

The Patriots never trailed for the fourth game as they moved to 5-0 for the third time in club history.

It shouldn't be as easy when they visit Dallas next Sunday. But so far, they've been behind for just 12:36 this season -- and they followed that 7-3 deficit against Buffalo with 35 straight points in a 38-7 win.

Panthers 16, Saints 13: Steve Smith fought for yards through two tacklers to turn a short catch into a crucial first down, and John Kasay made a 52-yard field goal as time expired for visiting Carolina. Panthers players mobbed Kasay at midfield as he dropped New Orleans to 0-4.

The Saints were supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, but now their chances of even competing for a playoff spot are slim. Only the 1992 San Diego Chargers have fought back from an 0-4 start to do that since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff system in 1990.

The Saints (0-4) held the momentum through much of the game and had repeated chances to pull out their first victory. Missed field goals, dropped passes, turnovers and untimely penalties cost them.

"If we continue to make the dumb mistakes, drop as many passes, penalize ourselves on big plays, not take advantage of our field position, then it's hard for the result to change," said Saints coach Sean Payton, whose NFL Coach of the Year award last season now seems like a distant memory.

Saints kicker Olindo Mare missed 2 field goals, including a 20-yarder he had blocked, and has now missed 4 on the season.

Titans 20, Falcons 13: Vincent Fuller picked off a pass and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown, and Kyle Vanden Bosch sacked Byron Leftwich with 1:01 left, as host Tennessee overcame 5 turnovers against Atlanta.

The win allowed the Titans (3-1) to continue their best start since 2003, when they last reached the playoffs. But it couldn't have been uglier for a team coming off its bye as Vince Young matched his career high with 3 interceptions.

Ravens 9, Niners 7: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and their crew suffocated San Francisco on all but a few plays, and Matt Stover made up for Baltimore's near-equal offensive ineptitude with 3 field goals as the Ravens won in San Francisco.

The Ravens (3-2) didn't get in the end zone despite outgaining San Francisco 315-163, yet they hung on with the franchise's lowest point total in a victory since the former Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996.

Jaguars 17, Chiefs 7: Visiting Jacksonville held Kansas City to 10 yards rushing and didn't allow a touchdown until the game's final play. The Jaguars (3-1), who gave up 282 yards rushing to Tennessee in losing their opener, have not allowed more than 48 yards on the ground in any of the three games since, all wins.

Two-time Pro Bowler Larry Johnson, who had 138 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 35-30 victory over Jacksonville in the regular-season finale last New Year's Eve, was held to 12 yards on 9 carries for the Chiefs (2-3).

The Chiefs avoided the shutout on the final play, Brodie Croyle's 13-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Parker.

Texans 22, Dolphins 19: Kris Brown kicked 5 field goals, including the winner on a career-long 57-yarder with one second remaining, to lead host Houston over Miami, losers of eight straight.

Brown tied an NFL single-game record with three makes over 50 yards. He hit two 54-yarders earlier in the game for the Texans (3-2).

The Dolphins (0-5) are off to their worst start since losing the first six to open the 2004 season. Things could get worse after quarterback Trent Green suffered a concussion trying to block. He was examined at a hospital and returned to the stadium.