Broncos edge Steelers on Elam's FG as time expires

The Denver Broncos took the city's minds off the Colorado Rockies for a few hours Sunday night, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 on Jason Elam's 49-yard field goal as time expired.

Rookie Tim Crowder had a 50-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, Jay Cutler threw 3 TD passes and the Broncos (3-3), coming off their worst home loss in 41 years, looked nothing like the troubled team that had lost playmakers on both sides of the ball and whose season was threatening to unravel before the leaves had finished falling.

Suddenly able to get to the passer despite Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey (thigh) missing a game for just the third time in his career, the Broncos forced 3 turnovers and sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times.

The Steelers (4-2), who had allowed just 5 touchdowns all season , surrendered 4, including Cutler's throws of 15 yards to Brandon Stokley and 1 yard each to Tony Scheffler and Cecil Sapp.

Elam, who has the game-winner in all 3 of the Broncos' wins so far, nailed his kick to cap a 7-play, 49-yard drive that covered the final 1:10 after Pittsburgh had rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie it.

The Broncos, who lost running back Travis Henry for the night with bruised ribs in the third quarter, snapped a three-game skid and handed the Steelers their second loss in three games.

Denver was surprisingly in control throughout and built a 2-touchdown lead on Scheffler's 1-yard TD catch midway through the third quarter.

Pittsburgh pulled to 28-21 with a 94-yard drive capped by rookie tight end Matt Spaeth's 13-yard touchdown catch one play after Roethlisberger barely got the first down on a fourth-and-1 sneak.

Without Henry, the Broncos went three-and-out and Pittsburgh got the ball at its 22 with 7:47 left after a 61-yard punt by Todd Sauerbrun.

Roethlisberger completed all 8 of his passes on the 80-yard drive, which he capped with a 12-yard TD pass to tight end Heath Miller, his second touchdown grab of the night.

After a touchback, Scheffler caught a 16-yard pass before hopping off the field with an apparent right foot injury. He broke that foot in the summer and only recently returned to full strength.

Brandon Marshall caught a 9-yard pass and an offside call put the ball on the 50. Glenn Martinez caught an 11-yard pass and tight end Daniel Graham caught another 9-yarder with 20 seconds on a play that was initially ruled an incompletion before a booth-ordered replay overturned the call.

Selvin Young lost a yard and, after a timeout, Elam split the uprights.

Saints 22, Falcons 16: Reggie Bush's power running with a short pass gave host New Orleans (2-4) a 4-yard touchdown to win it over Atlanta.

Bush spun free and overpowered three Falcons and dived across the goal line on a crucial third-and-goal screen pass.

Bush threw the ball into the second deck of the Louisiana Superdome after the score. While fans chanted his name in celebration, Bush took a handoff on a 2-point conversion, raced to the sideline and dived past the pylon.

Bush finished with only 54 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving on a difficult day during which New Orleans' offense often sputtered. He also had several good gains called back on holding penalties.

Atlanta (1-6) lost more than a game. Its newest starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich, left with an injured right ankle after Saints defensive end Will Smith brought him down on a long incompletion early in the third quarter.

Chiefs 12, Raiders 10: Larry Johnson scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and Kansas City beat host Oakland for the ninth straight time.

The Chiefs' win highlighted Priest Holmes' return from a two-year absence.

Holmes, Kansas City's career leader in yards rushing and touchdowns, was activated this week for the first time since suffering a neck injury on a vicious hit from San Diego's Shawne Merriman on Oct. 30, 2005.

Holmes entered the game on the third play of Kansas City's third drive. He caught a screen pass from Damon Huard, but was tackled by Nnamdi Asomugha for a 6-yard loss. Holmes had no other catches and rushed four times for 9 yards, gaining a key first down with under three minutes left and Kansas City (4-3) protecting a 12-10 lead.

It was another nail-biting finish for Kansas City against Oakland (2-4). Eight of the wins during the Chiefs' streak have been by seven points or fewer. It's the longest streak a team has had against the Raiders, who have also lost 17 straight division games.

Bengals 38, Jets 31: Kenny Watson ran for 130 yards and 3 touchdowns in the best performance of his career, and host Cincinnati (2-4) turned the New York Jets' second-half meltdown into its first victory in five games.

Watson led the way, playing like a star instead of Rudi Johnson's fill-in. The seventh-year runner with a half-dozen career starts scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards in the second half, finishing off a Jets team that couldn't hold a 13-point lead or get out of its own way.

New York (1-6) has already matched its loss total from last season, when coach Eric Mangini was dubbed the "Mangenius" for taking a previously 4-12 team to the playoffs.

Chad Pennington put the Jets ahead with touchdown passes of 57 and 36 yards to Laveranues Coles.

Redskins 21, Cardinals 19: In a game marred by bad penalties and boneheaded mistakes, host Washington (4-2) had the only thing resembling a normal scoring drive.

But the Redskins finished the day with only 160 total yards and survived a 55-yard field goal attempt by Neil Rackers that was barely wide left with two seconds remaining.

Rackers' attempt was set up when the Cardinals recovered an onside kick following a touchdown and a failed 2-point conversion.

There were a combined 15 penalties for 128 yards, a blocked punt by the Cardinals and a blocked extra point by the Redskins.

And 3 of the game's 6 touchdowns were the product of interceptions.

Clinton Portis had a pair of short touchdown runs for the Redskins.

Kurt Warner, who started despite a torn elbow ligament that made it awkward to hand off, wasn't behind center for the Cardinals (3-4) when they got within 21-19. Tim Rattay entered for the play and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Pope.

Needing a 2-point conversion, the Cardinals snapped the ball directly to receiver Anquan Boldin in shotgun formation. Boldin scrambled to the right, and with nowhere to run, threw feebly toward Larry Fitzgerald. Safety LaRon Landry broke up the pass.

Bills 19, Ravens 14: Making good on an opportunity to secure the starting job, rookie quarterback Trent Edwards went 11 of 21 for 153 yards and engineered five scoring drives as host Buffalo (2-4) beat Baltimore.

Rian Lindell hit 4 field goals, including a 41-yarder, and Marshawn Lynch scored on a 1-yard plunge.

Willis McGahee made his mark, overcoming a slow start and a booing crowd, by scoring on a 46-yard run in his first game back since the Bills traded him to Baltimore (4-3) in March. But it wasn't enough for a popgun Ravens attack that featured three rookie offensive linemen and was minus starting QB Steve McNair and tight end Todd Heap.

Boller went 21 of 36 for 191 yards in making his second straight start in place of McNair, who's nursing a sore back and groin injury.