Monday, November 25, 2002
AFC
Colts 23, Broncos 20, OT
DENVER -- Mike Vanderjagt kicked a 54-yard field goal through a heavy snowfall with 3 seconds remaining in regulation, then he made a 51-yarder in overtime. Indianapolis trailed 20-17 when it got the ball at its own 20 with 1:40 remaining in regulation. The Colts moved 44 yards in 11 plays before Vanderjagt tied the score. Indianapolis got the ball first in overtime and moved 35 yards for Vanderjagt's winning kick, which again had plenty of distance.
Seahawks 39, Chiefs 32
SEATTLE -- Matt Hasselbeck had his best performance of the season, throwing for career highs with 362 yards and three touchdowns. Shaun Alexander ran for 145 yards on 23 carries and sealed the victory when he ran for a 46-yard touchdown on a counter play that made it 39-25 with 1:52 remaining. Kansas City's Priest Holmes ran for 197 yards and two TDs on 23 carries and caught seven passes for 110 yards, including a screen pass from Green that went for a 64-yard TD midway through the second quarter.
Ravens 13, Titans 12
BALTIMORE -- Tennessee turned the ball over four times, allowed rookie Ed Reed's blocked punt for the game's only touchdown, and blew repeated chances at touchdowns. Reed broke right in on Craig Hentrich, blocked his punt, picked it up and carried it 11 yards into the end zone. The Ravens never trailed -- it was 10-6 at halftime and 13-6 entering the fourth quarter when Joe Nedney's fourth field goal, from 40 yards out, cut it to 13-9. After a Ravens fumble, the Titans drove to the Baltimore 3, but had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Nedney.
Dolphins 30, Chargers 3
MIAMI -- Ricky Williams outran LaDainian Tomlinson as Miami sent San Diego to its fourth loss. Williams ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns against the NFL's third-ranked run defense, while Miami limited league rushing leader Tomlinson to a season-low 45 yards. James McKnight turned a short pass into a 77-yard gain, the Dolphins' longest since 1993. Ray Lucas, who lost his first three starts filling in for an injured Jay Fiedler, threw for 194 yards.
Jets 31, Bills 13
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Curtis Martin ran for 120 yards and Chad Pennington scored on a 1-yard run as the Jets remained firmly in the AFC East race. Martin put together his second straight 100-yard effort. Pennington was 15-for-24 for 178 yards. Keyed by Martin, the Jets quickly moved to a 24-3 lead on the opening drive of the second half. Operating into a stiff wind, they moved 65 yards as Martin ran for 17 and then went 18 yards with a dump pass. Laveranues Coles was wide open on a play-action rollout pass and Pennington hit him for an 11-yard TD. The Bills drove 69 yards, including an 18-yard pass to Eric Moulds on fourth down, before Travis Henry ran in from the 1, then moved within 11 points on Mike Hollis' 40-yard field goal late in the third quarter. The Jets calmly marched 65 yards in 11 plays as Pennington scored on fourth down.
NFC
Buccaneers 21, Packers 7
TAMPA, Fla. -- Brett Favre was no match for the NFL's top-ranked defense. Tampa Bay intercepted Favre four times and Brad Johnson threw two second-half touchdown passes in a meeting of teams with the best record in the league. Favre was sacked three times and had little success against the vaunted Bucs defense after taking advantage of Tampa Bay's only turnover to give the Packers a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Johnson returned from being poked in the right eye to throw TD passes of 4 yards to Joe Jurevicius and 3 yards to Ken Dilger. Martin Gramatica kicked field goals of 38 and 51 yards for the Bucs, who trailed 7-3 at the half. Brian Kelly had two interceptions, setting up Tampa Bay's first TD and stopping another drive deep in Bucs territory with Favre working feverishly to try to wipe out a two-touchdown deficit in the last five minutes. Ronde Barber stepped in front of a slant pass intended for Terry Glenn to turn back another threat and Dexter Jackson's interception and 58-yard return to the Green Bay 5 led to Johnson's TD pass to Dilger.
Falcons 41, Panthers 0
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael Vick threw for 272 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Warrick Dunn scored twice, and Atlanta's defense had eight sacks and six turnovers to send Carolina to its eight straight loss. Carolina managed just 122 yards of offense, 10 first downs and had the ball just a little over 20 minutes. The Falcons, meanwhile, had 426 yards of offense, four interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
Redskins 20, Rams 17
LANDOVER, Md. -- With a chance to win or tie in the final minute, Kurt Warner lost the ball. Trailing by three with 17 seconds remaining on first-and-goal at the 6 -- and a sure field goal in sight -- Warner was stripped by LaVar Arrington. Daryl Gardener recovered for Washington, preserving a 20-17 victory and ending St. Louis' five-game winning streak. Stephen Davis ran for 88 yards on 31 carries with three touchdowns. Warner, returning after missing five games with a broken finger, completed his first 15 passes before hitting a mid-game slump.
Bears 20, Lions 17, OT
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Sore-armed Jim Miller came off the bench and rescued Chicago with one of the grittiest efforts of his career -- with help from Detroit's unconventional overtime strategy. After the Lions decided to take the wind instead of the ball to start overtime, Miller drove Chicago to Paul Edinger's 40-yard field goal as the Bears snapped an eight-game losing streak. Miller, playing with a sore right elbow, led the Bears to 10 points in the final 2:33 of regulation, featuring two great catches by Dez White, and Chicago forced overtime on Edinger's 22-yard field goal on the final play.
INTERCONFERENCE
Patriots 24, Vikings 17
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Tom Brady's three touchdown passes in the first half were enough to keep Minnesota's two-year road losing streak intact. The Patriots persevered on a windy day that caused them to try for first downs twice on fourth-down plays -- and fail both times -- rather than go for field goals. Minnesota's Gary Anderson missed a 41-yard kick into the wind that would have cut the lead to 24-20 with 7:37 remaining. Daunte Culpepper threw scoring passes to D'Wayne Bates and Kelly Campbell, but he had one of the three fumbles the Vikings lost on their first five series.
Cowboys 21, Jaguars 19
IRVING, Texas -- Chad Hutchinson threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns, and more important, he looked in command while doing so. Hutchinson led scoring drives of 99, 69 and 65 yards, and he completed passes of 49, 47 and 43 yards. He had the most yards passing by a Dallas rookie since Troy Aikman set the club record with 379 in 1989. Joey Galloway caught seven passes for 144 yards and both touchdowns. Emmitt Smith ran 20 times for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Raiders 41, Cardinals 20
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Rich Gannon completed 27 of 45 passes for 340 yards and three touchdowns, while Charlie Garner rushed for 100 yards in 16 carries, including an 8-yard touchdown run. Tyrone Wheatley added 82 yards on 13 carries. Gannon topped 300 yards passing for the eighth time in 10 games. The record for 300-yard games in a season is nine. The Raiders, with the NFL's No. 1 offense, amassed 520 yards against the hapless Cardinals, who lost their fifth in a row and have been outscored 168-84 in the process. Marcel Shipp gained 135 yards in 16 carries for Arizona in his first NFL start. But the Raiders scored touchdowns after Jake Plummer's two first-quarter turnovers and were in control throughout.
Texans 16, Giants 14
HOUSTON -- Houston used a trick play, a big punt return and two field goals by Kris Brown -- the last one a 50-yarder with 6:57 to play -- to defeat the Giants. Trailing 14-13 after Kerry Collins threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer with 13:10 to play, the Texans drove 41 yards to the Giants 32-yard line, setting up Brown's game-winner. Still, it took two late interceptions -- by Matt Stevens with 5:57 to play and by Jeff Posey with 1:19 remaining -- to preserve the Texans' victory.