Favre Gets Stitches in Chin as Pats Beat Vikes

When all the drama cleared, the New England Patriots had the NFL's best record.

Overshadowed by Brett Favre's injuries and Randy Moss' return to New England, the Patriots beat the Minnesota Vikings 28-18 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory.

New England (6-1) moved into sole possession of first place in the AFC East after the New York Jets lost to Green Bay.

Tom Brady was still standing at the end - and Favre wasn't.

Favre drove Minnesota (2-5) to the Patriots 3-yard line in the fourth quarter before he was flattened by defensive lineman Myron Pryor. He left the game and needed stitches in his chin.

Tarvaris Jackson relieved him and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Naufahu Tahi on his first snap, then hit Percy Harvin for the 2-point conversion that made it 21-18. But Brady engineered a 13-play, 80-yard drive, with BenJarvus Green-Ellis getting cartwheeled into the end zone to make it 28-18 with just 1:56 left.

Green-Ellis scored two touchdowns - the first multi-TD game of his career - getting his first on a 13-yard run that made it 21-10.

Green-Ellis ran 17 times for 112 yards. Brady completed 16 of 27 passes for 240 yards, including an ad-libbed 65-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Tate that gave New England the lead for good with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.

It was the first TD catch of Tate's career.

"I just caught a glimpse of him as I spinned out of it and he was open," Brady said. "It was great to see the back of his jersey, running. That was pretty sweet."

Favre, extending his NFL record with his 292nd consecutive start despite two fractures in his left foot, was 22 for 32 for 259 yards, throwing an interception on a tipped ball and taking two intentional grounding penalties when he tried to avoid sacks.

Former Patriot Moss had just one catch for 8 yards in his first trip back to Foxborough since he talked himself out of town Oct. 6. After the game, he spoke with former coach Bill Belichick on the field and the two shared a long hug.

Saints 20, Steelers 10

At New Orleans, Drew Brees passed for 305 yards and two touchdowns for the Saints.

Brees was 20 of 22 for 191 yards in the second half, breaking open a defensive struggle in which neither team scored a touchdown through the first three quarters.

Brees' first TD went to Marques Colston for 16 yards and the second went for 8 yards to Lance Moore with 2:37 left.

Leigh Torrence then intercepted Ben Roethlisberger to seal it for the Saints (5-3).

Rashard Mendenhall had the only touchdown for Pittsburgh (5-2) on a 38-yard run in the fourth quarter. Roethlisberger was 17 of 28 for 195 yards in a matchup of the past two Super Bowl champs.

Packers 9, Jets 0

At East Rutherford, N.J., Mason Crosby kicked three field goals, and that was all the Packers needed to beat the rested but sloppy Jets.

Mark Sanchez and the Jets' offense couldn't get much of anything going as New York, which entered tied for the league's best record, had its five-game winning streak end. The Jets (5-2) were shut out for the first time since a 10-0 loss to Chicago on Nov. 19, 2006, at home.

Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (5-3) didn't exactly light things up, either, but did just enough to win their second straight.

The wind might have caused some problems for both teams' passing and kicking games. Crosby and the Jets' Nick Folk missed field goal attempts, while Sanchez and Rodgers misfired often with balls sailing past receivers.

Rodgers finished 15 of 34 for 170 yards, while Sanchez was 16 of 38 for 256 yards and two interceptions.

49ers 24, Broncos 16

At Wembley, England, backup Troy Smith found his range in the fourth quarter to lead San Francisco in the NFL's fourth regular-season game in London.

In his first start as a 49er, Smith threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with 7:23 left to help San Francisco (2-6) take a 17-10 lead. Frank Gore scored another TD with 3:47 to go, running in from the 3.

A few minutes earlier, Smith made it 10-10 by rushing for a 1-yard touchdown after completing back-to-back passes to Delanie Walker, the first for 27 yards and the second for 38.

The Broncos (2-6) got their first touchdown in the third when Tim Tebow ran in from 1 yard after Kyle Orton connected with Brandon Lloyd for 71 yards.

Chargers 33, Titans 25

At San Diego, Philip Rivers threw a go-ahead, 48-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Gates midway through the third quarter to lead San Diego over Tennessee, which lost quarterback Vince Young to another injury.

San Diego (3-5) snapped a three-game losing streak and won its eighth straight against the Titans dating to 1993. The Titans (5-3) had their three-game winning streak snapped. San Diego is the only team Titans coach Jeff Fisher hasn't beaten.

Gates, who's been playing through a toe injury, got behind linebacker Will Witherspoon to haul in his ninth TD pass this season for a 24-19 lead.

Young was hurt while scrambling with less than six minutes to play and had to be helped off the field. Kerry Collins moved the Titans to the Chargers 15 before Chris Johnson dropped a pass on fourth-and-2 with 30 seconds to go.

Buccaneers 38, Cardinals 35

At Glendale, Ariz., Aqib Talib intercepted two passes, returning one 45 yards for a touchdown and saving the game with the other, and Tampa Bay rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit for the fourth time this season.

The Bucs (5-2) won their fifth straight on the road dating to last season and moved into a tie with idle Atlanta for first in the NFC South.

Derek Anderson, who replaced Max Hall after the Cardinals rookie had two early interceptions returned for scores, rallied Arizona (3-4) from a 17-point deficit to take a 35-31 lead with 9:41 to play.

Josh Freeman's 45-yard pass to rookie Arrelious Benn set up LaGarrette Blount's 1-yard run for what proved to be the winning score with 5:13 to play.

Raiders 33, Seahawks 3

At Oakland, Calif., Jason Campbell threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns, and Oakland's defense delivered one of its best performances in years to help the Raiders even their record at the midpoint of the season.

Darren McFadden ran for 111 yards as the Raiders (4-4) reached the .500 mark this late in the season for the first time since 2002.

They did it by finally putting together back-to-back wins, a feat that had eluded them the past two years. Oakland had lost its previous seven games following a win, being outscored by 17 points per contest. But the Raiders followed up their 59-point offensive outburst in Denver a week ago with a defensive masterpiece against the Seahawks (4-3).

Oakland didn't allow a first down until more than 27 minutes into the game and gave up only 162 yards of offense, including 47 on the ground.

Rams 20, Panthers 10

At St. Louis, Sam Bradford threw two touchdown passes and the Rams' defense forced four Carolina turnovers.

Bradford threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Danny Amendola in the second quarter and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Fells in the fourth as the Rams - an NFL-worst 1-15 last season - reached the midway point at 4-4.

Josh Brown kicked field goals of 33 and 41 yards for St. Louis, which has won four straight home games.

Matt Moore threw a touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell and John Kasay had a 44-yard field goal for Carolina (1-6). Bradford was 25 for 32 for 191 yards. Moore was 23 for 37 for 194 yards and three interceptions.

Dolphins 22, Bengals 14

At Cincinnati, Dan Carpenter kicked five field goals for the second straight game, and Miami made them stand up in keeping its record perfect on the road.

Last week, the Dolphins (4-3) lost after a disputed play. Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown was ruled a fumble on review, but the Steelers kept the ball and kicked a field goal for a 23-22 win, offsetting Carpenter's five field goals.

This time, the Dolphins' defense made sure Carpenter's five were enough.

The Bengals (2-5) failed to get a first down in the third quarter and were shut out in the second half. Their final chance ended with Carson Palmer's interception with 2:43 to go.

Jaguars 35, Cowboys 17

At Arlington, Texas, David Garrard tied a club record with four touchdown passes and ran for another while narrowly missing a perfect quarterback rating against the crumbling Cowboys.

Tony Romo could only watch from the sideline, his left arm in a sling because of a broken collarbone, as the Cowboys (1-5) continued their worst start since 1989.

Dallas pulled to 14-3 and was inside the 1-yard line just before halftime when new starting quarterback Jon Kitna turned right and Marion Barber went left. There was a handoff, a collision and an easy goal-line stand for Jacksonville (4-4). Garrard opened the second half with touchdowns on his first two drives, making it 28-3, and the result never was in doubt again.

Garrard was 17 of 21 for 260 yards. Even with three sacks and a lost fumble, his rating was 157.8; perfect is 158.3.

Chiefs 13, Bills 10 (OT)

At Kansas City, Mo., Ryan Succop kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired in overtime to lift Kansas City over winless Buffalo.

Succop had a chance to win the game with 3:38 to go in OT, but his 39-yard attempt with 3:38 to go hooked left.

Buffalo's Rian Lindell hit what would have been a 53-yard game-winner earlier in the overtime, but the kick was nullified because the Chiefs had called their last time out. Forced to do it again, Lindell kicked a wobbler that hit the right upright.

The Chiefs (5-2) rushed for more than 200 yards for the third week in a row, but constantly stopped themselves with mistakes and penalties.

The Bills (0-7), who lost in overtime to Baltimore the week before, are off to the third-worst start in franchise history.

If Succop's second kick had missed, the game would have ended in the first tie in the NFL since Philadelphia and Cincinnati finished 13-all on Nov. 16, 2008.

Lions 37, Redskins 25

At Detroit, Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes, including a 10-yarder to Calvin Johnson with 3:12 left, and the Lions (2-5) went on to score nine points in a 14-second span for their second win of the season.

The Redskins (4-4) turned the ball over on downs after Johnson's career-high third score. Washington coach Mike Shanahan then put Rex Grossman in for an apparently healthy Donovan McNabb, and he fumbled on his first play with Ndamukong Suh returning it for a TD.

The Lions were trailing late in the game when Alphonso Smith stepped in front of McNabb's pass at the Redskins 26 to set up the go-ahead TD.

Stafford played for the first time since separating his right shoulder on a sack in Week 1.