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Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Undefeated Saints, Colts keep finding ways to win

The New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts keep finding ways to win. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally learned how Sunday.

The Saints and Colts each improved to 8-0 with come-from-behind victories. The Bucs are a meager 1-7 but they gained a glimmer of hope for the future as rookie Josh Freeman passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns in his first start.

At New Orleans, Drew Brees and the Saints' prolific offense rallied for the third straight game and are off to the best start in the franchise's 43-year history.

Brees overcame two early turnovers to pass for 330 yards and a touchdown in a 30-20 victory over the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans rallied from a 17-3 deficit.

"That's great. I mean, 1967 until now and we're the only (Saints) team to have done that," Brees said. "That's really special. I feel like we've got a special group of guys, a special team, and certainly we're not satisfied with just being 8-0. We have what it takes to just continue to win."

The Saints have a realistic chance to sit at 10-0 when they host New England - the only team to finish a regular season 16-0 - on the Monday night after Thanksgiving. New Orleans next plays at St. Louis and then at Tampa Bay - a combined 2-14 this season.

At Indianapolis, Peyton Manning delivered another milestone performance, Joseph Addai produced a second straight winning score, and the Colts escaped with a 20-17 win over the when Houston's Kris Brown missed a 42-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

"I think that's the mark of a great football team," center Jeff Saturday said of Indy's close calls. "We've won eight games so far, and we're ahead in our division, which is really our main focus and goal."

The Colts became the fourth team in league history with 17 straight regular-season wins. New England did it twice - winning a record 21 straight from 2006-08 and 18 in a row from 2003-04. Chicago won 17 straight from 1933-34.

Fittingly, the Patriots come to town next week with a chance to prevent Indy from matching their original record.

At Tampa, Fla., Freeman, the third quarterback selected in this year's NFL draft, led the Bucs to a 38-28 victory over the Green Bay Packers, ending the league's longest losing streak at 11 games.

Freeman threw a 7-yard touchdown to Sammie Stroughter on fourth-and-4 for the go-ahead score with under 5 minutes to play.

"I felt really relaxed," said Freeman, the 17th pick in the draft, taken behind Detroit's Matthew Stafford and Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets.

"I didn't get too high or too low," the 21-year-old said. "I can't say I did anything spectacular. I just played within myself, and when we had opportunities, I took them."

Cowboys 20, Eagles 16

At Philadelphia, Tony Romo threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin midway through the fourth quarter and the Cowboys won the 100th meeting between the division rivals.

On the final day of the 2008 regular season, the Eagles dominated Dallas 44-6 in a do-or-die game for both teams. Philadelphia earned a wild-card berth with that victory, won two playoff contests on the road and advanced to the NFC championship game, losing at Arizona.

The Cowboys (6-2) took over sole possession of first place in the NFC East with their fourth straight victory.

The Eagles fell to 5-3.

Chargers 21, Giants 20

At East Rutherford, N.J., Philip Rivers capped an 80-yard drive with an 18-yard pass to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds to play and the Chargers handed New York its fourth straight loss.

Rivers was 24 of 36 for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Jackson, in helping San Diego (5-3) win its third straight.

The Giants are 5-4 heading into a bye week and not looking very much like a playoff team.

Titans 34, 49ers 27

At San Francisco, Chris Johnson, six plays after his 81-yard touchdown run was overturned, took a pitch from Vince Young and ran 2 yards for a go-ahead score.

Young outplayed fellow first-round draft pick Alex Smith, getting the Titans (2-6) in the end zone when it mattered.