Burress no distraction as Giants roll, 23-7
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St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long puts a big hit on Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington, causing an incomplete pass during their teams' game on Sunday in St. Louis. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
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The Associated Press - Published: December 1, 2008
LANDOVER, Md. — Nothing is stopping the New York Giants these days. Not the latest distraction surrounding their star receiver. Not the rain on a dreary day in the mid-Atlantic. Not a Washington Redskins team with the NFL's leading rusher and a usually stout defense.
Eli Manning had his first 300-yard game of the season, Clinton Portis was held to 22 yards rushing, and the Giants put aside the Plaxico Burress mess Sunday with another dominating performance, 23-7 over the Redskins.
The Giants (11-1) have won seven straight, including six in a row against teams with winning records, and have a three-game lead over the second-place Dallas Cowboys with four to play. They completed a sweep of the Redskins by manhandling them in the major statistical categories, including total yards (404-320) and time of possession (35:44-24:16).
The loss not only dropped the Redskins (7-5) out of contention for the NFC East title, but now they also trail Dallas in the wild-card race. Washington has lost three of four — all at home — after a 6-2 start.
Not long before kickoff, Giants president and CEO John Mara was having to answer questions about Burress, who accidentally shot himself in the right thigh at a Manhattan nightclub Friday night and expects to be charged with criminal possession of a weapon. Burress, whose injuries were not serious, has a been a headache for much of the season, but New York has kept its focus and shown it has more than enough talent to win without him.
"This team has proven to be pretty resilient," Mara said.
The Redskins began the game remembering a much more tragic shooting. Sean Taylor was inducted into the team's Ring of Fame to mark the first anniversary of his death, and Portis honored his fallen friend by running onto the field with a No. 21 flag during the pregame tribute.
Once the game began, it was all Giants. Manning finished 21-for-34 for 305 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Brandon Jacobs, who missed last week's game with a knee injury, rushed for 71 yards on 21 carries. Amani Toomer caught five passes for 85 yards and a score.
Manning threw for 68 of the 71 yards on the Giants' opening drive, capped when Toomer beat Fred Smoot one-on-one down the right sideline for a 40-yard touchdown. Meanwhile, the Redskins went three-and-out on their first two drives, both times completing a third-down pass that fell short of the first-down marker.
Ravens 34, Bengals 3
CINCINNATI — Mark Clayton put a little sizzle into Baltimore's steadily evolving offense.
The fourth-year receiver threw a touchdown pass on a reverse, then made a spectacular one-handed catch for a 70-yard score on Sunday, helping the Ravens keep pace in the AFC North with a 34-3 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Ravens (8-4) have won six of their past seven games with a renowned defense and an offense coming into its own behind rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. Each week, the Ravens give him a little more freedom and a little more of the playbook.
Against the Bengals (1-10-1), they added a page for Clayton, a first-round draft pick who emerged as a dual scoring threat on a cold, rainy afternoon.
On Baltimore's second possession of the third quarter, Clayton lined up to the left, took a handoff from Flacco and headed for the right sideline, selling the play as a reverse. Cornerback Leon Hall fell for it, letting Derrick Mason run free down the right sideline. Clayton's 32-yard touchdown pass — the first of his career — was as easy as they come.
Colts 10, Browns 6
CLEVELAND — Often overlooked and always overshadowed by their star-studded offense, the Indianapolis Colts' defense found the end zone on a day Peyton Manning couldn't.
Defensive end Robert Mathis scooped up Derek Anderson's fumble and rumbled 39 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Colts stayed in the thick of the AFC playoff chase by winning their fifth straight, an ugly 10-6 decision over the snake-bitten Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Mathis' big play helped bail out Manning and Indy's high-octane offense, which failed to score a TD and never got humming with its usual efficiency.
Still, the Colts (8-4) got a 30-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri and improved to 5-0 in November, a month-long run that has allowed them to recover from a 3-4 start.
The Browns (4-8) lost their fourth straight at home and may have lost quarterback Derek Anderson and tight end Kellen Winslow for an extended period.
Anderson, starting in place of the injured Brady Quinn, injured his left leg in the final two minutes. He was dropping back to pass when offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer fell on him while being knocked backward by a charging Mathis. Anderson tried to get up, but couldn't and had to be helped to the sideline.
Ken Dorsey, Cleveland's third stringer who hadn't played all season, came in for the final three plays and was intercepted on the Browns' last snap.
Manning finished 15-for-21 for 125 yards. The Colts had only 215 total yards, ran just 50 plays and had the ball for less than 28 minutes.
But they won, and that's all that matters this time of year.
49ers 10, Bills 3
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — For a 49ers team that didn't have much to play for, linebacker Patrick Willis and a suddenly sturdy San Francisco defense certainly did their job as spoilers.
Willis had 14 tackles and a forced fumble in a 10-3 win over Buffalo on Sunday that all but ended the Bills' dwindling playoff hopes. The 49ers' win also prevented the Arizona Cardinals from clinching the NFC West and their first playoff berth in 10 years — the longest active playoff drought in the NFL.
Isaac Bruce scored on a 12-yard touchdown pass — the 90th of his career — and Joe Nedney hit a 50-yard field goal as the 49ers never trailed. San Francisco (4-8) won for the second time in three games and second time for interim coach Mike Singletary.
The Bills (6-6) lost for the fifth time in six games and looked nothing like a team coming off a 54-31 win at Kansas City, or the team that got off to a 4-0 start.
Dolphins 16, Rams 12
ST. LOUIS — The Miami Dolphins kept the St. Louis Rams out of the end zone, even with Steven Jackson back in the lineup.
The Dolphins (7-5) made it only once themselves in a 16-12 victory Sunday. Instead, they relied on stingy play from a defense that got routed last week by the Patriots to secure their fifth victory in six games.
Miami and St. Louis had the top two picks of the draft and the Rams (2-10) are likely to get another real early pick next April after losing their sixth in a row. They ended a string of blowout losses the previous four games behind Jackson, who had 94 yards on 21 carries, but were undone by mistakes in the second half against a franchise that's quickly become competitive after going 1-15 last season.
Marc Bulger, sidelined by a concussion last week against the Bears, threw three interceptions in the second half — the clincher by Andre' Goodman at the Dolphins 5 with 35 seconds to go. Renaldo Hill's second pick of the season, and second in two games, set up Dan Carpenter's third field goal for the final score with 6:39 to go.
Against a team that has scored one touchdown the past four games, that was plenty of cushion.
The Rams got a perfect day from kicker Josh Brown, who matched his season best with four field goals in four attempts. Bulger was far from perfect, going 16-for-35 for 149 yards.
Panthers 35, Packers 31
GREEN BAY, Wis. — DeAngelo Williams scored his fourth touchdown of the game with 1:30 left on the clock, giving the Carolina Panthers a stunning come-from-behind 35-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers in wintry conditions at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
The Packers appeared headed for a comeback victory of their own after breaking a 28-28 tie on Mason Crosby's 19-yard field goal with 1:57 remaining.
But Green Bay immediately gave up a 45-yard kickoff return to Mark Jones and a 54-yard heave from Jake Delhomme to Steve Smith to set up first-and-goal on the Green Bay 1.
Williams then went up the gut for his career-high fourth score of the game, helping Carolina (9-3) keep pace in the competitive NFC South.
And the loss could be crushing for the Packers (5-7), who will fall two games out of the NFC North lead with four games left unless division co-leaders Chicago and Minnesota playedo a tie Sunday night.
Buccaneers 23, Saints 20
TAMPA, Fla. — Relentless all day long, Tampa Bay's defense finally shut down Drew Brees when it mattered most.
Jermaine Phillips and Phillip Buchanon intercepted the NFL's leading passer in the closing minutes and Matt Bryant kicked a 37-yard field goal with 1:55 remaining Sunday to help the Buccaneers stay atop the NFC South with a 23-20 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Brees, on pace to break Dan Marino's single-season yardage record, threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns on a rainy day but also was picked off three times — once in the end zone — and bothered by the Bucs' pass rush all afternoon.
The victory was the fourth straight for Tampa Bay (9-3). The Bucs are 6-1 since Jeff Garcia regained the starting quarterback job, which he lost after a poor performance in a season-opening loss against the Saints (6-6).
Garcia was limited to 119 yards passing, but threw 38 yards to Antonio Bryant for a third-quarter touchdown that put the Bucs up 20-10. Carnell "Cadillac" Williams also scored on an 8-yard run, his first TD since a career-threatening knee injury 14 months ago.
Brees completed 25 of 47 passes and wiped out a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit by throwing a 20-yard TD pass to Pierre Thomas and taking advantage of a short punt to tie the game on Garrett Hartley's second field goal with 5:34 to go.
Falcons 22, Chargers 16
SAN DIEGO — Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and the rest of the Atlanta Falcons are very much alive in the playoff picture.
The San Diego Chargers, once thought to be Super Bowl worthy, are on life support.
Ryan, the rookie from Boston College, threw two touchdown passes and Turner, LaDainian Tomlinson's former understudy, ran for 120 yards against his former team to lead the Falcons to a 22-16 win over the reeling Chargers on Sunday.
The Falcons (8-4), one of the NFL's most surprising teams behind rookie head coach Mike Smith, remained a game behind Tampa Bay and Carolina in the NFC South.
San Diego (4-8) lost for the fifth time in six games. They came into the day two games behind Denver in the anemic AFC West. Many fans had cleared out by the final gun, and those who remained booed as Ryan took a knee to end the game.
Ryan completed 17 of 23 passes for 207 yards. Turner carried 31 times in his sixth 100-yard game of the season. He was allowed to leave San Diego as an unrestricted free agent after last season.
Tomlinson, the two-time defending NFL rushing champion, was held to 24 yards on 14 carries.
Broncos 34, Jets 17
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos stopped the surging New York Jets, and showed they might also be a team to reckon with in the wide-open AFC.
Cutler passed for 357 yards and two touchdowns and rookie Peyton Hillis ran for 129 yards and a score in the Broncos' 34-17 victory over the Jets at a wet and windy Meadowlands on Sunday.
The Broncos (7-5) washed away the sting of a 31-10 loss to Oakland at home last weekend by stopping the Jets' five-game winning streak. Denver leads the AFC West by three games with four weeks left.
It was a disappointing loss for New York (8-4), which was coming off emotional victories at New England and Tennessee and was making a claim as the conference's top team.
Cutler finished 27-of-43, and Hillis became the first to rush for 100 or more yards against the Jets' third-ranked run defense. Brandon Stokley and Eddie Royal each had touchdown catches, and tight ends Tony Scheffler and Daniel Graham combined for 13 catches and 149 yards.
Thomas Jones had 138 yards rushing and two touchdowns for New York, but Brett Favre struggled in the sloppy conditions. He finished 23-of-43 for 247 yards and an interception.
The Jets are still a game ahead of both New England and Miami in the AFC East.
Broncos safety Vernon Fox gave the Broncos an early lead when he returned a fumble 23 yards for a touchdown on a controversial play midway through the opening period that set the tone for the game.
Wide receiver Brad Smith took a direct snap and tried to hand off to Jerricho Cotchery, but the ball squirted away. Cotchery jumped on top of the bouncing ball and was immediately hit by Fox. The ball then came loose and Fox picked it up and returned it for a touchdown.
Jets coach Eric Mangini threw out the red challenge flag, but the officials ruled Cotchery had never gained possession so it was still a fumble, and not a reviewable play.
Jones tied it with a 59-yard touchdown run on the opening play of New York's next possession. Jones went up the middle, broke right and took off untouched down the sideline for the longest run in his career.
Denver came right back four plays later when Royal, showing no signs of the toe injury that limited him in practice, scored on a 59-yard touchdown pass with 6:44 left. Mangini challenged the play, thinking Royal stepped out of bounds, but the call was upheld after a short review.
Matt Prater's 25-yard field goal made it 17-7 with 1:44 remaining in the opening quarter.
Chiefs 20, Raiders 13
OAKLAND, Calif. — Tyler Thigpen put together one effective drive for Kansas City to beat the Oakland Raiders in a matchup between two of the NFL's worst teams.
Thigpen engineered a 91-yard drive that was capped by Larry Johnson's 2-yard tiebreaking touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to lead the Chiefs to a 20-13 victory Sunday for just their second win in their last 21 games.
Kansas City (2-10) scored its first touchdown on Maurice Leggett's 67-yard fumble return on a botched fake field goal by Oakland (3-9).
With the Chiefs locked in a 10-all tie and backed up to their own 9 following a punt, Thigpen got the offense moving to earn his first win in seven career NFL starts. He got Kansas City started with a 23-yard pass to Tony Gonzalez and hit the tight end twice more for 28 yards on the drive.
Thigpen also ran for 24 yards on scrambles and designed draws to set up Johnson's run that made it 17-10.
After a fumble by Justin Fargas on Oakland's next drive, Thigpen ran it 25 yards to set up Connor Barth's second field goal.
Thigpen finished 15-for-22 for 162 yards and ran for 48 more. After Sebastian Janikowski's 51-yard field goal cut the lead to 20-13 with 2:55 remaining, Thigpen connected on a 12-yard pass to Dwayne Bowe for a first down that helped Kansas City run out the clock.
Gonzalez added eight catches for 110 yards and Larry Johnson ran for 92 yards on 24 carries.
After allowing a franchise-worst 54 points in a loss to Buffalo last week, the Chiefs managed to shut down a Raiders team that scored 31 to beat Denver a week ago. Oakland's only touchdown came on a 1-yard drive following Chris Johnson's 44-yard interception return.
The Raiders managed just three points on three trips inside the Kansas City 30, as the offense reverted to its form before the Denver game. Oakland had gone 15 quarters without an offensive touchdown.
JaMarcus Russell went 10-for-28 for 132 yards.
The loss assured the Raiders of their sixth straight losing record since going to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season and was the sixth loss in eight games under interim coach Tom Cable.
It was a decision by Cable that put the Raiders in an early hole, as he called for a fake field goal on fourth-and-10 early in the second quarter. Holder Shane Lechler took the snap and threw an errant pitch to kicker Sebastian Janikowski. Leggett scooped up the loose ball and ran 67 yards for the score to give Kansas City a 10-3 lead.
That helped the Chiefs win for the sixth straight time in Oakland. Kansas City had won just one game since beating the Raiders 12-10 at the Coliseum on Oct. 21, 2007. The Chiefs' only other win since then came at home against Denver in September.
The Raiders used many different looks on offense, with Darren McFadden lining up at receiver and quarterback and even taking a pitch from Ronald Curry after a short pass for a hook-and-lateral to set up a field goal on Oakland's first possession. But the Raiders couldn't manage much else on offense.
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