Defence leads Colts against the Browns
Published Monday December 1st, 2008
NFL Indianapolis wins despite offence's inability to get the football into the end zone
CLEVELAND - Often overlooked and always overshadowed by their star-studded offence, the Indianapolis Colts' defence 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, 10-6 over the snake-bitten Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Mathis' big play helped bail out Manning and Indy's high-octane offence, which 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.
Elsewhere on Sunday:
Giants 23 Redskins 7
At Landover, Md., 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 with another dominating performance.
The Giants (11-1) have won seven straight, including six in a row against teams with winning records, and have a three-game lead in the NFC East over the second-place Dallas Cowboys with four to play. The loss not only dropped the Redskins (7-5) out of contention for the division title, but now they also trail Dallas in the wild-card race.
Panthers 35 Packers 31
At Green Bay, Wis., DeAngelo Williams scored his fourth touchdown of the game with 1:30 left, giving the Panthers a stunning come-from-behind victory in wintry conditions.
The Packers appeared headed for a comeback win 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 one-yard line.
Buccaneers 23 Saints 20
At Tampa, Fla., Jermaine Phillips and Phillip Buchanon intercepted Drew Brees, the NFL's leading passer, in the closing minutes and Matt Bryant kicked a 37-yard field goal with 1:55 remaining.
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).
49ers 10 Bills 3
At Orchard Park, N.Y., linebacker Patrick Willis and a suddenly sturdy San Francisco defence certainly did their job as spoilers.
Willis had 14 tackles and a forced fumble in a win 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.
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.
Ravens 34 Bengals 3
At Cincinnati, Mark Clayton put a little sizzle into Baltimore's steadily evolving offence.
The fourth-year receiver threw a touchdown pass on a reverse, then made a spectacular one-handed catch for a 70-yard score.
The Ravens (8-4) have won six of their past seven games with a renowned defence and an offence coming into its own behind rookie quarterback Joe Flacco.
Dolphins 16 Rams 12
At St. Louis, the Dolphins (7-5) made it into the end zone only once, but relied on stingy play from a defence 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.
Atlanta 22, San Diego 16
At 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.
Kansas City 20, Oakland 13
At Oakland, 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 two-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).
Pittsburgh 33, New England 10
In Foxborough, Pittsburgh's NFL-best defence stopped Matt Cassel's two-game offensive surge and pushed New England closer to strange territory: a sideline seat for the playoffs.
The Steelers held the Patriots to 267 yards, got two touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger and four field goals from Jeff Reed and beat the Patriots on a cold, rainy Sunday. Pittsburgh (9-3) stayed a game ahead of second-place Baltimore in the AFC North. New England (7-5) dropped into a second-place tie in the AFC East with Miami and fell a game behind the Ravens and Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card race.
Denver 34, N.Y. Jets 17
In East Rutherford, 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.
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