NFL roundup week 12: Tebow pulls off OT win
BRONCOS 16, CHARGERS 13, OT
In San Diego, Denver's Matt Prater kicked a 37-yard field goal with 29 seconds left in overtime to condemn San Diego to its sixth straight loss — its longest losing streak for 10 years.
The game only narrowly avoided becoming the first tie since Cincinnati and Philadelphia ended deadlocked in 2008-09.
With 2:31 left in overtime, San Diego kicker Nick Novak missed a 53-yard field goal attempt. He had earlier made a 53-yarder in the first quarter, a career-best, and missed a 48-yard try early in the fourth quarter.
Tim Tebow, now 5-1 as the Broncos starting quarterback, led Denver (6-5) from its 43-yard line. He had a 12-yard gain and Willis McGahee ran 24 yards up the middle to set up Prater's winning kick.
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RAIDERS 25, BEARS 20
OAKLAND, California - Oakland's Sebastian Janikowski kicked a team-record six field goals as the Raiders took advantage of three interceptions from Chicago's fill-in quarterback Caleb Hanie and beat the Bears 25-20 in the NFL on Sunday.
Carson Palmer threw for 301 yards and Michael Bush iced the game with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter to lead the Raiders (7-4) to their third straight win against a Bears team missing starting quarterback Jay Cutler.
Hanie struggled in his first career start in place of Cutler, who broke his right thumb last week in Chicago's fifth straight win to put a major obstacle into what had been a promising season for the Bears (7-4).
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PATRIOTS 38, EAGLES 20
In Philadelphia, Tom Brady threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns to lead New England to a victory that all but ended Philadelphia's playoff hopes.
Filling in for the injured Michael Vick for the second straight game, quarterback Vince Young couldn't keep the Eagles in contention despite a career-best 400 yards passing. The Eagles fell to 4-7 in a season that began with Super Bowl expectations.
The defending NFC East champions fell to 1-5 at home this season and have lost eight of their past nine at the Linc, including a playoff loss to Green Bay last January.
Down 10-0 early, the AFC East-leading Patriots (8-3) scored on five of their next six possessions, excluding a kneel-down at the end of the first half.
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STEELERS 13, CHIEFS 9
In Kansas City, Pittsburgh took advantage of four turnovers by Kansas City quarterback Tyler Palko.
Playing with a broken thumb on his throwing hand, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 21 of 31 for 193 yards and one interception for the Steelers (8-3), whose defense lost safety Troy Polamalu to an injury in the first quarter yet still kept the bumbling Chiefs (4-7) from scoring a touchdown.
Kansas City hasn't reached the end zone since the game against Denver three weeks ago, a span of 45 offensive drives.
The Chiefs last chance vanished with 29 seconds left when Palko dropped back to pass at the Pittsburgh 37 but had his throw picked off by Keenan Lewis to seal the game and keep the Steelers tied atop the AFC North with Baltimore.
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TEXANS 20, JAGUARS 13
In Jacksonville, Matt Leinart injured his throwing shoulder, overshadowing Houston's victory against offensively inept Jacksonville.
Arian Foster ran for 65 yards and a score, Leinart delivered a perfect touchdown pass to Joel Dreessen before leaving the game, and the Texans (8-3) sacked Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert six times. It was good enough for their fifth consecutive win, which moved Houston a little closer to clinching the AFC South.
But Leinart's shoulder could be a serious setback. The Texans had already lost starter Matt Schaub for the season so now they are down to T.J. Yates and newly signed Kellen Clemens.
Yates completed 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards in relief of Leinart, doing just enough to help the Texans beat the Jaguars (3-8).
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JETS 28, BILLS 24
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Mark Sanchez threw four touchdown passes, including the winning score to Santonio Holmes with just over a minute remaining, leading New York over Buffalo.
With the Jets trailing 24-21 and facing a third-and-11 from the Bills 36, Sanchez connected with Plaxico Burress, who made an impressive one-handed grab for the first down. Sanchez quickly ran a quarterback sneak and then, on the next play, rolled out to his right to buy some time and found Holmes alone in the right corner of the end zone to give the Jets the lead with 1:01 left.
The Jets (6-5) overcame a valiant comeback attempt by the Bills (5-6), who have lost four straight.
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BENGALS 23, BROWNS 20
In Cincinnati, A.J. Green made a leaping catch for a 51-yard gain in the final minute, setting up a field goal that rallied Cincinnati to victory over Cleveland.
The surprising Bengals (7-4) stayed right behind Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the AFC North with another second-half comeback forged by their rookie big-play combination.
Andy Dalton threw a high down-the-middle pass that Green went way above the defenders to grab. Green was run out of bounds at the 2, and the Browns (4-7) forced Cincinnati to settle for Mike Nugent's 26-yard field goal with 38 seconds left — the Bengals' first lead of the game.
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TITANS 23, BUCCANEERS 17
In Nashville, Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 190 yards to power Tennessee past Tampa Bay.
Matt Hasselbeck threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Damian Williams on fourth-and-2 with 3:01 left for the winning score.
The Titans (6-5) forced five turnovers and overcame four turnovers of their own. The Bucs outscored them 14-3 off mistakes even though Tennessee got the ball three times on Tampa Bay's side of the field.
But the Titans got the ninth and final turnover of the game when rookie linebacker Colin McCarthy intercepted Josh Freeman with 2:19 left.
The Bucs (4-7) lost their fifth straight even with LeGarrette Blount running for 103 yards.
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FALCONS 24, VIKINGS 14
In Atlanta, Matt Ryan tossed three touchdown passes and Atlanta held on again to beat Minnesota.
The Falcons (7-4) were up 17-0 at halftime after allowing just 97 yards. But, mimicking the previous week's fade against Tennessee, they let Minnesota (2-9) back in the game.
Tailback Toby Gerhart, filling in for injured Adrian Peterson, scored from the 1 late in the third quarter. Then Christian Ponder went to Percy Harvin for a 39-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-13 to make it 17-14.
But Ryan responded with a 3-yard scoring pass to backup Michael Palmer, and the Falcons were held on downs after Harvin's 104-yard kickoff return to the Atlanta 3.
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REDSKINS 23, SEAHAWKS 17
In Seattle, Rex Grossman found Anthony Armstrong for a 50-yard touchdown as Washington rallied for 16 points in the fourth quarter to overwhelm Seattle and end a six-game losing skid.
One play after committing a grounding penalty, Grossman stepped up in the pocket on third-and-19 and found Armstrong in the corner of the end zone.
The touchdown pass was Grossman's second of the game and followed rookie Roy Helu's leaping 28-yard TD run that pulled the Redskins (4-7) within 17-14.
Marshawn Lynch rushed for 111 yards and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass for the Seahawks (4-7).
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CARDINALS 23, RAMS 20
In St. Louis, Patrick Peterson tied the NFL record with his fourth punt return for a touchdown this season, helping Arizona win its seventh straight game at St. Louis.
Beanie Wells set a franchise mark with 228 yards rushing, averaging 8.4 yards per carry on a career day that included gains of 71 and 53 yards. The latter set up Jay Feely's go-ahead 22-yard field goal with 4:12 remaining.
Rookie Sam Acho had two sacks and a fumble recovery for Arizona (4-7), which did enough to overcome another awful outing by John Skelton, who threw two interceptions.
Nick Miller had an 88-yard punt return in the first quarter for the Rams (2-9) only three days after he re-signed with the team.
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PANTHERS 27, COLTS 19
In Indianapolis, Cam Newton threw for 208 yards and ran for one score to help Carolina hold off winless Indianapolis.
DeAngelo Williams scored twice for the Panthers (3-8), who ended a 12-game road losing streak dating back to 2009.
Newton was 20 of 27 and carried nine times for 53 yards. Williams ran 15 times for 69 yards including the game-sealing score — a 2-yard TD run with 10:23 left in the game.
The Colts dropped to 0-11 for the first time since 1986 and have lost six home games in a season for the sixth time in the Indianapolis era.