ATLANTA — Matt Ryan and the Falcons have plenty of mistakes to work on during their bye week.
Of course, it’s sure easier to fix the problems when you’re still unbeaten.
Asante Samuel returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown in the closing minutes and Matt Bryant connected on a 55-yard field goal with 1 second remaining, allowing the Falcons to escape with a sloppy 23-20 victory over the Raiders.
Overcoming three Ryan interceptions, the Falcons extended the best start in franchise history.
It wasn’t easy against the pesky Raiders, who bounced back from Samuel’s pick to tie the game with less than a minute to go, but left a little too much time on the clock for Atlanta’s final possession.
“We’ve been in these situations before,” Ryan said. “We know what we need to do.”
Ryan completed four short passes on Atlanta’s final drive, the last of them a 13-yarder to Tony Gonzalez that got Bryant in range for his longest field goal since joining the Falcons in 2009.
Earlier in the game, Bryant pulled a 43-yarder wide left to break a streak of 23 consecutive field goals going back to last season. But he bounced back to make the one that really mattered.
“He knows how to get himself prepared, how to calm himself down, how to get it through those pipes,” Ryan said. “He’s made a lot of clutch kicks for us through the years.”
Lions 26, Eagles 23
PHILADELPHIA — Jason Hanson kicked a 45-yard field goal in overtime, and Detroit rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Philadelphia.
Held in check most of the game, Matthew Stafford led the Lions to 17 points in the fourth quarter. He threw a TD pass and ran for a score.
The Lions had two shots from the Eagles 1 after a pass interference penalty on Colt Anderson with 13 seconds left in regulation. But Stafford misfired on both passes and Hanson kicked a 19-yard field goal to send it to overtime.
Then after an Eagles punt in overtime, Stafford hit Calvin Johnson for a 17-yard gain to the Eagles 27 on first-and-20. A few plays later, Hanson nailed the game-winner.
Giants 26, 49ers 3
SAN FRANCISCO — Antrel Rolle intercepted two passes by Alex Smith, Prince Amukamara picked off another and New York shut down San Francisco in a rematch of last season’s NFC championship game.
After outscoring the Bills and Jets by a combined 79-3 the last two weeks, the 49ers met their match again with Eli Manning and New York’s top team.
No overtime needed this time, and not much of Manning either. Manning threw for just 193 yards and one touchdown, while Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 116 yards and a score and the Giants rode a dominant defense and four field goals by Lawrence Tynes.
Seahawks 24, Patriots 23
SEATTLE — Russell Wilson found Sidney Rice behind the secondary for a 46-yard touchdown with 1:18 remaining, and Seattle rallied for 14 points in the final 7:31 to stun New England.
The matchup between the Patriots’ No. 1 ranked offense and the Seahawks’ No. 1 defense instead turned in to a starring performance for Wilson — and a shocking rally.
Wilson hit Braylon Edwards on fourth down for a 10-yard TD to get the Seahawks’ to 23-17. After a pair of holds by Seattle’s defense, Wilson found Rice open on a double move. Steven Hauschka’s extra point gave Seattle the lead.
Tom Brady and the Patriots were then stopped on fourth down at their 28 when Wes Welker came up 2 yards short, and the Seahawks were able to celebrate the unlikely comeback.
Jets 35, Colts 9
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Shonn Greene ran for a career-high 161 yards and three touchdowns to power a rejuvenated “Ground-and-Pound” offense in New York’s victory over Indianapolis.
The Jets’ maligned defense was able to shut down Andrew Luck and the Colts’ offense as New York snapped a two-game losing streak.
For a week, at least, Sanchez was in control and the Jets had their best overall performance — save for a handful of personal foul penalties — since an opening-week rout of Buffalo.
Indianapolis trailed 21-6 at halftime and couldn’t erase a big deficit for the second straight week after coming back from 18 points and beating Green Bay last Sunday.
Dolphins 17, Rams 14
MIAMI — Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes, and Miami withstood a late rally by St. Louis.
The Rams faced a fourth-and-8 at the Miami 49-yard line with 30 seconds left, and rather than go for a first down, coach Jeff Fisher sent out rookie Greg Zuerlein to try a 66-yard field goal, which missed wide left.
Zuerlein made two field goals to improve to 15 for 15 this season, but then missed three times in a row, including from 48 and 32 yards in the first half.
The Rams outgained the Dolphins 461-209. Both teams are 3-3.
Buccaneers 38, Chiefs 10
TAMPA, Fla. — Josh Freeman threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns, and Ronde Barber scored on a 78-yard interception return to help Tampa Bay whip struggling Kansas City.
Freeman teamed with Mike Williams on a 62-yard scoring play in the first quarter and threw TD passes of 19 and 17 yards to Vincent Jackson in the second half as the Bucs stopped a three-game losing streak.
Tampa Bay intercepted Brady Quinn twice in the Kansas City quarterback’s first start in nearly three years. They also limited NFL rushing leader Jamaal Charles to 40 yards on 12 carries.
Browns 34, Bengals 24
CLEVELAND — Rookie Brandon Weeden threw two touchdown passes, and Cleveland snapped an 11-game losing streak that dated to last season by beating Cincinnati.
Montario Hardesty, filling in for injured rookie Trent Richardson, scored on a 1-yard plunge and cornerback Sheldon Brown intercepted Andy Dalton and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Browns outscored the Bengals 27-10 in the second half.
Bills 19, Cardinals 16
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jairus Byrd’s second interception of the game set up Rian Lindell’s 25-yard field goal 3:50 into overtime that gave Buffalo a victory over Arizona.
The Cardinals’ Jay Feely kicked a franchise-record 61-yard field goal with 1:09 left in regulation to tie it 16-16, but his 38-yard attempt to win it as the fourth quarter ended careened off the left upright. Arziona lost its second in a row after a 4-0 start.
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