New orleans: Indianapolis eked out yet another narrow win yesterday while New Orleans rolled past Tampa Bay as the Colts and Saints remained unbeaten in the National Football League.
Indianapolis sealed a 17-15 victory over the Ravens to improve to 10-0 for the season and stretch their regular-season winning streak to 19 games.
New Orleans improved to 10-0 - the first 10-game winning streak in club history - with a 38-7 rout of the Buccaneers.
In Baltimore, former Ravens kicker Matt Stover sealed the Colts’ victory with a go-ahead field goal with 7:02 to play.
Colts linebacker Gary Brackett then intercepted Joe Flacco’s pass at the Indianapolis 13 yard line with 2:42 left, and Indianapolis kept the ball until the closing seconds.
Baltimore last chance expired when Ed Reed fumbled on a punt return with 17 seconds remaining.
The Colts 19-game winning streak is second-longest in NFL history, behind the 21 of New England from 2006-08. Their eight straigh 10-win seasons rank second behind San Francisco’s 16 from 1983-98.
“It’s really not on anybody’s minds. At least not on my mind,” Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said. “We’re relieved we got this win. Obviously, it’s a great team effort.”
The Colts have won their last four games by a total of just 10 points. After Manning engineered a rally against New England last week, this week’s triumph owed more to an Indianapolis defense that didn’t allow a Baltimore touchdown.
Billy Cundiff made field goals of 46, 44, 38, 36 and 20 yards in his debut with Baltimore. He missed a 30-yarder that have given Baltimore a 15-14 lead in the third period.
After Cundiff’s last field goal gave Baltimore a 15-14 lead with 10:12 remaining, Manning moved Indianapolis 60 yards before Stover booted a 25-yarder that put the Colts ahead for good.
The stellar performance of the Colts defense helped overcome an uncharacteristic three turnovers.
In Tampa, meanwhile, the Saints tightened up on turnovers as quarterback Drew Brees threw for three touchdowns without an interception - the first time in five games he hadn’t been picked off.
The Saints also didn’t allow a sack for the first time since October 18 against the Giants.
“I feel like we haven’t peaked yet. ... I feel like the sky’s
the limit for this team,” Brees said. “It only gets harder. By no means can we sit back on what we’ve accomplished thus far. Every team we face would love to give us that first loss.”
Kansas City stunned reigning Super Bowl champions Pittsburgh 27-24 in overtime, snapping a 10-game home losing streak.
The Steelers lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in overtime after he suffered what coach Mike Tomlin called a “concussion-oriented thing.”
In Dallas, Tony Romo’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton with 2:41 to play lifted the Cowboys to a 7-6 victory over the struggling Redskins.
Ailing Detroit signal-caller Matthew Stafford threw his fifth touchdown pass from one yard to Brandon Pettigrew, and Jason Hanson’s extra point with no time on the clock lifted the long-suffering Lions to a dramatic 38-37 victory over Cleveland.
Veteran Brett Favre completed a career-high 88 percent of his passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns as the Vikings routed Seattle 35-9, and New England quarterback Tom Brady notched his fifth straight game of more than 300 passing yards as the Patriots beat the New York Jets 31-14.
The New York Giants snapped a four-game skid with a 34-31 overtime victory over Atlanta, Green Bay beat San Francisco 30-24, Jacksonville beat Buffalo 18-15, Arizona beat St. Louis 21-13, Oakland edged Cincinnati 20-17, San Diego beat Denver 32-3 and Philadelphia beat Chicago 24-20.
