SCOREBOARD
Monday night, Dec. 10
New Orleans (5-7) at Atlanta (3-9). One of the NFL’s least-attractive matchups in prime time lost more star power with Saints RB Reggie Bush injured.
STARS
Passing
– Tom Brady, Patriots, threw four TD passes against the NFL’s stingiest defense to keep New England perfect with a 34-13 win over Pittsburgh.
– Tony Romo, Cowboys, was 35-of-44 for 302 yards and two TDs to lead Dallas to a 28-27 comeback win over Detroit.
– Matt Hasselbeck, Seahawks, threw four TD passes and completed 22 of 33 for 272 yards in Seattle’s division-clinching 42-21 win over Arizona.
– Trent Edwards, Bills, threw four scoring passes among his 11 completions for 165 yards in Buffalo’s 38-17 win over Miami.
– Sage Rosenfels, Texans, threw three TD passes in his second start of the season and fourth of his career, and was 27-of-36 for 209 yards to help Houston beat Tampa Bay 28-14.
– Jay Cutler, Broncos, completed 20 of 27 passes for 244 yards, no interceptions and a passer rating of 141.0 in Denver’s 41-7 win over Kansas City.
Rushing
– LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers, scored in overtime and finished with 146 yards to give San Diego a 23-17 win.
– Ryan Grant, Packers, rushed for 156 yards and a TD on 29 carries in the Packers’ 38-7 win over Oakland.
– Fred Taylor, Jaguars, finished with a season-high 132 yards on 18 carries in Jacksonville’s 37-6 rout of Carolina. Taylor had an 80-yard scoring run.
– Chester Taylor, Vikings, had an 84-yard TD run and finished with 101 yards in Minnesota’s 27-7 win over San Francisco.
– Selvin Young, Broncos, carried 17 times for 156 yards in Denver’s 41-7 win over Kansas City.
Receiving
– Brandon Marshall, Broncos, caught 10 passes for 115 yards and two TDs in Denver’s 41-7 win over Kansas City. Marshall went over 1,000 yards receiving for the season.
– Randy Moss, Patriots, had two TD catches among his seven for 135 yards in New England’s 34-13 win over Pittsburgh.
– Jason Witten, Cowboys, had 15 catches for 138 yards and a TD catch with 18 seconds left to give Dallas a 28-27 win over Detroit.
– Plaxico Burress, Giants, caught seven passes for 136 yards and a score to help New York beat Philadelphia 16-13.
Special Teams
– Will Blackmon, Packers, returned a punt 57 yards for a TD and recovered a fumbled punt in the end zone for another in Green Bay’s 38-7 victory over Oakland.
– Shayne Graham, Bengals, kicked four field goals to help Cincinnati beat St. Louis 19-10.
– Joe Jurevicius, Browns, recovered two onside kicks to help Cleveland hang on to beat the New York Jets 24-18. Mike Nugent, Jets, made three field goals and successfully executed an onside kick.
– Neil Rackers, Cardinals, recovered an onside kick himself to momentarily take momentum away from Seattle before the Seahawks went on to win 42-21.
Defense
– Marcus Trufant, Seahawks, had three interceptions, including one he returned 84 yards for a TD with 5:29 left in Seattle’s 42-21 win over Arizona.
– George Wilson, Bills, snatched rookie quarterback John Beck’s fumble out of midair and returned it 20 yards for a score in Buffalo’s 38-17 win over the Dolphins.
– Clint Ingram, Jaguars, returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter in Jacksonville’s 37-6 win over Carolina.
– Kevin Williams, Vikings, and Patrick Willis, 49ers. Williams, a 311-pound DL, returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play. Willis, a star rookie LB, helped San Francisco limit RB Adrian Peterson to 3 yards on 14 carries in a 27-7 loss to Minnesota.
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CLINCHED
Dallas (12-1) clinched the NFC East for the first time since 1998 and moved a step closer to earning home-field advantage in the playoffs with a 28-27 win at Detroit. … Green Bay (11-2) wrapped up the NFC North by beating Oakland 38-7, assuring an end to the Packers’ two-year absence from the postseason with three games left. … Seattle clinched its fourth consecutive NFC West title with an emphatic 42-21 victory over Arizona.
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TALK IS CHEAP
Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith, who guaranteed the Steelers would win, was burned on two long TD passes in New England’s 34-13 win. On the 63-yard touchdown to Moss, Smith took a few steps forward and Moss flew by him and had at least a 10-yard edge on Smith when he caught the ball. Then came a strange play in which Moss was the middleman. Brady lateraled toward Moss standing on the right side. Moss dropped the ball, picked it up and lateraled back to Brady. The quarterback lofted a pass to Jabar Gaffney, who caught it in the end zone as Smith jumped and swatted at the ball but missed.
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MILESTONES
New England beat Pittsburgh 34-13 to become the fifth team with a 13-0 record, joining the 1934 Chicago Bears, 1972 Miami Dolphins, 1998 Denver Broncos and 2005 Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots can become the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to finish a regular season undefeated; those Dolphins were 14-0, then won three postseason games for the NFL’s only perfect season. … Jacksonville’s Fred Taylor ran for 132 yards to pass Eddie George (10,441) and Tiki Barber (10,449) on the NFL’s career rushing list, moving into 18th place with 10,457 yards. … Denver WR Brandon Marshall, caught 10 passes for 115 yards, putting him over 1,000 for the season.
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STREAKS
Miami lost its 13th straight, 38-17 to Buffalo and is now off to the third-worst start to a season in NFL history, joining Oakland (1962) and Indianapolis (1986). The Dolphins, who host Baltimore next weekend, are one loss short of matching the 0-14 record set by Tampa Bay, as an expansion team in 1976, and New Orleans in 1980. Miami has lost 16 straight dating to last season, matching the eighth longest streak in NFL history. … Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak was ended by a 28-14 loss to Houston. … Seattle has won five straight and secured the NFC West title Sunday. … Brett Favre made his 250th consecutive regular-season start and led Green Bay to a 38-7 win over Oakland. Including the playoffs, he’s started 270 games in a row.
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STATS
rushing, in a 41-7 win. … Patriots WR Randy Moss caught two TD passes to give him 19 this season, second best in NFL history and three short of Jerry Rice’s 22. … Buffalo scored 24 points in the first quarter of a 38-17 rout of Miami, the most scored by the Bills in the first period since putting up 28 against Atlanta on Nov. 22, 1992.
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SWINGS
After a 28-27 loss to Dallas, the Lions have lost five straight. They won six of their first eight games, creating a positive buzz for the first time since Matt Millen took charge of the once-mediocre franchise in 2001. Detroit (6-7) now can’t live up to quarterback Jon Kitna’s expectations of a 10-win season. … The Browns and Jets combined for 19 points in the final 2:59 of Cleveland’s 24-18 win. Cleveland took a 17-6 lead with 12:59 to play, and the Jets scored a touchdown 10 minutes later. After a failed 2-point conversion, the Jets got a field goal from Mike Nugent, Jamal Lewis ran for a TD and Nugent kicked another field goal with 32 seconds on the clock. … Philadelphia K David Akers hit the right upright on a 57-yard attempt with 1 second left in the Eagles’ 16-13 loss to the New York Giants. Last January, Akers kicked a 38-yarder with no time remaining to give Philly a 23-20 victory over New York in a wild-card playoff game.
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SLOPPY
had three turnovers in losing for the sixth straight time, 41-7 to Denver. … Tampa Bay missed a chance to secure the NFC South title and ended its four-game winning streak by having Luke McCown get sacked four times. McCown fumbled twice. … Arizona got a career-high five interceptions from a rattled Kurt Warner, who was also sacked five times in the loss at Seattle.
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SACKS
Patrick Kerney had his third three-sack day in four games for Seattle, which brought down Kurt Warner five times in a 42-21 win over the Cardinals. Kerney leads the NFL with 13 1/2 sacks. … Denver’s Elvis Dumervil sacked and stripped Kansas City QB Brodie Croyle to set up a late score. Dumervil had three sacks. … Buffalo had a season-high five sacks in its 38-17 win over Miami on Sunday. … New England’s Tom Brady wasn’t sacked in the Patriots’ 34-13 win over Pittsburgh. In 476 pass attempts this season, he’s been sacked just 16 times. … Kyle Vanden Bosch had three of Tennessee’s five sacks in the Titans’ 23-17 OT loss to San Diego.
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SIDELINED
San Francisco quarterback Trent Dilfer left the 49ers’ 27-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a concussion after taking a hard hit shortly before halftime. Dilfer, a 14th-year pro who has been leading the 49ers’ struggling offense in Alex Smith’s absence, scrambled in an attempt to pick up a first down in the final minute of the first half. Backup cornerback Charles Gordon made the tackle by driving his left shoulder into Dilfer’s helmet. … Buffalo safety George Wilson was taken to the hospital after he fractured two ribs in the Bills’ 38-17 victory over Miami. … Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman left the game in the second quarter with a left knee injury and didn’t return. … Arizona tight end Leonard Pope was taken off the field on a cart after injuring his right ankle late in the third quarter of the Cardinals’ 42-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
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SPEAKING
“We’ve played against a lot better safeties than him,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick on the Steelers’ Anthony Smith, who guaranteed his team would win. New England beat Pittsburgh 34-13.
“That’s part of the problem with the Lions. It’s acceptable to put up a fight and all those type of things,” offensive tackle Damien Woody after Detroit lost to Dallas 28-27.
“They’re a good football team, but let’s be honest, that was garbage.” – Carolina guard Mike Wahle after the Panthers lost to Jacksonville 37-6.
