Chargers pound Saints
Drew Brees and Antonio Gates are making it look too easy.
Brees, the quarterback the front office didn’t want coming into this season, threw four more touchdown passes — three to tight end Gates — and the San Diego Chargers beat the punchless New Orleans Saints 43-17 on Sunday in San Diego.
It was San Diego’s highest-scoring game since beating the Miami Dolphins 45-20 on Dec. 27, 1993. The Chargers won for the fifth time in six games.
Brees was 22 of 36 for 257 yards. He hasn’t thrown an interception in three straight games, and in six of the last seven.
The Chargers pulled into their bye week at 6-3, a stunning turnaround from last year when they finished a league-worst 4-12. The week off will give star running back LaDainian Tomlinson time to rest his strained groin, which has slowed him for five straight games.
Tomlinson hasn’t cracked 100 yards in any of those games, and on Sunday was held to just 36 yards on 17 carries, with one touchdown.
Bills 22, Jets 17
Playing in the face of a 25-plus mph wind, Willis McGahee sparked Buffalo’s ball-control offense in helping the Bills to a win over New York in Orchard Park, N.Y.
McGahee finished with a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown, his third 100-yard rushing game in his third career start. Drew Bledsoe was efficient, finishing 18 of 30 for 184 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown to rookie Lee Evans.
Buffalo won its third game in four outings, and third straight at home — all with McGahee as a starter. And the weather has played a factor in all three victories, with winds of 25 mph or stronger blowing in off Lake Erie.
Bears 28, Giants 21
Chicago forced five turnovers, including three consecutive plays in a 20-point explosion late in the first half, in beating New York in East Rutherford, N.J.
Rookie Craig Krenzel threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to ignite the rally and Anthony Thomas scored on runs 4 and 41 yards as Chicago won its second straight game and handed the Giants their second straight embarrassing home loss.
New York, which came into the game with an NFC-best plus-12 takeaway differential, self-destructed after taking an early 14-0 lead on touchdown runs of 1 and 3 yards by Tiki Barber.
Broncos 31, Texans 13
Rod Smith became Denver’s career leader in receptions and touchdowns receiving and Jake Plummer threw for four touchdowns to guide Denver past visiting Houton.
Houston was seeking the first three-game winning streak in franchise history.
In the first quarter, Smith caught his 676th career pass to surpass Shannon Sharpe on the team’s all-time receptions list. Later, Smith caught a 13-yard touchdown for his 56th score receiving, also passing Sharpe. Smith finished with three catches for 29 yards.
Buccaneers 34, Chiefs 31
Michael Pittman scored one of his three touchdowns on a team-record 78-yard run and Tampa Bay held off Kansas City, giving the Bucs consecutive victories for just the second time since they won the Super Bowl two years ago.
Trent Green threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns, but was intercepted by Dwight Smith in the end zone with under six minutes to go. He was sacked on consecutive plays to end Kansas City’s last threat near midfield.
Priest Holmes scored his 14th rushing TD of the season for Kansas City.
Ravens 27, Browns 13
A spirited defensive stand, capped by an NFL-record 106-yard interception return by Ed Reed, sent Baltimore past visiting Cleveland.
Jamal Lewis scored the decisive touchdown with 7:03 left following a 7-yard punt, and Reed sealed the victory over the Browns in the waning seconds with his game-saving play.
Bengals 26, Cowboys 3
Matt Schobel caught a down-the-middle pass from Carson Palmer and ran 76 yards for a touchdown, leading Cincinnati to a victory over visiting Dallas.
Schobel, who had only 11 catches in the first seven games, broke open a game of conservative play calling. The Bengals turned four field goals by Shayne Graham and the one big play by Schobel into a soothing win.
Raiders 27, Panthers 24
Tyrone Wheatley and Amos Zereoue combined to run for three touchdowns, and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 19-yard field goal with 6 seconds to play to lead Oakland to a road win over Carolina.
The Panthers were done in by their own mistakes most of the day. A Raiders block of a Todd Sauerbrun punt set up the first of Wheatley’s two 1-yard TD plunges and a myriad of other errors cost Carolina.
Redskins 17, Lions 10
Clinton Portis ran for 147 yards on 34 carries and threw a tiebreaking touchdown pass to lead visiting Washington over Detroit.
With back-to-back 21-yard gains to open the second half, Portis became the first player to run for 100 yards against Detroit this season. Those runs set up his 15-yard pass to Laveranues Coles that gave Washington a 10-3 lead.