INDIANAPOLIS, 2 December 2003 — The New England Patriots squandered a 21-point third-quarter lead, then went ahead again before surviving a late scare in defeating the Indianapolis Colts 38-34 for their eighth straight win on Sunday.
The Colts nearly pulled off the victory, but were stalled on fourth-and-goal from the Patriot one-yard line on the next-to-last play of the game, Edgerrin James being dragged down for a loss by New England end Willie McGinest. Patriots passer Tom Brady hooked up with Deion Branch from 13 yards for the game-winning touchdown and a 38-31 lead with 8:36 to play.
The Colts’ Mike Vanderjagt made it a four-point game with a 29-yard field goal — his second of the day and 32nd straight — with 3:27 to play, but Indianapolis could not break down the New England defense again.
Peyton Manning found Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Troy Walters for 13, 26 and six-yard touchdowns in a six-minute span lapping the third and fourth quarters to rally Indianapolis from a three TD deficit.
Brady earlier passed to Dedric Ward for another Patriot touchdown, with Mike Cloud scoring twice more for New England on short runs.
Bengals 24 Steelers 20
In Pittsburgh, Jon Kitna hooked up with Matt Schobel from 18 yards with just 13 seconds remaining for his third touchdown of the day as the surging Cincinnati Bengals (7-5) rallied to edge the Steelers (4-8) 24-20 after blowing an early 14-3 lead.
Kitna also found Kelley Washington from 51 yards and Chad Johnson from four as Cincinnati won for the sixth time in seven outings.
Eagles 25 Panthers 16
In Charlotte, North Carolina, David Akers booted 35, 48, 38 and 29-yard field goals and Duce Staley ran two yards for a TD as the Philadelphia Eagles knocked off the Panthers 25-16 for their seventh straight victory, their best run since 1980. Donovan McNabb found James Thrash from 10 yards for another Philly touchdown.
Rams 48 Vikings 17
In St. Louis, Marshall Faulk ran for 108 yards, including 18, five and seven-yard touchdowns, as the Rams won their 12th straight game at home, thumping the slumping Minnesota Vikings 48-17.
Texans 17 Falcons 13
In Houston, Domanick Davis ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns as the Texans edged the Atlanta Falcons 17-13, handing them their tenth loss.
Houston starter Tony Banks left at the half with a broken right hand, replaced by David Carr, while Michael Vick came on in relief of Atlanta starter Doug Johnson and went 8-for-11 for 60 yards in his first action of the season after recovering from a fractured leg.
Ravens 44 49ers 6
In Baltimore, the Ravens scored twice in the last minute of the first half on their way to a 44-6 rout of the San Francisco 49ers.
Anthony Wright hooked up with Marcus Robinson for his first of two passing touchdowns, then Ray Lewis returned one of four errant Jeff Garcia passes 29 yards for the other late first-half Ravens score.
Bears 28 Cardinals 3
In Chicago, Kordell Stewart passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns, hooking up with Marty Booker and Dez White, and ran eight yards for another as the Bears romped 28-3 over the Arizona Cardinals.
Bills 24 Giants 7
In East Rutherford, Drew Bledsoe threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns as the Buffalo Bills surprised the cross-state New York Giants 24-7. Bledsoe hooked up with Dave Moore and Bobby Shaw from 24 and 22 yards, with Travis Henry scampering 13 yards for another score.
Chiefs 28 Chargers 24
In San Diego, Priest Holmes ran for 162 yards and two TDs as the Kansas City Chiefs edged the Chargers 28-24 to improve to an NFL-best 11-1.Trent Green passed to Tony Gonzalez for two more Chiefs TDs.
Saints 24 Redskins 20
In Landover, Maryland, Aaron Brooks ran for two TDs and threw 15 yards to Boo Williams for a third and Deuce McAllister piled up 165 yards rushing as the New Orleans Saints rallied to defeat the Redskins 24-20.
Seahawks 34 Browns 7
In Seattle, a week after throwing for a career-best five touchdowns, Matt Hasselbeck found Darrell Jackson for 26 and three-yard scores and hooked up with Itula Mili for a third TD as the Seahawks blasted the Cleveland Browns 34-7.
Broncos 22 Raiders 8
In Oakland, Clinton Portis ran for 170 yards and two TDs as the Denver Broncos defeated the underachieving Raiders (3-9) 22-8.
Jaguars 17 Buccaneers 10
In Jacksonville, Byron Leftwich found Jimmy Smith from 48 yards with 10:23 remaining to lift the Jaguars to an upset 17-10 win over the freefalling Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
