An officiating mistake negated Roethlisberger’s late fumble, and the Steelers kicked the game-winning field goal on the next play Sunday. Jeff Reed made an 18-yarder with 2:30 left, allowing Pittsburgh to escape with a 23-22 win.
One play earlier, with Pittsburgh trailing 22-20 and facing third-and-goal at the 2, Roethlisberger fumbled as he dived across the goal line on a quarterback draw. The play was ruled a touchdown as both teams scrambled for the loose ball in the end zone.
After a replay review, referee Gene Steratore announced that Roethlisberger fumbled before scoring. But Steratore said his crew had no clear evidence as to which team recovered the ball, and the Steelers (5-1) were awarded possession at the half-yard line, allowing Reed to kick the winner.
Packers 28 Vikings 24: In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Brett Favre threw three second-half interceptions to his former team and Green Bay held on.
Favre appeared to deliver another signature comeback win with an apparent touchdown strike to Percy Harvin with 48 seconds left — but the play was ruled incomplete on a replay review. With one more chance on fourth-and-15 at the 20, Favre threw incomplete out of bounds.
Green Bay (4-3) turned a pair of third-quarter interceptions by Favre into touchdowns for the Packers that erased the Vikings’ halftime lead, including a 32-yard return for a touchdown by Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop .
Panthers 23 49ers 20: In Charlotte, North Carolina, John Kasay kicked a 37-yard field goal with 39 seconds remaining to give Carolina (1-5) its first win of the season.
The 49ers’ David Carr was intercepted by Richard Marshall with just over a minute left to set up the winning kick. The 49ers fell to 1-6.
The Panthers tied it when rookie David Gettis , who had dropped a touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter on fourth down, made a diving 23-yard TD grab with 1:53 left.
Ravens 37 Bills 34 OT: In Baltimore, the Bills came close, but Billy Cundiff kicked a 38-yard field goal with 10:57 left in overtime after Ray Lewis stripped the ball from tight end Shawn Nelson , and Baltimore squeezed past winless Buffalo (0-6).
Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes for the Ravens, who survived an uncharacteristic performance by a defense that was shredded for 505 yards.
Baltimore (5-2) trailed 24-10 late in the first half before scoring 24 straight points to take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter. Buffalo’s Ryan Fitzpatrick then threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans with 5:46 left, and the Bills forced overtime on a 50-yard field goal by Rian Lindell with 4 seconds left in regulation.
Patriots 23 Chargers 20: In San Diego, New San Diego kicker Kris Brown missed a 50-yard field goal attempt with 23 seconds left as New England escaped with a win.
Brown lined up to try a 45-yarder that would have forced overtime, but guard Louis Vasquez was whistled for a false start. Moved back five yards, Brown’s attempt was long enough but bounced off the right upright. Brown was signed last week because Nate Kaeding has an injured groin.
Leading by three with two minutes left, New England gambled on fourth-and-1 from its 49 and BenJarvus Green-Ellis was stuffed for a 1-yard loss by Antwan Applewhite . Coach Bill Belichick had challenged the spot of the previous play and lost, costing him his final timeout. San Diego then moved to the 27.
Raiders 59 Broncos 14: In Denver, behind Darren McFadden’s four touchdowns, Oakland scored the most points in its 50-year history in routing demoralized Denver.
The Raiders (3-4) were fueled by a 38-point outburst in the first 22 minutes, including touchdowns 8 seconds apart to start the rout that recalled so many of the lopsided scores between these former AFL teams in the 1960s.
The Raiders kept the Broncos (2-5) guessing until game time that Jason Campbell would start at quarterback despite a sore knee in place of Bruce Gradkowski (sore shoulder).
Seahawks 22 Cardinals 10: In Seattle, Olindo Mare kicked five field goals, Matt Hasselbeck threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams and Seattle took advantage of five Arizona turnovers.
The Seahawks (4-2) took over first place in the NFC West despite an unimpressive performance. Four times in the second half, Seattle had possession inside the Arizona 20 and settled for Mare field goals on each occasion.
Redskins 17 Bears 14: In Chicago, DeAngelo Hall tied an NFL record with four interceptions, running one back 92 yards for a touchdown, and Washington sacked Jay Cutler four times while forcing six turnovers.
Hall tied a record held by 18 others and became the first to pick off four passes since Deltha O’Neal did it with Denver in 2001. His one-handed interception and TD return late in the third quarter were made for the highlight reel and put the Redskins ahead for good, sending Chicago (4-3) to its third loss in four games.
Falcons 39 Bengals 32: In Atlanta, Roddy White had a spectacular day for Atlanta, catching 11 passes for 201 yards.
The Falcons (5-2) squandered a 24-3 halftime lead, falling behind when Cincinnati (2-4) took advantage of two turnovers and ripped off 22 straight points in the third quarter.
White put the Falcons ahead to stay with his second touchdown, an 11-yard reception early in the fourth. He then made a leaping catch on the 2-point conversion to make it 32-25.
After Cedric Benson’s fumble, Michael Turner scored on a 3-yard run for a two-touchdown lead.
Titans 37 Eagles 19: In Nashville, Tennessee, Kerry Collins threw three touchdowns to Kenny Britt , who had the best game of his career two days after being involved in a bar fight, and Tennessee scored 27 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
Britt had the best receiving game in the NFL this season. He caught touchdown passes of 26, 80 and 16 yards and finished with seven receptions for 225 yards — all career highs for the second-year player on a day when he didn’t start as punishment for his role in the fight.
The Titans (5-2) won their NFL-best 12th straight over the NFC with Collins making his first start in a year. Vince Young was sidelined by a sprained left knee and ankle that had him still limping in pregame warmups.
Buccaneers 18 Rams 17: In Tampa, Florida, Josh Freeman led another Tampa Bay fourth-quarter comeback, throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to Cadillac Williams with 10 seconds remaining.
Connor Barth kicked four field goals for the Bucs (4-2), who trailed 17-3 before battling back to surpass their win total for last season.
Sam Bradford threw two short touchdown passes and Steven Jackson became the Rams’ all-time leading rusher before things unraveled for St. Louis (3-4).
Browns 30 Saints 17: In New Orleans, David Bowens returned two of Drew Brees’ four interceptions for touchdowns and the Browns stunned the defending champion Saints.
Rookie Colt McCoy passed for only 74 yards but got his first win as an NFL starter — a desperately needed one for the struggling Browns (2-5).
Scott Fujita and Sheldon Brown also had interceptions for Cleveland. Brees was sacked three times, once by Fujita, a defensive leader for the Saints last season.
The Saints (4-3) trailed all game and got no closer in the second half than 20-10 on Brees’ 11-yard pass to David Thomas early in the fourth quarter.
Chiefs 42 Jaguars 20: In Kansas City, Missouri, Derrick Johnson returned an interception for a score and Matt Cassel threw two TD passes to Dwayne Bowe for Kansas City.
The Chiefs (4-2) ran for 236 yards and three TDs while overcoming several penalties.
Jacksonville’s Todd Bouman , who hadn’t thrown a TD pass in the regular season since 2005, was signed this week after David Garrard sustained a concussion and backup Trent Edwards hurt his thumb.
