The game looked as if it was going to overtime, but Garrard heaved a pass toward the end zone with no time on the clock. Quin, who was burned all afternoon, tried to bat the ball to the ground. Instead, he knocked it right to the 5-foot-8 Thomas.
Thomas, who was trailing behind the pass and looking for a ricochet, caught it at the 1-yard line and then stepped across the goal line for the winning score.
The Jaguars (5-4) went into a frenzy and even drew a celebration penalty that couldn’t be enforced. The Texans (4-5) trudged off the field in disbelief. It was Houston’s third straight loss, dropping them from the top of the AFC South to the bottom.
The Jaguars had a chance to take the lead in the closing minutes, but Josh Scobee yanked a 43-yard field goal left. The miss gave Houston the ball with a chance to win it, but the Texans needed to drive 67 yards in 1:34 with no timeouts. They moved the ball some and got close to field-goal range, but Joel Dreessen fumbled on a third-and-15 play, giving the Jaguars one more shot.
Bills 14 Lions 12: In Orchard Park, New York, Fred Jackson scored two touchdowns in leading Buffalo to its first victory of the season and sending Detroit to an NFL-record setting 25th consecutive road loss.
Jackson scored on a 1-yard plunge and a 16-yard catch in a sloppy game played in rain-soaked conditions between two perennial losers.
Buffalo (1-8) ended what had been its worst start to a season since going 0-11 in 1984. The Lions (2-7) broke the road losing streak they set in dropping 24 in a row from 2001-2003.
The win wasn’t assured until Detroit quarterback Shaun Hill overthrew Brandon Pettigrew at the back of the end zone on a failed 2-point conversion attempt with 14 seconds left. The Lions had pulled within two points on Hill’s 20-yard TD pass to Calvin Johnson .
Jets 26 Browns 20, OT: In Cleveland, Santonio Holmes scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez with 16 seconds left in overtime, giving the Jets eighth straight regular-season road win.
It was the second consecutive overtime victory for the Jets (7-2), who won 23-20 in Detroit a week ago. New York overcame three missed field goals by Nick Folk , including a 47-yarder in OT.
On first down, Sanchez whipped a quick pass to Holmes, who after catching it, stepped inside of rookie safety T.J. Ward and sprinted into the end zone.
The Browns (3-6) had rallied to force OT on rookie quarterback Colt McCoy’s 3-yard TD pass to Mohamed Massaquoi with 44 seconds left in regulation.
Cowboys 33 Giants 20: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jon Kitna passed for 327 yards and three touchdowns and Dallas looked revitalized under interim coach Jason Garrett.
Kitna had TD passes of 13 yards to rookie Dez Bryant, 71 to halfback Felix Jones and 24 to Miles Austin as Dallas (2-7) snapped a five-game losing streak in its first game since Garrett replaced Wade Phillips.
Rookie cornerback Bryan McCann scored on a team-record 101-yard interception return in a game highlighted by big plays and two third-quarter power failures that delayed the game for 11 minutes.
Eli Manning threw two touchdown passes for the Giants (6-3), who had a five-game winning steak snapped.
Patriots 39 Steelers 26: In Pittsburgh, Tom Brady maintained his mastery of the Steelers, throwing three touchdown passes to tight end Rob Gronkowski and scoring once himself, and the Patriots bounced back from an embarrassing 20-point loss by beating the Steelers.
No NFL team wins more on its home field than Pittsburgh, but no opposing player wins there like Brady, who has won six of seven overall against the Steelers and four of five at Heinz Field. He was 30 of 43 for 350 yards with no sacks or interceptions, and now has 14 career TD throws and three interceptions against the Steelers.
The Patriots and AFC East-rival Jets are tied for the conference’s top record at 7-2.
Pittsburgh (6-3), its normally dominating defense shredded by Brady during its second home-field loss this season, drops back into a first-place tie with Baltimore in the AFC North.
Colts 23 Bengals 17: In Indianapolis, Peyton Manning didn’t throw a TD pass for the second game this season, but Kelvin Hayden returned an interception for a touchdown and Javarris James ran for a TD to lead Indianapolis.
The banged-up Colts (6-3) didn’t need Manning’s arm to win this one. Instead, they scored 17 points off five turnovers and stopped the Bengals twice in the final 2:40.
The Bengals (2-7) have lost six straight and dropped to 0-7 against Manning.
Dolphins 29 Titans 17: In Miami, Miami achieved its season-high point total, and it only took three quarterbacks, a flea-flicker and the revival of the wildcat.
Defense helped, too. Randy Moss managed only one catch in his first game with the Titans, Miami takeaways led to two touchdowns.
After Miami quarterbacks Chad Pennington (shoulder) and Chad Henne (knee) departed with injuries, third-stringer Tyler Thigpen led an 85-yard drive in the fourth quarter to seal the bizarre victory.
Bears 27 Vikings 13: In Chhicago, Jay Cutler threw for three touchdowns, Devin Hester had two big returns and Chicago moved into a tie with Green Bay for the NFC North lead.
It was a rough day for Brett Favre and the Vikings (3-6), who needed to win and beat the Packers next week to jump back into the division race.
Favre had 170 yards passing after getting a career-best 446 last week against Arizona, when Minnesota wiped out a late 14-point deficit and beat the Cardinals in overtime. This time, there were no late rallies.
Favre threw three interceptions — all in the second half — and two late in the game that wiped out whatever chance the Vikings had at a comeback.
Buccaneers 31 Panthers 16: In Tampa, Florida, Josh Freeman threw two touchdown passes and rookie LeGarrette Blount ran for a score to lead surprising Tampa Bay.
Freeman threw TD passes of 8 yards to Arrelious Benn and 20 yards to Kellen Winslow for the NFL’s youngest team.
Blount scored on a 17-yard run that finished a long second-quarter drive as the Bucs (6-3) rebounded from a six-point loss to Atlanta that knocked them out of first place in the NFC South.
Cadillac Williams put the game out of reach with a 45-yard TD burst on third-and-10 late in the fourth quarter.
Broncos 49 Chiefs 29: In Denver, Kyle Orton threw a career-high four touchdown passes, Tim Tebow had two TDs and Knowshon Moreno topped 100 yards for the first time as Denver routed Kansas City.
Snapping a four-game losing streak, the Broncos (3-6) kept alive their chances of getting back into the playoff race in handing the Chiefs (5-4) their second straight loss.
The only time the Broncos scored more points was in 1963, when they put up 50 against the San Diego Chargers.
49ers 23 Rams 20, OT: In San Francisco, Joe Nedney kicked a 29-yard field goal with 9:38 left in overtime, and Troy Smith passed for 356 yards in leading San Francisco.
Smith earned his second straight victory as a starter for the 49ers (3-6), throwing a go-ahead 16-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with 2:10 left in regulation.
Seahawks 36 Cardinals 18: In Glendale, Arizona, Matt Hasselbeck returned from a one-game absence to throw for 333 yards, Mike Williams caught 11 passes for 145 yards and Olindo Mare kicked five goals to lead Seattle.
Williams, out of the NFL the past two seasons after flopping in Detroit, had career highs for catches and yards as the (5-4) swept the Cardinals (3-6) for the first time since 2006.
Arizona lost its fourth straight, its longest skid since dropping eight in a row in 2006, Dennis Green’s final season as coach.
