Colts Crunch 49ers Indy Hands Defending Champs Their Second Loss

A castoff kicker gave the comeback Colts another victory, this time over the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers and an ailing Steve Young.

Cary Blanchard, who played two years with the New York Jets and was cut after a tryout this year with the 49ers, kicked a 41-yard field goal with 2:36 to go, lifting the Colts to an 18-17 victory on Sunday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

It was Blanchard’s fourth of the game and sixth without a miss since he signed with Indianapolis two weeks ago.

The victory was in doubt until San Francisco missed a chance to go ahead with 50 seconds left when Doug Brien’s 46-yard field goal attempt went wide right.

Young left the game for one play after he was tackled hard on the 49ers last drive, but returned and completed one pass before Brien’s missed field goal.

“It’s been a nightmare. I had the flu last night,” Young said.

Coach George Seifert said Young would get an MRI today. He had hurt his shoulder earlier in the game and “was consistently in pain,” Seifert said.

Buccaneers 20, Vikings 17, OT

Tampa Bay, the perennial NFC Central doormat, won its fourth consecutive game to stay atop the division, getting a 51-yard field goal from Michael Husted 6:23 into overtime to beat visiting Minnesota.

Husted kicked the Bucs into first place with a 53-yarder in the final minute of a 19-16 victory over Cincinnati last week, yet a lot of people weren’t convinced Tampa Bay was as good as its record.

The Bucs have won nine of their last 12 games, dating back to December, a stretch of success surpassed only by the San Francisco 49ers.

Chiefs 31, Patriots 26

Arrowhead Stadium’s capacity crowd of 78,000 must have felt cheated.

Instead of sprinting 76 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, Steve Bono ambled 2 for a score. Instead of going into overtime as they did in winning their first three home games, Kansas City needed only 60 minutes to beat New England to go to 6-1 for the first time since their Super Bowl year of 1969.

Saints 33, Dolphins 30

New Orleans’ quarterback Jim Everett threw four touchdowns, outdueling Miami backup Bernie Kosar in the Saints first win of the season. It was the second straight loss for Miami, which blew a 21-point lead to Indianapolis last week.

Kosar, an 11-year veteran making his first start for Miami, completed 29 of 42 for 368 yards and three touchdowns. He was intercepted twice.

Kosar replaced Marino, who missed the game after arthroscopic knee surgery and a hip injury.

Everett completed 20 of 32 for 242 yards as the Saints never trailed. It was the sixth time in his career Everett passed for four touchdowns in a game.

Bears 30, Jaguars 27

Jacksonville, seeking to become the first expansion team to win three straight games, staged a gutsy rally in the final two minutes, but fell to visiting Chicago when former Central Valley and University of Idaho kicker Mike Hollis missed a 54-yard field goal on the final play.

After recovering a late on-sides kick, and operating with no timeouts, former Washington Husky quarterback Mark Brunell moved Jacksonville to the Chicago 36 with 2 seconds remaining. But Hollis, who made two field goals, was wide left.

Eagles 17, Giants 14

With four quarterbacks bumbling their way through the game (New York: Dave Brown and Tommy Maddox; Philadelphia: Rodney Peete and Randall Cunningham), it wasn’t surprising that Philadelphia safety Mike Zordich stole the ball and the spotlight.

Zordich returned a fumble 58 yards for a touchdown and intercepted Maddox’s pass at the Philadelphia 40 to snuff out a late New York rally, leading the Eagles to their third straight win over the host Giants.

Packers 30, Lions 21

Brett Favre threw for 342 yards, Edgar Bennett gained 148 yards from scrimmage and Chris Jacke kicked three field goals as Green Bay built a 20-0 halftime lead and went on to get a home win.

The Packers used tight coverage to befuddle Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell, and George Teague’s interception ended Detroit’s last gasp with 1:11 left.

Cardinals 24, Redskins 20

Dave Krieg and Garrison Hearst gave Arizona the last-minute lift it needed to end a three-game losing streak. Krieg completed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Hearst with 76 seconds remaining and the host Cardinals finally won.

Starting at the Redskins’ 42, Krieg passed 8 yards to Hearst, who then carried the ball five straight times. A 5-yard penalty moved the ball to the 21 before Krieg hit Frank Sanders for 20 yards. After one carry, Hearst swung into the left flat and caught the winning pass.

Cowboys 23, Chargers 9

San Diego backup quarterback Gale Gilbert had a miserable day in relief of the injured Stan Humphries, ending San Diego’s first four drives with turnovers, including three interceptions. Two of them set up touchdown runs by Emmitt Smith as Dallas beat the host Chargers.

Troy Aikman recovered from a safety on Dallas’ first play from scrimmage and had an outstanding day, completing 21 of 30 passes - including his first 11 - for 222 yards and no interceptions. Michael Irvin had seven receptions for 103 yards, his team-record fifth straight 100-yard game.

Panthers 26, Jets 15

Carolina played like an expansion team, and it was still good enough to get the franchise’s first victory. With rookie quarterback Kerry Collins playing easily his worst game yet, the Panthers used a strong showing on defense for a victory that added to the woes of visiting New York.

Collins, who looked sharp in his first two starts, was intercepted twice by the Jets, including one by Mo Lewis, who returned it 15 yards for a touchdown. Collins, the Panthers’ top draft pick, also had numerous other passes tipped and was sacked for a safety.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SUNDAY’S BEST Quarterbacks Bernie Kosar, Dolphins29-42-368 Brett Favre, Packers23-34-342 Running backs Barry Sanders, Lions18-124-0 Ricky Watters, Eagles30-122-1 Receivers Kim Dilger, Colts7-125-1 Bill Brooks, Bills6-109-2