Cowboys Rip Denver

So much for the Deion Sanders contract negotiations distracting the Dallas Cowboys. Seems there’s nothing like a good circus atmosphere to bring out the best in Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith.

Aikman accounted for three touchdowns and Smith rushed 26 times from 114 yards and a score Sunday as Dallas beat the Denver Broncos 31-21 at Texas Stadium.

“This team is used to having a lot going on around the periphery,” said Aikman, who threw two TD passes and jumped for another.

Smith, who needed smelling salts after lowering his head to deliver a hard hit, came back to score his 80th career TD on a 1-yard run.

John Elway threw TD passes of 11 and 59 yards to Anthony Miller, but Larry Brown intercepted Elway and Charles Haley had two sacks.

49ers 41, Falcons 10

Tim McDonald returned an interception for a TD, and Jerry Rice caught 11 passes for 167 yards and two TDs in San Francisco’s win.

Steve Young went 6 of 6 on the opening drive, finishing it with an 18-yard scoring pass to Rice.

Dolphins 20, Patriots 3

Irving Fryar caught two TD passes, including one from halfback Terry Kirby, and Miami forced three turnovers and shut down tight end Ben Coates at Foxboro, Mass. Miami outrushed the Pats 182-39 and picked off Drew Bledsoe twice.

“I thought our team was past this kind of performance,” New England coach Bill Parcells said.

Bills 31, Panthers 9

Jim Kelly completed just 4 of 21 passes for 176 yards, but his 77-yard TD pass to Russell Copeland sparked Buffalo from a 9-0 deficit against visiting Carolina.

Kelly was 1 for 14 for 4 yards and three interceptions when he found Copeland for Buffalo’s first score. The Bills followed with three quick TDs, all in their no-huddle offense.

“It was very frustrating,” Kelly said. “I couldn’t get anybody open. We didn’t run well, we didn’t pass well. They were covering us like blankets.”

Raiders 20, Redskins 8

Jeff Hostetler, content to throw screens and underneath patterns against a tough Washington secondary, had two TD passes but only one completion for more than 20 yards as visiting Oakland’s new, ball-control game ate up the clock.

“It’s no use hitting your head against a stone wall,” said Hostetler, 22 of 29 for 205 yards. “They let us take what we wanted.”

Three of the Raiders’ scoring drives lasted 18, 9, and 10 plays. The first, which culminated in a Cole Ford field goal, went 89 yards and consumed more than 11 minutes.

Colts 27, Jets 24 (OT)

Indianapolis, behind backup Jim Harbaugh’s passing, rallied from 21 points down to beat host New York on Mike Cofer’s 52-yard field goal.

Harbaugh’s 24-yard completion to Sean Dawkins on third down in OT let Cofer atone for early misses.

Until late in the third quarter, the Colts made the big mistakes, setting up nearly all of New York’s points.

“They wrapped up their Christmas presents too early,” said Marshall Faulk, who gained 81 yards and had 58 yards on eight catches.

Bengals 24, Jaguars 17

The NFL’s worst team the past two seasons got a pair of TD passes from Jeff Blake and seven sacks from its defense to hold off Jacksonville in Cincinnati.

But the Bengals had to go down to the last minute to beat an expansion team led by a backup quarterback. “There’s no champagne popping in here or nothing like that,” Bengals linebacker Steve Tovar said.

Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell, filling in for injured Steve Beuerlein, ran 8 yards on a bootleg to cut it to 24-17 in the third quarter.

Chiefs 20, Giants 17 (OT)

After New York seized a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead, Steve Bono directed a pair of TD drives to force OT before Lin Elliott’s 23-yard field goal beat visiting New York.

“I think this game today showed the character of this team,” said Marcus Allen, whose 1-yard scoring run started the comeback.

New York grabbed its largest lead when defensive tackle Keith Hamilton snatched Bono’s fumble and rambled 87 yards to the 2, fumbled, and then watched safety Tito Wooten take it in for the score.

Browns 22, Buccaneers 6

After floundering with Tampa Bay in his six seasons there, Vinny Testaverde showed it probably wasn’t all his fault by passing Cleveland past the visiting Bucs.

He threw for 256 yards, two scores and no interceptions.

“One ugly uniform against the other, I guess,” Testaverde said, smiling. “Going against the team I played with for six years, it was extra special because of that.”

Testaverde hit Keenan McCardell for two second-quarter TDs, building a 19-0 halftime lead.

Steelers 34, Oilers 17

With Rod Woodson and Neil O’Donnell sidelined by injuries, Andre Hastings returned the game’s first punt 72 yards for a TD and Mike Tomczak, subbing for O’Donnell, helped visiting Pittsburgh beat Houston.

“That set the tempo,” Hastings said. “We look at a punt return like that as the first play for the offense.”

Vikings 20, Lions 10

While Fuad Reveiz kicked two field goals to set an NFL record with 30 in a row, the Minnesota defense held Barry Sanders to 35 yards on 13 carries to beat visiting Detroit.

“It seems like all anyone wants to talk about when we play Detroit is how good Barry Sanders is going to do,” Vikings defensive end Roy Barker said. “He’s a great back, don’t get me wrong. But if you get eight or nine guys upfield and cut off his options, he has no place to go.”

Robert Smith led the Vikings with 111 yards on 20 carries.

Rams 17, Saints 13

Before a crowd of 58,186 - the most to see a football game in St. Louis - Chris Miller threw a 33-yard TD pass to Isaac Bruce, Todd Lyght returned a pick 29 yards for a score and the Rams finally established a running game.

Eagles 31, Cardinals 19

Rodney Peete took over after Randall Cunningham was benched, hitting 8 of 13 passes for 145 yards and a TD as Philadelphia won at Phoenix. Dave Krieg, the Cards’ starter, was benched for Mike Buck.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Sunday’s best Quarterbacks Steve Young, 49ers27-40-331 V.Testaverde, Browns17-27-256 Running backs Natrone Means, S.D.26-115-0 Emmitt Smith, Cowboys26-114-1 Receivers Jerry Rice, 49ers11-167-2 Tony Martin, S.D.13-163-1