Bucs ride ‘Cadillac’ to victory

Carnell “Cadillac” Williams took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a smooth ride into a tie for the NFC South lead.

Williams ran for 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the Bucs to a 20-10 victory over Carolina on Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., that pulled Tampa Bay into a tie with the Panthers for the division lead with three games left.

The Bucs have both Williams and a stingy defense that held Carolina to 276 yards to thank for putting them back in first place and snapping a five-game losing streak against the Panthers.

Williams, finding running room that was nonexistent in Carolina’s 34-14 victory earlier this season, pounded his way through a Panthers defense that has been very difficult to run on this year. Held to just 29 yards in the first meeting with Carolina, Williams had almost bettered that by the end of the first quarter.

Steelers 21, Bears 9

Jerome Bettis plowed through the muck and snow for 101 yards and two touchdowns as Pittsburgh beat visiting Chicago to end the Bears’ eight-game winning streak.

Bettis, held to 22 yards on 14 carries in his previous two games, had his first 100-yard game since getting 117 last Dec. 26 against Baltimore.

Ben Roethlisberger, all but ignoring the deep pass due to his bad thumb and the bad weather, threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward on Pittsburgh’s first drive. After that, the Steelers played a nearly error-free game on a day made for mistakes to stay alive in the AFC playoff race following three consecutive losses.

Giants 26, Eagles 23 (OT)

Jay Feely’s 36-yard field goal with 3:55 left in overtime lifted New York to a victory in Philadelphia that put it closer to the NFC East title and knocked the reigning conference champions out of the playoff chase.

Feely, who cost the Giants a victory in Seattle two weeks ago by missing three late kicks, made four field goals. Tiki Barber had 124 yards rushing and one TD catch, and the Giants overcame Eli Manning’s three interceptions in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Rookie Ryan Moats, filling in for the injured Brian Westbrook, had 114 yards rushing and two touchdowns for the Eagles, who made the NFC title game the past four seasons.

Bengals 23, Browns 20

Rudi Johnson ran for a season-high 169 yards, and Shayne Graham kicked a 37-yard field goal on the final play as Cincinnati beat visiting Cleveland to keep firm control of the AFC North.

Cincinnati reached double digits in victories for the first time since 1988, its last Super Bowl season.

Patriots 35, Bills 7

Tom Brady banged up his left knee on a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, shook off the injury, and finished with 329 yards passing and two touchdowns in leading New England to a win over Buffalo in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Corey Dillon rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown for the Patriots.

Vikings 27, Rams 13

Minnesota intercepted rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick five times and Koren Robinson, Michael Bennett and Ciatrick Fason all had rushing TDs as the Vikings ended a three-game losing streak to visiting St. Louis and won for the sixth straight game.

Broncos 12, Ravens 10

Kyle Johnson made a tiptoe catch for a touchdown, Champ Bailey set a franchise record with an interception in his fifth straight game and Al Wilson made a big hit on the goal line to lift Denver over visiting Baltimore.

Redskins 17, Cardinals 13

Clinton Portis ran for 105 yards on 26 carries, gaining 51 in the second half, when Washington rallied from a 10-3 deficit to beat Arizona in Tempe, Ariz., and keep its slim playoff hopes alive.

Jets 26, Raiders 10

Brooks Bollinger threw for one TD and set a team record for yards rushing (56) by a quarterback, Cedric Houston scored the first TD of his career, and John Abraham had two sacks that caused fumbles, helping New York break a seven-game losing streak with a win over visiting Oakland.

Titans 13, Texans 10

Rob Bironas kicked a 21-yard field goal with 10 seconds left that gave Tennessee the sweep of its AFC South rival for the division cellar, the Titans’ third sweep in the four seasons since the Texans replaced them in Houston.

Packers 16, Lions 13 (OT)

Samkon Gado rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown and Brett Favre led Green Bay on a 56-yard drive in overtime to set up Ryan Longwell’s 28-yard game-winning field goal as the Packers beat visiting Detroit.