A happy day for Gado, Green Bay
The Green Bay Packers are sure glad Samkon Gado put his medical career on hold.
Making his first career start on his 23rd birthday, the Nigerian-born Gado scored three touchdowns and the Packers won for only the second time this season, upsetting the first-place Atlanta Falcons 33-25 on Sunday.
Brett Favre threw for 252 yards and came up with a great escape on a drive that led to Ryan Longwell’s fourth field goal, a 51-yarder with 4:01 remaining that restored Green Bay’s nine-point lead.
Patriots 23, Dolphins 16
Tom Brady brought New England from behind twice in the second half in Miami, throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Benjamin Watson for the winning score with 2:16 left. Gus Frerotte drove the Dolphins 70 yards to the 5 with a minute left, but his fourth-down pass was incomplete with 36 seconds to go.
Two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England remained alone atop the AFC East.
Colts 31, Texans 17
Peyton Manning threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns, keeping Indianapolis as the NFL’s only unbeaten team with a win over visiting Houston.
Edgerrin James ran 26 times for 122 yards and one touchdown, his 47th career 100-yard game. James is now tied with Franco Harris for eighth in NFL history and topped the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth time.
Lions 29, Cardinals 21
Roy Williams caught a career-high three touchdown passes from Joey Harrington as Detroit ended a two-game losing streak and held off visiting Arizona.
Williams, playing an entire game for the first time since Oct. 2, had seven receptions for 117 yards and caught TD passes of 7, 21 and 29 yards.
Steelers 34, Browns 21
Charlie Batch improvised a 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, and his passing led to another score before he left with a broken right hand to hold off Cleveland in Pittsburgh.
Tommy Maddox replaced Batch to run an efficient and time-consuming offense in the second half, and college QB-turned-wide receiver Antwaan Randle El threw a 51-yard scoring pass to Hines Ward on a reverse early in the third quarter.
Bears 17, 49ers 9
Nathan Vasher returned a missed field goal 108 yards for a TD, the longest play in NFL history, and Chicago held off visiting San Francisco to win its fifth straight.
With wind gusts up to 38 mph shaking the goalposts, neither team could muster much offense and stuck mainly with the run.
Bills 14, Chiefs 3
J.P. Losman, taking over after Kelly Holcomb hurt his head in the second quarter, led Buffalo touchdown drives on two of his first four possessions and showed he deserved his starting job back as Buffalo defeated Kansas City in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Losman finished 9 of 16 for 137 yards, hitting Lee Evans for both touchdowns.
Jaguars 30, Ravens 3
Greg Jones ran for a career-high 106 yards and a touchdown, Matt Jones had a career-high 117 yards receiving and a score and Jacksonville reached 30 points for the first time since 2001 against visiting Baltimore.
Jacksonville snapped its NFL-record 58-game streak of not scoring at least 30 points.
Broncos 31, Raiders 17
Jake Plummer passed for 205 yards and a touchdown, had no interceptions and wasn’t sacked all day, and Jason Elam kicked three field goals as Denver won at Oakland.
Darrent Williams returned an interception 80 yards for a fourth-quarter score that ended Oakland’s chance at a comeback.
Panthers 30, Jets 3
Will Witherspoon returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown and Ken Lucas grabbed two of Carolina’s four interceptions to hold beat New York in Charlotte, N.C.
Carolina forced six turnovers to pull away after an uneventful first half. The Panthers scored 20 points off turnovers.