Nedney, 49ers stun Buccaneers

Of all the improbable elements in the San Francisco 49ers’ first victory since opening day, nothing matched a raucous crowd chanting “Cody! Cody!” on the way to the clinching field goal.

Cody who? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers found out.

The 49ers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 15-10 victory over the visiting Bucs on Sunday. Joe Nedney kicked five field goals, including a 28-yarder with 1:56 to play on the first scoring drive ever led by former fourth-string quarterback Cody Pickett.

Pickett, a former Washington Huskies quarterback, emerged as an improbable hero for the 49ers, performing admirably in the final 11 minutes while Ken Dorsey and Alex Smith were out with injuries.

Pickett was the 49ers’ fourth QB as recently as two weeks ago, and has played on special teams this season to stay fresh. In fact, he tackled a punt returner moments before he stepped behind center.

But after Dorsey sprained his left ankle, Pickett marched the Niners 42 yards in 11 plays to Nedney’s last field goal, and the 49ers’ defense shut down Tampa two more times to clinch it. San Francisco won with just 208 yards of offense.

Chargers 28, Chiefs 20

Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes to Antonio Gates and finished with 324 yards passing as San Diego beat visiting Kansas City.

Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, slowed again on the ground, threw his third TD pass of the season, a 17-yarder to Eric Parker.

Rams 24, Jaguars 21

Steven Jackson rushed for 179 yards on 25 carries and scored the winning touchdown as St. Louis rallied to beat visiting Jacksonville.

Mike Furrey’s 37-yard interception return led to the go-ahead score and the Rams stuffed the Jaguars’ attack most of the second half.

Fred Taylor had 165 yards on 23 carries for the Jaguars.

Cowboys 34, Cardinals 13

Rookie Marion Barber ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries in his first start and new kicker Shaun Suisham making two short field goals to lead Dallas past visiting Arizona.

Arizona lost its 14th straight game at Texas Stadium since 1989.

Bengals 21, Packers 14

Carson Palmer threw three touchdown passes and Cincinnati picked off five Bret Favre passes en route to a victory over visiting Green Bay.

Favre had never thrown five interceptions during a regular-season game – he had six in a playoff loss to St. Louis during the 2001 season.

Panthers 38, Vikings 13

Stephen Davis ran for two touchdowns and Steve Smith terrorized Minnesota’s defense for a franchise-record 201 yards and a score as Carolina rolled to a victory over the Vikings in Charlotte, N.C.

Jake Delhomme passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns, while stretching Carolina’s winning streak to four games.

Raiders 34, Titans 25

Kerry Collins threw for three touchdowns and Oakland held off Tennessee in Nashville for its third victory in the last four games.

The Raiders came up with six sacks, including 2 1/2 by Warren Sapp, and two turnovers en route to their first road win of the season.

Bears 19, Lions 13 (OT)

Charles Tillman intercepted a Jeff Garcia pass and ran 22 yards for a touchdown to lift visiting Chicago over Detroit in overtime.

It was a big win for Chicago not only because the Bears broke a first-place tie with Detroit, but also because they secured a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Lions, whom they beat 38-6 in an earlier meeting.

Texans 19, Browns 16

Kris Brown kicked a 40-yard field goal, his fourth of the day, with 2:45 remaining, to lift Houston over visiting Cleveland for its first victory of the year.

The winning kick was set up by a 63-yard kickoff return by rookie Jerome Mathis.

Dolphins 21, Saints 6

Gus Frerotte had a TD pass to Chris Chambers and the Miami defense had a safety in a win over New Orleans in Baton Rouge, La.