Bengals down Panthers

With the minutes ticking away, Carson Palmer found his touch and got the Bengals into the end zone. Given a chance to match him, Jake Delhomme came up one throw short.

Palmer finally mastered the wind and led a fourth-quarter drive Sunday that culminated in his 1-yard throw to T.J. Houshmandzadeh, giving Cincinnati to a 17-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Cincinnati.

The Panthers had won four close games in a row, three of them by a field goal or less. Given a chance to tie or take the lead at the end, they let this one slip off Delhomme’s fingertips.

Delhomme, who threw for a career-high 365 yards in a win over Baltimore last week, drove the Panthers to the Cincinnati 10. On third-and-goal, he tried to loft the ball through the wind to Keyshawn Johnson at the back of the end zone.

Instead, the ball floated to safety Kevin Kaesviharn, whose interception essentially ended it with 3:50 to go.

Patriots 28, Bills 6: At Orchard Park, N.Y., Corey Dillon’s two touchdowns rushing in the first half gave the Patriots an early lead, and New England went on to rout Buffalo.

Tom Brady finished 18 of 27 for 195 yards passing and two touchdowns, improving to 29-6 against divisional rivals.

Packers 34, Dolphins 24: At Miami, Green Bay intercepted Joey Harrington three times and benefited from half a dozen dropped passes by woeful Miami to get the win.

Brett Favre threw two touchdown passes, including the clincher to David Martin with six minutes left, and Ahman Green scored on a 70-yard run.

Texans 27, Jaguars 7: At Houston, Houston’s beleaguered defense dominated and rookie running back Wali Lundy discovered the Texans’ lost running game to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Houston’s defense, which entered the day allowing a league-worst 418 yards a game, forced two turnovers – both of which led to touchdowns – and held the Jaguars to just 220 yards.

Chiefs 30, Chargers 27: At Kansas City, Mo., Lawrence Tynes hit a career-long 53-yard field goal with 6 seconds left, atoning for a first-quarter miss asKansas City beat San Diego.

LaDainian Tomlinson figured in two fourth-quarter TD throws, one as the receiver and one as the passer, as the Chargers came back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game at 27-all.

But after the Chiefs took over on their own 18 with 33 seconds left, Damon Huard completed three passes for 52 yards to get them in position for Tynes’ winner.

Jets 31, Lions 24: At East Rutherford, N.J., Leon Washington rushed for 129 yards on 20 carries and scored the first two touchdowns of his career, and New York held on to beat Detroit.

The Lions put a scare into the Jets, who led the entire game, by getting within a touchdown with 2:22 left when an outstretched Mike Furrey caught the ball in the back right-corner of the end zone.

New York got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff and ran out the clock to escape with a victory.

Broncos 17, Browns 7: At Cleveland, the NFL’s stingiest unit held its fifth straight opponent to single digits and Jake Plummer did enough to keep Denver’s offense moving in a win over Cleveland.

The Broncos were less than 12 minutes away from their first road shutout in 14 years when Plummer’s interception led to a short Cleveland touchdown pass in the fourth quarter – only the second TD allowed by Denver this season.

Raiders 22, Cardinals 9: At Oakland, Calif., Andrew Walter threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss, ReShard Lee ran for a 1-yard score in the first quarter and the Raiders overcame five turnovers to win their first game of the season.

After leading 14-0 after the opening quarter only to lose the previous two games, the Cardinals found themselves on the other side of the equation this week. Despite getting plenty of help from Oakland with wo interceptions and three fumbles, the Cardinals lost their sixth straight.

Colts 36, Redskins 22: At Indianapolis, after being bent over awkwardly twice in the first half and once appearing hurt, two-time MVP Peyton Manning responded with three third-quarter touchdown passes, leading Indianapolis to a victory.

In the previous three games, Manning needed late drives to secure victories. Against Washington, Manning made it easier on himself by opening the second half with three straight TD drives. Indy remained the AFC’s only unbeaten team and became the ninth team in league history to start 6-0 in back-to-back seasons.

Washington lost its third straight and saw its playoff hopes take a big hit.