Manning, Giants rally past Bears

Eli Manning redeemed himself just in time and the New York Giants dealt the Chicago Bears’ playoff hopes another staggering blow.

Manning led two late touchdown drives and Reuben Droughns scored on a 2-yard run with 1:33 remaining to lift the Giants to a 21-16 victory over the Bears on Sunday at Chicago.

Manning was awful for most of the game but delivered in the latter stages after throwing four interceptions the previous week in a drubbing by Minnesota.

The embattled quarterback threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer, which was initially ruled incomplete, with 6:54 left to cap a 75-yard drive and pull the Giants within 16-14.

Buccaneers 27, Saints 23: At New Orleans, Devery Henderson fumbled a late, awkward toss from Reggie Bush, allowing substitute starting quarterback Luke McCown to drive Tampa Bay for a touchdown with 17 seconds left that lifted the Buccaneers to victory over the Saints.

The winning score was a quick four-yard pass to Jerramy Stevens.

McCown completed his first 15 passes and wound up 29 of 37 for 313 yards and two touchdowns.

Vikings 42, Lions 10: At Minneapolis, Adrian Peterson rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns in his return from a knee injury and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson continued his steady improvement to lead surging Minnesota to a victory over free-falling Detroit, which has lost four straight.

Jackson was 18 of 24 for 204 yards and two touchdowns, and the Vikings scored TDs on their first six possessions to win their third in a row.

Panthers 31, 49ers 14: At Charlotte, N.C., Vinny Testaverde threw for two touchdowns and Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over San Francisco, the Panthers’ first home win in more than a year.

Though he threw for only 153 yards and had two interceptions, Testaverde became the oldest starter to win, at 44.

The Panthers’ defense had six sacks and forced six 49ers turnovers.

Titans 28, Texans 20: At Nashville, Tenn., Vince Young threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns in rallying Tennessee to a victory over Houston, snapping a three-game skid.

The Titans had defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth back after an injured hamstring kept him out three games. His return helped revive a defense coming off its worst performance of the season in a 35-6 loss at Cincinnati last week.

Chargers 24, Chiefs 10: At Kansas City, Mo., LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 177 yards and two scores, the defense had eight sacks and Philip Rivers threw a 38-yard touchdown pass as San Diego beat the Chiefs to give their coach Norv Turner his first victory over Kansas City in seven tries.

Since a 30-16 loss to Kansas City plunged them to 1-3 on Sept. 30, the Chargers have gone on a 6-2 spree and seized the lead in the AFC West. The Chiefs have lost five straight.

Rams 28, Falcons 16: At St. Louis, Rams quarterback Gus Frerotte threw three touchdown passes in the first half, then sweated out two second-half interceptions that fueled an Atlanta comeback in St. Louis’ first home victory of the season.

Rams running back Steven Jackson quashed the Falcons’ late effort with a 50-yard touchdown run.

Cardinals 27, Browns 21: At Glendale, Ariz., the Cardinals turned three of Cleveland’s four turnovers into touchdowns, Edgerrin James topped 100 yards rushing for only the second time this season and Arizona held on to beat the Browns.

Kurt Warner threw two touchdown passes and Neil Rackers kicked a pair of late field goals for the Cardinals.

Derek Anderson had two touchdown tosses, but was intercepted twice and fumbled once.

Raiders 34, Broncos 20: At Oakland, Calif., Josh McCown threw three touchdown passes for the Raiders and Oakland capitalized on Denver’s mistakes to win.

Justin Fargas carried 33 times for 146 yards and a touchdown and Oakland scored 24 points off four turnovers to snap a five-game losing streak to Denver.

Steelers 24, Bengals 10: At Pittsburgh, Hines Ward caught two touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger to break the Steelers’ record for career scoring catches, and with their victory the Steelers ended a seven-game winning streak by road teams in their AFC North rivalry with the Bengals.

Getting their offense back after being held to one touchdown in their previous two games, the Steelers shook off an early 7-0 deficit to open a two-game division lead over Cleveland and all but eliminate the Bengals for a third successive season.