NFL Football

Oh yes oh yes! The New England Patriots are on course for an unbeaten season as Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in a four-minute span of the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Super Bowl champion Indianapolis 24-20 Sunday. The win in perhaps the NFL's biggest regular-season game ever keeps the Patriots (9-0) on course for the NFL's first unbeaten season since Miami did it 1972 and gives them the first tiebreaker over Indianapolis (7-1) in the AFC playoffs. New England, which had been averaging more than 41 points a game and had beaten eight opponents by an average of more than 25 points, trailed 20-10 after Peyton Manning scored on a 1-yard sneak with 9 minutes and 42 seconds left in the game. However, Brady's 55-yard completion to Randy Moss set up a 3-yard TD pass to Wes Welker. Rosevelt Colvin knocked the ball loose from Manning to force a punt on the next series. Then Brady found Kevin Faulk over the middle for 13 yards for the winning score with 3:15 left. Jarvis Green knocked the ball lose from Manning and Colvin recovered to clinch the game for New England.

Minutes after Adrian Peterson lost a fourth-quarter fumble at the San Diego 20-yard line, the ball was back in his hands. He rumbled around right end, paused to set up his blocks, and sprinted 46 yards up the sideline for Minnesota's game-clinching touchdown. This rookie doesn't make many mistakes. He simply sets a lot of records. Racing to the NFL's single-game rushing record of 296 yards at the midpoint of his first pro season, Peterson carried the Vikings to a 35-17 victory over the Chargers on Sunday. He didn't realize the significance of his performance until his benign 3-yard carry took the clock under 60 seconds and sent him past Jamal Lewis' 295-yard performance against Cleveland in 2003 for the best game a running back has ever had in this league. San Diego cornerback Antonio Cromartie returned a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown as the first half ended Sunday at Minnesota -- the longest play in NFL history. The previous record for longest play was 108 yards, missed field goal returns, shared by Chicago teammates Devin Hester and Nathan Vasher and a kickoff return by New England's Ellis Hobbs.

Drew Brees threw for 445 yards and three touchdowns, and Mike McKenzie returned an interception 75 yards for a score as New Orleans won its fourth straight, 41-24 over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Now all the preseason hype seems a little more justified as the Saints (4-4) have become legitimate contenders in the NFC South again, only a half-game behind division-leading Tampa Bay (5-4). This latest victory over Jacksonville (5-3) was the Saints' most impressive, given the quality of the opponent. The Saints also proved they can indeed play with the AFC, against which they were 0-5 since beating Cleveland on opening day of the 2006 season.

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