Tim Tebow and Broncos beat Chargers in OT; Raiders edge Bears with six field goals

SAN DIEGO -- Matt Prater’s 37-yard field goal with 1:38 left in overtime completed Tim Tebow’s fourth second-half comeback of the season as the visiting Denver Broncos defeated the reeling San Diego Chargers, 16-13, on Sunday for their fourth straight victory.

San Diego’s Nick Novak missed a 53-yard field goal with 2:31 remaining in overtime. He made a career-long 53-yarder in the first quarter.

Tebow improved to 5-1 as a starter in 2011 for Denver (6-5), which snapped a four-game losing streak to San Diego and won its four straight on the road after losing 11 of its previous 12.

Prater’s 38th consecutive field goal from inside 40 yards kept the Broncos one game behind Oakland in the AFC West.

Ryan Mathews had a career-high 137 yards rushing for San Diego (4-7), which has lost six straight for the first time since dropping its final nine games in 2001. The Chargers’ last victory was 29-24 at Denver on Oct. 9.

Prater’s 24-yard field goal with 1:34 left in regulation tied the game at 13 and was made possible by a 39-yard pass from Tebow to Eric Decker on third-and-10 from the Denver 25.

Willis McGahee rushed for 117 yards and Tebow finished 9-of-18 passing for 143 yards with a touchdown and added 67 on the ground.

Raiders 25, Bears 20

OAKLAND -- Sebastian Janikowski kicked a team-record six field goals and the Oakland Raiders took advantage of three interceptions from Chicago’s fill-in starter Caleb Hanie to beat the Bears 25-20 Sunday.

Carson Palmer threw for 301 yards and Michael Bush iced the game with a touchdown run in the fourth quarter to lead the Raiders (7-4) to their third straight win against a Bears team missing starting quarterback Jay Cutler.

Hanie struggled in his first career start in place of Cutler, who broke his right thumb last week in Chicago’s sixth straight win to put a major obstacle into what had been a promising season for the Bears (7-4).

Steelers 13, Chiefs 9

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Ben Roethlisberger threw a short touchdown pass to Weslye Saunders and Pittsburgh took advantage of four turnovers by Tyler Palko to beat the Kansas City.

Playing with a broken thumb on his throwing hand, Roethlisberger was 21 of 31 for 193 yards and an interception for the Steelers (8-3), whose defense lost All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu to an injury in the first quarter yet still kept the bumbling Chiefs (4-7) from scoring a touchdown.

Kansas City hasn’t reached the end zone since the third quarter against Denver three weeks ago, a span of 45 offensive drives — including the final one Sunday night. The Chiefs marched across midfield to the Pittsburgh 37 when Palko dropped back to pass. He was looking for Dwayne Bowe but threw it high and behind him, and Keenan Lewis hauled in the interception with 29 seconds left to seal the game and keep Pittsburgh tied atop the AFC North with Baltimore.

Texans 20, Jaguars 13

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Matt Leinart injured his throwing shoulder, overshadowing Houston’s 20-13 victory against the offensively inept Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Arian Foster ran for 65 yards and a score, Leinart delivered a perfect touchdown pass to Joel Dreessen before leaving the game and the Texans (8-3) sacked Blaine Gabbert six times. It was good enough for their fifth consecutive win, which moved Houston a little closer to clinching the AFC South.

But Leinart’s shoulder could be a serious setback.

The Texans already lost starter Matt Schaub for the season with a right foot injury. Now, they are down to T.J. Yates and newly signed Kellen Clemens.

Yates completed 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards in relief of Leinart, doing just enough to help the Texans beat the Jaguars (3-8).

Jacksonville benched Gabbert in the fourth quarter. Luke McCown led the team to a late field goal, but his fourth-down pass with about a minute remaining fell incomplete.

Jets 28, Bills 24

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Mark Sanchez threw four touchdown passes, including the winning score to Santonio Holmes with just over a minute remaining, as New York kept pace in the AFC playoff race with a comeback victory.

With the Jets trailing 24-21 and facing a third-and-11 from the Bills 36, Sanchez connected with Plaxico Burress, who made an impressive one-handed grab for the first down. Sanchez quickly ran a quarterback sneak and then, on the next play, rolled out to his right to buy some time and found Holmes alone in the right corner of the end zone to give the Jets the lead with 1:01 left.

The Jets (6-5) entered the game with many players saying they need to win each of their last six to make the postseason. They overcame a valiant comeback attempt by the Bills (5-6), who have lost four straight.

Patriots 38, Eagles 20

PHILADELPHIA -- Tom Brady threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns and New England beat Philadelphia in a rematch of the 2005 Super Bowl.

Filling in for the injured Michael Vick for the second straight game, Vince Young couldn’t keep Philadelphia’s fading playoff hopes alive despite a career-best 400 yards passing. The Eagles (4-7) are all-but-mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in a season that began with Super Bowl expectations.

Angry fans made their feelings known about coach Andy Reid, chanting “Fire Andy!” in the second half.

The defending NFC East champions fell to 1-5 at home and have lost eight of nine at the Linc, including a playoff loss to Green Bay last January.

Down 10-0 early, the AFC East-leading Patriots rallied behind Brady. New England (8-3) scored on five of its next six possessions, excluding a kneel-down at the end of the first half.

Redskins 23, Seahawks 17

SEATTLE -- Rex Grossman found Anthony Armstrong for a 50-yard touchdown and the Washington Redskins rallied for 16 fourth-quarter points and stunned the Seattle Seahawks 23-17 on Sunday.

One play after committing a grounding penalty, Grossman stepped up in the pocket on third-and-19 and found Armstrong, who out maneuvered Seattle cornerback Brandon Browner for the pass in the corner of the end zone.

The touchdown pass was Grossman’s second of the game and followed rookie Roy Helu’s leaping 28-yard TD run that pulled the Redskins within 17-14.

Grossman finished 26 of 35 for 314 yards as Washington (4-7) snapped its six-game losing streak. Marshawn Lynch rushed for 111 yards and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass for the Seahawks (4-7).

Falcons 24, Vikings 14

ATLANTA -- Matt Ryan tossed three touchdown passes and Atlanta held on again to beat Minnesota, which was playing without injured Adrian Peterson.

The Falcons (7-4) were up 17-0 at halftime after allowing just 97 yards. But, mimicking the previous week’s closer-than-necessary victory over Tennessee, they let Minnesota (2-9) back in the game.

Toby Gerhart, filling in for Peterson, scored from the 1 late in the third quarter. Then, after Dominique Franks inadvertently touched a punt the Falcons were trying to avoid to set up a Vikings recovery, Christian Ponder went to Percy Harvin for a 39-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-13 to make it 17-14.

But Ryan responded with a 3-yard scoring pass to backup Michael Palmer, and the Falcons held on downs after Harvin’s 104-yard kickoff return to the Atlanta 3.

Cardinals 23, Rams 20

ST. LOUIS -- Patrick Peterson tied the NFL record with his fourth punt return for a touchdown this season, Beanie Wells set a franchise mark with 228 yards rushing, and Arizona won its seventh in a row in St. Louis.

Wells averaged 8.4 yards per carry on a career day that included gains of 71 and 53 yards. The latter set up Jay Feely’s go-ahead 22-yard field goal with 4:12 remaining. Rookie Sam Acho also had a career day on defense with two sacks and a fumble recovery for Arizona (4-7), which did enough to overcome another awful outing by John Skelton, who threw two interceptions. Brandon Lloyd’s 16-yard TD catch from Sam Bradford tied it at 20 with 7:46 to go. Nick Miller had an 88-yard punt return in the first quarter for the Rams (2-9) only three days after he re-signed with the team.

Bengals 23, Browns 20

CINCINNATI -- A.J. Green made a leaping catch for a 51-yard gain in the final minute, setting up a field goal that rallied Cincinnati to a victory over self-destructive Cleveland.

The surprising Bengals (7-4) stayed right behind Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the AFC North with another second-half comeback forged by their rookie big-play combination.

Andy Dalton threw a high down-the-middle pass that Green went way above the defenders to grab. Green was run out of bounds at the 2, and the Browns (4-7) forced Cincinnati to settle for Mike Nugent’s 26-yard field goal with 38 seconds left -- the Bengals’ first lead of the game. For the second time in three games, a botched snap cost Cleveland a chance to take a late lead. Phil Dawson was short on a 55-yard try with 1:51 left after the snap skipped along the ground, giving Cincinnati its last chance.

Titans 23, Buccaneers 17

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Chris Johnson ran for a season-high 190 yards, and Matt Hasselbeck threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Damian Williams on fourth-and-2 play with 3:01 left for Tennessee.

The Titans (6-5) forced five turnovers and overcame four turnovers of their own. The Bucs outscored them 14-3 off mistakes even though Tennessee got the ball three times on Tampa Bay’s side of the field.

But the Titans got the ninth and final turnover of the game when rookie linebacker Colin McCarthy intercepted Josh Freeman with 2:19 left.

The Bucs (4-7) lost their fifth straight even with LeGarrette Blount running for 103 yards. Freeman threw for 199 yards and a touchdown, but he had an interception and lost a fumble. He also fumbled the snap on fourth-and-1 before being tackled with 40 seconds left to seal the Titans’ victory.

Panthers 27, Colts 19

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cam Newton passed for 208 yards and ran for one touchdown and DeAngelo Williams scored twice to help Carolina hold off winless Indianapolis.

The Panthers (3-8) ended a 12-game road losing streak by winning outside Charlotte, N.C., for the first time since Dec. 27, 2009 when they beat the Giants in New York.

Newton was 20 of 27 and carried nine times for 53 yards. Williams ran 15 times for 69 yards including the game-sealing score -- a 2-yard TD run with 10:23 left in the game.

The Colts dropped to 0-11 for the first time since 1986 and have lost six home games in a season for the sixth time in the Indianapolis era.

Curtis Painter was 15 of 29 for 226 yards with one TD for the Colts and threw two late interceptions in the end zone, ending any hopes of a comeback.