49ers’ defense has its day in stifling Vikings

At the two-minute warning, Coach Mike Nolan gathered the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive players and let them have it.

“It’s up to you right now to win this game,” Nolan said. “It’s on you right now. I’m not calling any timeouts, not saving any time. Guys, it’ll go down to the very last play. It’s on you.”

And to much surprise, a maligned defense delivered.

Joe Nedney kicked his third field goal with 7:15 left, and the 49ers shut out the Minnesota Vikings in the final three quarters of a 9-3 victory at San Francisco.

Thanks to Nedney’s strong leg -- and his lobbying efforts, which helped San Francisco to get a second shot at its final field goal -- the 49ers (3-5) had just enough offense to support an unexpected performance by their defense, which had allowed 150 points in its last four games.

San Francisco managed 133 total yards with its own offense.

Alex Smith passed for only 105 yards and Frank Gore rushed for only 41, but San Francisco hung on for its eighth straight home victory since 1988 over the Vikings (4-4).

Brad Johnson passed for 136 yards but made three turnovers for the Vikings. He also was shocked by the 49ers’ defense.

“They’ve been thrashed in different areas, and they changed it up, played vanilla, played to their strengths,” Johnson said.

Nedney made field goals from 25 and 30 yards before kicking a 51-yarder -- but only after he wheedled another try.

Flags flew during his first attempt, and referee Ed Hochuli initially called a delay-of-game penalty that would have taken San Francisco out of field-goal range. But Hochuli picked up his flag after Nedney vocally explained that the play clock had been reset erroneously, arguing loudly enough to be picked up on Hochuli’s microphone.

The Vikings were miffed.

“I was told that there’s an NFL guy up there that runs the clock, but it feels like home cooking to me,” Minnesota Coach Brad Childress said.

New Orleans 31, Tampa Bay 14 -- Rookie Marques Colston caught 11 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, and Drew Brees threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns to the help the Saints (6-2) beat the Buccaneers (2-6) and reach the midpoint of the season with twice as many wins as they had last year.

The Saints played without receiver Joe Horn (groin) and with running back Reggie Bush, slowed by a sore ankle.

Tampa Bay rallied from a 17-0 deficit with Bruce Gradkowski throwing touchdown passes of 44 and 17 yards to Joey Galloway in the second quarter but could get no closer.

Brees completed his first 11 passes and finished 24 for 32 with no interceptions after three last week against Baltimore. Bush had minus five yards in 11 carries and caught four passes for 22 yards.

Kansas City 31, St. Louis 17 -- Larry Johnson backed up pregame bragging about dealing out the hits instead of taking them, gaining 172 yards in 27 carries in the Chiefs’ victory at St. Louis.

Johnson scored his fifth touchdown in two weeks on a one-yard run and also had a 45-yard run when the Chiefs (5-3) were backed up in the second quarter and a 16-yarder that set up a field goal against a Rams defense that LaDainian Tomlinson gained 183 yards on last week. St. Louis fell to 4-4.

The defense also forced three early turnovers in building a 17-point cushion that helped the Chiefs win three in a row for the first time under new Coach Herman Edwards.

Tony Gonzalez caught two touchdown passes to break Otis Taylor’s Kansas City record. Gonzalez has 59, two more than Taylor. He needs three more to tie Shannon Sharpe for the NFL record for a tight end.

N.Y. Giants 14, Houston 10 -- Tiki Barber scored on a 16-yard run and accounted for nearly half the yards in a go-ahead 67-yard fourth-quarter drive that Jeremy Shockey capped with a two-yard touchdown catch at New York as the Giants (6-2) won their fifth in a row.

The defense, playing without three starters and losing defensive end Michael Strahan to a foot injury in the second quarter, sealed the win when rookie linebacker Gerris Wilkinson forced fullback Jameel Cook to fumble at the Giants’ 35 after a short catch. The Giants recovered.

Barber rushed for 115 yards in 17 carries. Houston fell to 2-6.

Jacksonville 37, Tennessee 7 -- David Garrard, making his second straight start in place of Byron Leftwich, threw three touchdown passes to lead the Jaguars (5-3) past the Titans (2-6) at Jacksonville, Fla.

Meanwhile, Vince Young had his worst day as a pro, getting intercepted three times, sacked once and roughed up as the Jaguars improved to 4-0 at home.

Fred Taylor (79) and Maurice Drew (56) combined for 135 yards rushing for Jacksonville.

Garrard completed 12 of 22 passes for 177 yards. Young was 15 for 36 for 163 yards, 80 of them in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.

Buffalo 24, Green Bay 10 -- Linebacker London Fletcher scored on a 17-yard interception return of a Brett Favre pass, keying a four-takeaway performance by the Bills’ defense to make up for a sputtering offense hampered by Willis McGahee’s rib injury at Orchard Park, N.Y.

Rookie safety Ko Simpson sealed it when he intercepted Favre’s pass on first down from the one with the Packers (3-5) down 17-10. Simpson returned it 76 yards to set up Anthony Thomas’ 14-yard touchdown run.

McGahee did not return after he was hurt four minutes into a game in which Buffalo (3-5) ended a three-game losing streak.