Contrasting wins for the perfect pair

Graham Caygill

• Last Updated: November 23. 2009 8:14PM UAE / November 23. 2009 4:14PM GMT

The Colts quarterback Peyton Manning turns to hand off the ball as defensive tackle Kelly Gregg closes in. Gail Burton / AP

The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints both stayed perfect on Sunday with their 10th successive victories of the season but they maintained their 100 per cent records in totally different ways.

For Indianapolis, it was a case of fighting tooth and nail to win 17-15 against the Baltimore Ravens (5-5), with Matt Stover’s 25-yard field goal with seven minutes remaining proving decisive.

Kicking the winner was particularly sweet for Stover, who was let go by the Ravens at the end of last season after 18 years with the franchise, 13 of them at Baltimore and five before that when the team was in Cleveland. At 41, his NFL career had seemed to be over until he was signed by the Colts just over a month ago to fill in for their injured kicker Adam Vinatieri.

The success was the Colts’ 19th regular season victory in a row, the second longest streak in NFL history, and leaves them just two behind the 21 set by the New England Patriots from 2006 to 2008.

The win owed much to an Indianapolis defence that did not allow a Baltimore touchdown, with all of the Ravens’ points coming from the boot of kicker Billy Cundiff.

For New Orleans, their franchise record 10th win on the trot came in a much easier manner as they cruised to a 38-7 win against Tampa Bay (1-9).

The Saints’ quarterback, Drew Brees, threw three touchdown passes in the dominant display and he is confident the team can still get better.

“I feel like we haven’t peaked yet. I feel like the sky’s the limit for this team,” he said.

While the top two marched on arguably the game of the day saw the Detroit Lions (2-8) edge out the Cleveland Browns (1-9) 38-37.

A hurting Matthew Stafford threw his fifth touchdown pass from one yard to Brandon Pettigrew, and Jason Hanson’s extra point with no time on the clock gave Detroit a thrilling victory.

Detroit were given the untimed play because the Browns’ safety Hank Poteat was called for pass interference in the end zone when Stafford heaved a desperation attempt. Stafford was hit after his throw to the end zone and appeared to hurt his left shoulder.

He was replaced by Daunte Culpepper. The Browns, though, gave Stafford a chance to get back in the game by calling a timeout with the ball at the one-yard line. Stafford returned and connected with fellow rookie Pettigrew to end Detroit’s six-game losing streak.

The AFC North leading Cincinnati Bengals (7-3) were shocked 20-17 by the Oakland Raiders (3-7) to suffer only their third loss of the season. Oakland did the damage at the end as Bruce Gradkowski threw a 29-yard tying touchdown pass to Louis Murphy with 33 seconds left and Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 33-yard field goal after Andre Caldwell fumbled the kick-off.

The only consolation for the Bengals was that their division rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) also lost, as the Kansas City Chiefs (3-7) stunned them 27-24 in overtime, with Ryan Succop kicking a 22-yard field goal to sink the Super Bowl champions.

Tony Romo’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton with 2mins 41secs to play lifted the Dallas Cowboys (7-3) to a 7-6 victory over the Washington Redskins (3-7).

Brett Favre completed a career high 88 per cent of his passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns as the Minnesota Vikings (9-1) beat Seattle (3-7) 35-9 , and the New England Patriots (7-3) quarterback Tom Brady notched his fifth successive game of more than 300 passing yards to beat the New York Jets (4-6) 31-14.

The New York Giants (6-4) ended a run of four defeats with a 34-31 overtime triumph over the Atlanta Falcons (5-5) , while the Green Bay Packers (6-4) got the better of the San Francisco 49ers (4-6) 30-24 as quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 344 yards and two TDs.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (6-4) beat the Buffalo Bills (3-7) 18-15 as David Garrard found Mike Sims-Walker with a touchdown pass with 56 seconds left, while the Arizona Cardinals (7-3) defeated the St Louis Rams (1-9) 21-13.

The San Diego Chargers (7-3) cruised past the Denver Broncos (6-4) 32-3 to take the lead in the AFC West and the Philadelphia Eagles (6-4) won 24-20 against the Chicago Bears (4-6).

* With agencies