TAMPA, Fla.--So much for Tampa Bay's shaky offense being a liability against the explosive Minnesota Vikings. When the Buccaneers are at home, they're on solid ground.
Moving the ball and scoring almost at will, the Bucs broke out of an offensive funk with a team-record 246 yards rushing yesterday and beat the NFC's unbeaten team 27-24 on Mike Alstott's 6-yard touchdown run with 5:48 to go.
Alstott ran for a career-high 128 yards on 19 carries and Warrick Dunn gained 115 on 18 attempts, giving Tampa Bay (4-4) a pair of 100-yard runners in a game for the first time in franchise history.
"I couldn't feel any better than I feel right now," Alstott said. "We knew what we could do. It was frustrating those first seven weeks, because we kept hurting ourselves through penalties and missed opportunities.
Randall Cunningham was outstanding for Minnesota (7-1), completing 21 of 25 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns.
Patriots 21, Colts 16
INDIANAPOLIS--New England made the Indianapolis Colts pay dearly for cornerback Jeff Burris' mistakes.
Burris was called for pass interference three times yesterday. The first two set up touchdowns by the Patriots, and the third was declined when the pass from Drew Bledsoe went for a 63-yard touchdown to rookie Tony Simmons in a 21-16 victory.
""I'm man enough to take responsibility for this loss," Burris said. "I didn't play well. Their best beat my best. Today just wasn't my day."
Broncos 33, Bengals 26
CINCINNATI--The clock read 2:54, and the Cincinnati Bengals sensed they were in trouble despite playing one of their best games of the season.
That was way too much time for John Elway.
Elway led Denver to three fourth-quarter touchdowns and pulled off yet another clutch drive in the closing minutes, rallying the Broncos to a 33-26 victory yesterday that left them the only unbeaten team in the NFL.
"It's been a while since we've had one like this," said Elway, who completed all four of his fourth-quarter passes for 86 yards. "It's something we probably needed."
Redskins 21, Giants 14
LANDOVER, Md.--The Washington Redskins were 0-7, and the bye week had been a disaster. Seemingly buried under adversity, they rose behind a young group of unlikely heroes and wiped away some of the humiliation.
Against a flat offense and an erratic quarterback, the Redskins forced the New York Giants to punt on 11 of 13 possessions. Trent Green, Stephen Davis and Skip Hicks--all inexperienced backups on offense at the start of the season--did the rest in Washington's 21-14 victory yesterday.
The Redskins (1-7) won without 1997 defensive player of the year Dana Stubblefield, Marc Boutte and Stephen Alexander--all injured during the two week break since the last game. Gus Frerotte and Michael Westbrook were benched--Frerotte because he was struggling and Westbrook because he missed a practice. In addition, Terry Allen reaggravated a strained calf muscle in the first half.