Steelerlyn
10-02-2006, 02:24 PM
Ravens, Colts and Bears remain unbeaten after four games
Mon Oct 2, 1:08 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The
Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears all recorded victories on Sunday to remain the only unbeaten teams in the NFL after a quarter of the regular season.
Week Four began with seven teams sporting unblemished marks but the San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints all absorbed their first defeats.
Sunday's schedule featured a pair of clashes between undefeated teams, the Bears rolling past the Seahawks 37-6 while Steve McNair engineered a fourth-quarter touchdown drive to earn the Ravens a dramatic 16-13 win over the Chargers.
For the second consecutive week, McNair provided the late heroics, a 10-yard touchdown strike finding Todd Heap with 34 seconds remaining to maintain the Ravens' winning run.
McNair, the former-league MVP obtained in an off-season deal with the Tennessee Titans, also had a five-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Wilcox in the opening quarter.
San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers hooked up with Malcolm Floyd on a 31-yard touchdown pass on their opening possession but Baltimore's punishing defense were then able to limit the visitors to two Nate Keading second quarter field goals.
"An incredible win against an incredible opponent," Ravens coach Brian Billick told reporters.
"We showed the character we had to show to do what we had to do out there in a 15 round boxing match.
"It wasn't pretty, a lot of things have to be corrected and we'll get to that tomorrow."
In East Rutherford, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning watched Justin Miller return a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown with less than three minutes to play to give the Jets a 28-24 lead then hit back with nine play 61 yard scoring drive.
With just 50 seconds remaining, Manning ran the ball over from the one to cap the drive and lift the Colts to a 31-28 win.
However, the Jets provided Indianapolis with one final scare, attempting a rugby style play with eight laterals that very nearly resulted in an unlikely game-winning score.
Colts Marvin Harrison had seven catches for 79 yards moving him into fourth place on the NFL's all-time list ahead of Andre Reed with 951.
In Chicago, Rex Grossman threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Bears joined the Colts and Ravens on 4-0.
Once again the Bears were led by a stingy defense that has held opponents to 10 points or less in their last eight games at Soldier Field.
A week after tossing a franchise record five touchdown passes in a 42-30 win over the New York Giants, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck completed just 16-of-35 attempts for 196 yards and two interceptions, both by Ricky Manning Jr, leading to Chicago scores.
The Seahawks played the game without league MVP running back Shaun Alexander, who was sidelined with a cracked bone in his left foot.
"We played against an offense that did not have their main running back and they came out here and gave us a good fight but tonight we played a good game," said the Bears'Tommie Harris, who had two of Bears five sacks on Hasselbeck.
"But we're just playing good football right now, solid defense and hope we end up in the Super Bowl."
Mon Oct 2, 1:08 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The
Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears all recorded victories on Sunday to remain the only unbeaten teams in the NFL after a quarter of the regular season.
Week Four began with seven teams sporting unblemished marks but the San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints all absorbed their first defeats.
Sunday's schedule featured a pair of clashes between undefeated teams, the Bears rolling past the Seahawks 37-6 while Steve McNair engineered a fourth-quarter touchdown drive to earn the Ravens a dramatic 16-13 win over the Chargers.
For the second consecutive week, McNair provided the late heroics, a 10-yard touchdown strike finding Todd Heap with 34 seconds remaining to maintain the Ravens' winning run.
McNair, the former-league MVP obtained in an off-season deal with the Tennessee Titans, also had a five-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Wilcox in the opening quarter.
San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers hooked up with Malcolm Floyd on a 31-yard touchdown pass on their opening possession but Baltimore's punishing defense were then able to limit the visitors to two Nate Keading second quarter field goals.
"An incredible win against an incredible opponent," Ravens coach Brian Billick told reporters.
"We showed the character we had to show to do what we had to do out there in a 15 round boxing match.
"It wasn't pretty, a lot of things have to be corrected and we'll get to that tomorrow."
In East Rutherford, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning watched Justin Miller return a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown with less than three minutes to play to give the Jets a 28-24 lead then hit back with nine play 61 yard scoring drive.
With just 50 seconds remaining, Manning ran the ball over from the one to cap the drive and lift the Colts to a 31-28 win.
However, the Jets provided Indianapolis with one final scare, attempting a rugby style play with eight laterals that very nearly resulted in an unlikely game-winning score.
Colts Marvin Harrison had seven catches for 79 yards moving him into fourth place on the NFL's all-time list ahead of Andre Reed with 951.
In Chicago, Rex Grossman threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Bears joined the Colts and Ravens on 4-0.
Once again the Bears were led by a stingy defense that has held opponents to 10 points or less in their last eight games at Soldier Field.
A week after tossing a franchise record five touchdown passes in a 42-30 win over the New York Giants, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck completed just 16-of-35 attempts for 196 yards and two interceptions, both by Ricky Manning Jr, leading to Chicago scores.
The Seahawks played the game without league MVP running back Shaun Alexander, who was sidelined with a cracked bone in his left foot.
"We played against an offense that did not have their main running back and they came out here and gave us a good fight but tonight we played a good game," said the Bears'Tommie Harris, who had two of Bears five sacks on Hasselbeck.
"But we're just playing good football right now, solid defense and hope we end up in the Super Bowl."