HOUSTON – Michael Vick finally returned to the field Sunday, too late to save the Falcons’ season or their game against the Houston Texans.

Domanick Davis struck for two quick touchdowns early in the third quarter and David Carr made his own unplanned appearance to lead the Texans to a 17-13 victory.

Vick, the top overall draft choice in 2001 who set an NFL rushing mark for quarterbacks with 1,066 yards over his first two seasons, made his debut with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter. He completed a 9-yard pass to Justin Griffith on his first play, though the drive ended with a punt.

Vick, out since the second preseason game with a broken right leg, was inserted to relieve Doug Johnson, who started eight of the 12 games in Vick’s absence. Johnson was 12-of-27 for 116 yards and an interception that cost the Falcons (2-10).

Before Vick came back, it was last year’s top draft pick making the first unscheduled appearance. Carr was supposed to miss the game after spraining his right shoulder two weeks ago. But he was pressed into action when Tony Banks broke his right hand on another player’s helmet near the end of the first half.

Carr, playing in obvious pain, led a 63-yard drive on the Texans’ first possession of the second half, getting 36 yards himself with a Vick-like run to the Atlanta 22.

Bills 24, Giants 7

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Drew Bledsoe shook off the effects of a concussion and some internal strife Sunday to give the Buffalo Bills a win that all but ensured the end of Jim Fassel’s tenure as the New York Giants’ coach.

Bledsoe threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and Buffalo snapped a four-game losing streak by embarrassing New York 24-7 in a game that ended with 78,000-seat Giants Stadium three-quarters empty.

Bledsoe threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dave Moore and a 22-yarder to Bobby Shaw in a 17-point second quarter. He had consecutive passes of 21 and 18 yards to set up Travis Henry’s 13-yard third-quarter TD run for the Bills (5-7), who had only scored 35 points in the last four games.

The Giants (4-8) made one big play all day and have lost four straight for the first time in Fassel’s six-plus year tenure as coach – a span that saw the team go to the Super Bowl after the 2000 season and make the playoffs three times.

Eagles 25, Panthers 16

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Donovan McNabb dropped back on the first play of the game, looked left, then right, and let the ball fly into the opponents’ hands.

It was a rare mistake, and McNabb overcame his first interception in six games to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to their seventh consecutive victory, 25-16 over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The win kept the Eagles (9-3) tied with St. Louis for the best record in the NFC and stalled Carolina’s (8-4) attempt to wrap up the NFC South.

They committed two turnovers, snapping their streak of four consecutive games without a giveaway. McNabb ended his run of 127 attempts without an interception when Mike Rucker picked him off on the first play.

Seahawks 34, Browns 7

SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks remained perfect at home. Credit Matt Hasselbeck and a high-flying offense, but don’t overlook a defense that didn’t allow any points for the second time this season.

Hasselbeck threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns, while Shaun Alexander rushed for 127 yards and another TD, leading Seattle to a 34-7 victory Sunday over the reeling Cleveland Browns.

Darrell Jackson, whose troubles catching the ball earlier this fall were well documented, had eight receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns, while Koren Robinson caught six passes for 122 yards.

Jaguars 17, Bucs 10

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jimmy Smith reached his milestone early, caught a touchdown late and sent the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reeling toward playoff elimination.

Smith made a diving 48-yard touchdown catch with 10 minutes left Sunday night, lifting the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 17-10 victory over the defending champs.

The winner was only one of the night’s nice moments for Smith, who caught a season-high 10 passes for 136 yards to lead the struggling Jaguars (3-9).

During Jacksonville’s first drive, he caught three passes to become the 16th player in NFL history to reach 700 catches.

He got there a few minutes earlier than his former teammate, Keenan McCardell of the Bucs, who caught eight passes, the second of which also put him at 700.

During the week, both players conceded they wanted to hit the magic number first, although winning was certainly on their minds, too.

Tampa Bay needed it worse, but didn’t really play with any urgency. The Bucs were outgained 359-221 by one of the league’s worst teams. Besides a good performance by McCardell and a decent one by Michael Pittman (10 rushes, 60 yards), none of the defending Super Bowl champs put in anything resembling a memorable performance.

In fact, the game was something of a slog, which made Smith’s catch stand out even more.

Isolated outside against Bucs cornerback Tim Wansley, Smith was beginning to separate on the right sideline when Wansley started limping with a pulled hamstring. Smith moved under Byron Leftwich’s high throw and dived to catch the ball for the 54th touchdown of his career.

Tampa got the ball twice after that, but never got into scoring territory.

Jacksonville basically wrapped up the game with 2:45 left, when Jack Del Rio chose to go for it on fourth-and-inches from the Bucs 40. Fred Taylor dived through the line for 3 yards, then Jacksonville ran out the clock.

Taylor finished with 118 yards and went over the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth time in his six-year career.

AP-ES-11-30-03 2349EST