EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – No need for LaDainian Tomlinson to pass for touchdowns Sunday against the New York Jets. He got plenty the old-fashioned way.

Tomlinson scored a career-high four touchdowns – three rushing, one receiving – and the San Diego Chargers needed every one of them to hold off pesky Brooks Bollinger and the New York Jets 31-26. The last Charger to have four touchdowns in one game was Chuck Muncie against Denver on Nov. 29, 1981.

Heading into the game, Tomlinson had the same number of touchdown passes (three) as Jets quarterbacks. Bollinger changed all that with a furious charge. Replacing an ineffective Vinny Testaverde late in the third quarter, Bollinger threw two touchdown passes to make it a game.

Laveranues Coles made a beautiful play on the second one, barely keeping his toes inbounds for the 8-yard score with 6:44 to play. But the Jets (2-6) failed to make the 2-point conversion when Jerry Wilson batted down Bollinger’s pass.

Bengals 21, Ravens 9

BALTIMORE – It appears as though the Cincinnati Bengals have mastered the art of winning in Baltimore.

Carson Palmer threw two touchdown passes, Rudi Johnson ran for 97 yards and a score, and the Bengals kept the Ravens out of the end zone in a 21-9 victory.

Cincinnati (7-2) was nursing a 14-6 lead before Palmer capped a 91-yard drive with a 3-yard TD pass to Chris Henry with 6:05 to go.

That was enough of a cushion to dispatch the Ravens, whose lone points came on three field goals by Matt Stover.

Chiefs 27, Raiders 23

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dick Vermeil was going to be the biggest fool or the shrewdest gambler in the NFL.

Call this man shrewd.

With 5 seconds left, the Chiefs trailed by three and the ball was on the Oakland 1. Kick a field goal to force overtime or go for the touchdown and risk losing? Vermeil went for the TD, and Larry Johnson dived over the pile for a memorable 27-23 victory over the Raiders.

Advertisement

Jaguars 21, Texans 14

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Byron Leftwich directed two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter to rally the Jaguars to a 21-14 victory over injury-riddled Houston.

Jacksonville (5-3) tied the NFL record for consecutive games played without scoring 30 or more points. They matched Cleveland’s mark of 58 games set between 1995 and 2002 (the Browns didn’t field a team in 1996-98).

Browns 20, Titans 14

CLEVELAND – Reuben Droughns outran his embarrassment and brought the Cleveland Browns a win.

Droughns, arrested earlier in the week on a drunken driving charge, rushed for 116 yards and caught a crucial third-down pass for 51 yards, powering the Browns over the Tennessee Titans 20-14.

Droughns added four receptions for 73 yards, but he spent most of the final six minutes in the locker room being treated for leg cramps. In the third quarter, Droughns caught a short screen pass over the middle and weaved 51 yards to set up Jason Wright’s 6-yard TD run – Cleveland’s first rushing touchdown in nearly a year.

Dennis Northcutt caught a 58-yard TD pass and Phil Dawson kicked field goals of 37 and 19 yards as the Browns (3-5) held off a late rally by the Titans to snap a three-game losing streak.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.