MIAMI – The Atlanta Falcons kept driving the length of the field and still needed a late interception to preserve their third win a row.
With his best passing performance of the season, Michael Vick led four drives of more than 70 yards, and Keion Carpenter’s interception stopped a scoring threat with less than three minutes left to help Atlanta beat the Miami Dolphins 17-10 Sunday.
Vick went 22-for-31 for a season-high 228 yards and added 38 yards on eight rushes. The Falcons (6-2) converted 11 of 17 third-down situations, while the Dolphins (3-5) were 0-for-9.
But Miami had a chance at overtime until Carpenter made a diving interception of a third-down pass by Gus Frerotte after the Dolphins had reached the Falcons 8-yard line.
Atlanta drives covering 71, 84, 92 and 91 yards produced only 17 points. One threat ended with a fumble and another with a field goal after Brian Finneran dropped a third-down pass in the end zone.
Poor field position also hurt the Falcons, who started all nine possessions inside their 30-yard line. Jason Taylor sacked Vick to force a punt from the 5 with seven minutes left, and the Dolphins took over at the Atlanta 42 with a chance to tie.
Miami picked up two first downs before Carpenter picked off a pass intended for Chris Chambers. One final third-down conversion by the Falcons, when Warrick Dunn ran 8 yards on third-and-6, sealed the victory.
Ronnie Brown rushed for 67 yards for Miami, and Ricky Williams added 52 and a touchdown. But the Dolphins had a ball for less than 24 minutes, and they were shut out in the second half.
Steelers 20, Packers 10
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Pittsburgh and Green Bay both had to dig down on their offensive depth charts. Only the Steelers had the defense to make up for it.
Troy Polamalu returned Brett Favre’s fumble 77 yards for a touchdown, and Tyrone Carter’s interception set up the offense’s only touchdown in the Steelers’ 20-10 win over the Packers.
The Steelers (6-2) became the first team since the 1989-90 San Francisco 49ers and the fourth team overall to win 11 straight road games.
Duce Staley had his first carries since the AFC championship in January, running for 76 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
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