Nov 16, 2014 9 min read

Cincinnati Bengals receiver A.J. Green counted himself among the least surprised to see a pair of long Andy Dalton passes hit him in stride during a pivotal fourth-quarter drive against the New Orleans Saints.

Dalton rebounded from one of the worst outings of his career with a composed, ruthlessly efficient performance, completing 73 percent of his throws for three touchdowns in a 27-10 victory over New Orleans Sunday.

“He’s our quarterback for a reason. He’s one of the best,” Green said. “We have faith in him. He has faith in himself. There was nothing wrong with him this week.”

For Dalton, the game represented a dramatic reversal from a week ago, when he completed only 10 passes for 86 yards and had a passer rating of 2.0 in a 24-3 loss to Cleveland.

Against New Orleans (4-6), Dalton was 16 of 22 for 220 yards, did not throw an interception and finished with a passer rating of 143.9 as he helped lift Cincinnati (6-3-1) back into first place in the AFC North.

“You lose and everybody wants to run you out. You win, everybody is going to like you,” Dalton said. “I’m not too worried about that. This was a big win for us and so it’s good to bounce back and get a big win on the road.”

Two of Dalton’s touchdown passes went to tight end Jermaine Gresham. The other was a pinpoint 24-yard pass along the left sideline to Green, who had six catches for 127 yards. Gresham’s first touchdown required some extra effort after he fumbled while trying to stretch for the goal line.

Saints cornerback Brian Dixon tried to scoop up the ball, but it slipped through his hands and into the end zone, where Gresham recovered.

That gave Cincinnati the lead for good at 7-3 in the first quarter.

Drew Brees passed for 255 yards, including a 9-yard TD to Kenny Stills on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Despite the loss, the Saints remained tied with Atlanta for first place in the anemic NFC South after the Falcons (4-6) defeated Carolina (3-6-1).

“Could we go to the playoffs? Yes, we could, but we need to start playing like it,” Brees said.

“I feel good about our chances and our opportunity that we have, Brees added, apologizing for his optimism. “We’re learning a lot about how to win. Unfortunately, it’s because of failure, but failure can be the best teacher at times.”

The Saints’ most recent failure represented their worst loss in the Superdome since a 34-13 defeat to Denver in 2004.

“”I’m obviously not doing a very good job,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “They clearly outplayed us in every area.”

New Orleans went unbeaten at home for more than a season before falling in overtime to San Francisco a week earlier.

Houston 23, Cleveland 7: J.J. Watt caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Mallett, dominated on defense and the Houston Texans climbed back to .500 with a 23-7 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Watt was all over the field. Along with his TD, he recorded a strip sack, made five tackles three for a loss recovered a fumble and hurried Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer into several bad throws. Watt provided more proof he’s the NFL’s best defensive player.

Mallett threw a pair of TD passes and finished with 211 yards in his first career start. The four-year veteran was promoted during the bye week after the Texans (5-5) benched Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The Texans played without star running back Arian Foster because of a groin injury, but rookie Alfred Blue stepped in and gained 156 yards on a franchise-record 36 carries.

St. Louis 22, Denver 7: Shaun Hill was effective in his first start since regaining the quarterback job and the St. Louis Rams defense made life miserable for Peyton Manning in a 22-7 victory over the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos.

Rookie Tre Mason had 29 carries for 113 yards, the most allowed by the Broncos’ top-ranked run defense.

Atlanta 19, Carolina 17: Matt Ryan threw for 268 yards and a touchdown, Matt Bryant added four field goals and the Atlanta Falcons moved into a tie for first place in the lowly NFC South with a 19-17 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Text Normal: Bryant’s 44-yard field goal with 2:08 left put Atlanta ahead for good, and the Falcons withstood a late Carolina rally.

San Francisco 16, N.Y. Giants 10: San Francisco rookie linebacker Chris Borland intercepted a fourth-down pass by Eli Manning at the 49ers 2 with 4:43 to play capping a goal-line stand in a 16-10 victory that sent the error-plagued New York Giants to their fifth straight loss.

Borland had two of the 49ers’ five interceptions as the Niners (6-4) survived a game in which a big advantage in time of possession and takeaways did not translate into a blowout on the scoreboard.

Kansas City 24, Seattle 20: The Kansas City Chiefs stopped the Seattle Seahawks on fourth down three times late in the fourth quarter, holding on for a tense 24-20 victory in a matchup of playoff contenders.

Jamaal Charles ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns, and Knile Davis also ran for a score, as the Chiefs (7-3) won their fifth straight game and moved into a tie for first in the AFC West.

Chicago 21, Minnestoa 13: Jay Cutler threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns, and the Chicago Bears won for just the second time in seven games, beating the Minnesota Vikings 21-13.

Ryan Mundy intercepted Teddy Bridgewater’s 29-yard pass in the end zone in the closing minute, and the Bears hung on for the win after suffering two of the worst blowout losses in franchise history.

Tampa Bay 27, Washington 7: Rookie Mike Evans had 209 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke a five-game losing streak with a 27-7 win over the Washington Redskins.

Evans accounted for 73 percent of Josh McCown’s 288 yards passing. The No. 7 overall draft pick’s 51-yard catch set up a field goal in the first half, and his touchdowns of 36 and 56 yards came in the second.

Arizona 14, Detroit 6: Drew Stanton threw touchdown passes to Michael Floyd on Arizona’s first two possessions and the Cardinals held Detroit without a touchdown, beating the Lions 14-6 in a matchup of teams with two of the best records in the NFC.

Stanton, starting after Carson Palmer was lost for the season with a knee injury, threw TD passes of 42 and 12 yards. After that, Arizona’s offense stalled and Stanton threw two interceptions. But the Lions couldn’t convert either turnover into a touchdown.

Green Bay 53, Philadelphia 20: Aaron Rodgers passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns, Julius Peppers returned his second interception of the season for a score, and the Green Bay Packers defense stuffed the high-octane Philadelphia Eagles for a 53-20 rout.

The matchup of NFC contenders quickly became a blowout with the Packers (7-3) racing out to a 30-6 halftime lead. Rodgers threw for two touchdowns in the first half, while Micah Hyde scored on a 75-yard punt return.

San Diego 13, Oakland 6: Philip Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Malcom Floyd on the game’s third play from scrimmage, and the San Diego Chargers held on for a lackluster 13-6 victory against winless Oakland, extending the Raiders’ losing streak to 16.

Rivers hurt his right leg midway through the third quarter but stayed in the game. The injury appeared to get progressively worse, and Rivers was walking gingerly on the sideline in the fourth as backup Kellen Clemens warmed up. But Rivers went back in after Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 25-yard field goal to pull the Raiders within a touchdown with four minutes to play.