Redskins mourn Taylor, lose to Bills
LANDOVER, Maryland: The grieving Washington Redskins had their fragile emotions shattered when Rian Lindell kicked a 36-yard field goal with 4 seconds left to give the Buffalo Bills a 17-16 victory in the NFL on Sunday.
Five days after safety Sean Taylor died from a gunshot wound in Florida, the Redskins' defense did Taylor proud by not allowing a touchdown.
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Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis, after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills, shows a T-shirt under his game jersey as a tribute to slain teammate Sean Taylor during an NFL game in Landover, Maryland on Sunday. Taylor died on November 27, two days after he was shot in his Miami home during a burglary attempt. Reuters |
After scoring the game's only touchdown, Clinton Portis lifted his jersey to reveal a white shirt with the words "In memory of Sean Taylor".
Buffalo's points came on five field goals and a safety, and a major gaffe by Washington.
Lindell made a 51-yard attempt that didn't count because the Redskins called timeout just as the ball was snapped. Washington then tried the same tactic again, but consecutive timeouts aren't allowed when attempting to freeze the kicker. The resulting 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave Lindell a much easier kick, his 17th straight field goal.
In Miami, rookie John Beck threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles as Miami lost to the Jets 40-13, dropping the Dolphins to 0-12. Beck's turnovers led to a touchdown and three field goals. In three starts, he has yet to direct the offense to a touchdown.
Miami extended a franchise-record losing streak to 15 games.
The Dolphins took a brief 13-10 lead on Michael Lehan's 43-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but in the third quarter Beck fumbled three times in five plays and the Jets recovered twice, leading to 10 points. Mike Nugent's fourth field goal for 33-13 came off another Beck interception.
In Indianapolis, the Colts are on the verge of their fifth straight AFC South title after Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, two after Indianapolis won replay challenges, as the Colts beat the Jaguars 28-25.
The Colts' first two TDs came in a bizarre first quarter in which there were three replay challenges - two won by Indianapolis, the other lost by Jacksonville.
Manning has 23 TD passes, tying him with Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks to throw more than 20 in each of their first 10 NFL seasons.
At Kansas City, Missouri, two touchdowns and 177 yards rushing by LaDainian Tomlinson and eight sacks by the defense allowed San Diego to hand Kansas City a fifth straight loss, a 24-10 decision.
Since a 30-16 loss to Kansas City plunged them to 1-3 and triggered an outcry against coach Norv Turner, the Chargers have gone 6-2 and seized the lead in the AFC West.
Shawne Merriman had three of the eight sacks, which broke the Chiefs' record of seven allowed in a game. The Chargers also had three interceptions, two off Damon Huard and one off Tyler Thigpen, who entered late in the fourth quarter when Huard injured his hand.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Vinny Testaverde threw two touchdown passes and Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak with their first home win in more than a year as the Panthers crushed the 49ers 31-14.
Testaverde, who at 44 years, 19 days became the second-oldest starting QB in NFL history, also became the oldest starter to win, beating his own record set seven weeks ago in Arizona - Carolina's last victory.
Trent Dilfer threw for two touchdowns, but was intercepted four times and San Francisco committed six turnovers.
At Chicago, Eli Manning led two late touchdown drives and Reuben Droughns scored on a 2-yard run with 1:33 remaining for New York's 21-16 victory over the Bears.
Manning was awful for most of the game, but threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer, which was initially ruled incomplete, with 6:54 left to cap a 75-yard drive and pull the Giants within 16-14.
After Chicago punted, the Giants launched a 77-yard drive that ended with Droughns running around right end.
In Pittsburgh, Hines Ward caught two touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger to break Pittsburgh's record for career scoring catches with 64 and the Steelers shook off an early 7-0 deficit to beat the Bengals 24-10 and open a two-game division lead over Cleveland and all but eliminate Cincinnati for a third successive season.
After the successful opening drive in the rain, Cincinnati's Carson Palmer was only 11-of-37 to finish 17-of-44 for 183 yards. Roethlisberger was 21-of-32 for 184 yards and two interceptions.
Agencies
(China Daily 12/04/2007 page24)
