By PAUL NEWBERRY
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA — Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons have plenty of mistakes to work on during their bye week.
Of course, it’s sure easier to fix the problems when you’re still unbeaten.
Asante Samuel returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown in the closing minutes and Matt Bryant connected on a 55-yard field goal with 1 second remaining, allowing the Falcons to escape with a sloppy 23-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
Overcoming three interceptions by Matt Ryan, the Falcons (6-0) extended the best start in franchise history.
It wasn’t easy against the pesky Raiders (1-4), who bounced back from Samuel’s pick to tie the game with less than a minute to go, but left a little too much time on the clock for Atlanta’s final possession.
Ryan completed four short passes, the last of them a 13-yarder to Tony Gonzalez that got Bryant in range for his longest field goal since joining the Falcons in 2009 — and his second game-winning kick in three weeks. He beat the Panthers 30-28 on a 40-yard field goal with 5 seconds left.
“He knows how to get himself prepared, how to calm himself down, how to get it through those pipes,” Ryan said. “He’s made a lot of clutch kicks for us through the years.”
Bryant actually missed one early, pulling a 43-yarder wide left to break a streak of 23 consecutive field goals going back to last season. He bounced back to connect from 41 and 20 yards before making the one that really mattered.
“Missing that one early kind of woke me up a little bit to focus even harder,” Bryant said.
After a mostly ugly game, the final 3 minutes were thrilling. Tied at 13, the Raiders were in position for a go-ahead field goal when Samuel stepped in front of Carson Palmer’s pass at the Atlanta 21 and returned it for a touchdown, racing to the end zone right in front of the Falcons’ bench.
Palmer shook off that huge mistake, leading the Raiders down the field for the tying score. He connected with Derek Hagan on a 38-yard pass to the Atlanta 5, and Darren McFadden scored on a 2-yard run with 40 seconds left.
Just enough time for the Falcons, it turned out.
“You don’t want to tell your back to take a knee,” Raiders rookie coach Dennis Allen said. “We wanted to use up as much time as we possibly could, and unfortunately we gave them a little bit too much.”
Ryan finished 24 of 37 for 249 yards and equaled his career high for picks, matching the three he had against New Orleans in 2009.
But he was cool as can be with the game on the line.
“We’ve been in these situations before,” Ryan said. “We know what we need to do.”
It was Ryan’s 19th winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, the most of any quarterback in his first five seasons during the Super Bowl era.
Palmer was 23 of 33 for 353 yards, putting up much better rating than Ryan. But the Raiders quarterback was kicking himself for that one devastating play: the pick by Samuel.
“Put the blame on me,” Palmer said. “It’s completely my fault.”
Ryan came into the game with three interceptions in the first five weeks. He doubled his total by halftime.
On the fourth snap of the day, Ryan went over the middle looking for Harry Douglas but didn’t see cornerback Joselio Hanson. Atlanta’s third possession ended the same way. Ryan made an ill-advised decision to throw deep to Julio Jones, despite triple coverage. Michael Huff made an easy interception at the Oakland 2. Late in the second quarter, with Atlanta clinging to a 7-6 lead, Ryan got popped by blitzing linebacker Philip Wheeler just as he released the ball. The fluttering pass settled right in the arms of safety Tyvon Branch, giving Oakland the ball at the Falcons 28.
The Raiders quickly seized on the third interception. Palmer flipped a short pass to Denarius Moore, who took it all the way to the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown that gave Oakland a 13-7 lead at halftime. Sebastian Janikowski connected on field goals of 52 and 22 yards, while the Falcons’ lone score was Ryan’s 4-yard pass to Roddy White, capping a 10-play, 80-yard drive.
The third quarter turned into a defensive slog, the only points coming on Bryant’s first two field goals.
John Abraham had a huge day on the Falcons’ defense. He sacked Palmer three times and gave Atlanta’s sputtering offense a chance to retake the lead in the third when he stripped the ball away from the quarterback just before his right arm came forward. Ray Edwards scooped up the fumble and rumbled to the Oakland 2.
But the Raiders held. Michael Turner was stopped just short of the goal line and, even after an offside penalty moved the tip of ball just short of the end zone, Atlanta couldn’t get it in. Jason Snelling was thrown for a 2-yard loss on third down, forcing Atlanta to settle for Bryant’s 20-yard field goal that tied the game at 13.
LIONS 26, EAGLES 23
PHILADELPHIA — Jason Hanson kicked a 45-yard field goal in overtime and the Detroit Lions rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Philadelphia Eagles.
Held in check most of the game, Matthew Stafford led Detroit to 17 points in the fourth quarter. He threw a TD pass and ran for a score.
Detroit had two shots from the Eagles 1 after a pass interference penalty on Colt Anderson with 13 seconds left in regulation. But Stafford misfired on both passes and Hanson kicked a 19-yard field goal to send it to overtime.
The Lions (2-3) sacked Michael Vick on the first two plays of the extra quarter, forced a punt out of the end zone and started at midfield.
Stafford hit Calvin Johnson for a 17-yard gain to the Eagles 27 on first-and-20. A few plays later, Hanson nailed the game-winner.
The Eagles (3-3) head into their bye week with two straight losses.
GIANTS 26, 49ERS 3
SAN FRANCISCO — Antrel Rolle intercepted two passes by Alex Smith, Prince Amukamara picked off another for New York in a rematch of last season’s NFC championship game.
After outscoring the Bills and Jets by a combined 79-3 the last two weeks, the 49ers (4-2) met their match again with Eli Manning and New York’s top team. No overtime needed this time, and not much of Manning either.
Manning threw for 193 yards and one touchdown, Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 116 yards and a score and the Giants (4-2) rode a dominant defense and four field goals by Lawrence Tynes to hand outspoken 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh the most lopsided loss of his tenure.
RAVENS 31, COWBOYS 29
BALTIMORE — Jacoby Jones tied an NFL record with a 108-yard kickoff return and Baltimore won its 14th straight regular-season home game
Dallas ran for 227 yards, most ever against the Ravens, and totaled 481 yards offense. But the Cowboys (2-3) missed a 2-point conversion after closing to two points with 32 seconds left.
Dallas recovered the onside kick, and Dan Bailey was wide left on a 51-yard field goal try with 6 seconds left.
Ray Rice scored two touchdowns and Joe Flacco threw for a score to help the Ravens (5-1) secure their fourth consecutive victory and enhance their grip on first place in the AFC North. Baltimore’s home winning streak is the longest current run in the NFL.
REDSKINS 38, VIKINGS 26
LANDOVER, Md. — Robert Griffin III ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns, including a 76-yard scamper with 2:43 to play, and Washington snapped an eight-game home losing streak.
One week after he left the game early with his first NFL concussion, Griffin also completed 17 of 22 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Redskins (3-3) feasted on a Minnesota team that had not allowed more than 23 points in a game this season. Minnesota’s three-game winning streak ended. The Vikings are 4-2.
Minnesota held an early 9-0 lead but paid the price for getting field goals instead of touchdowns in the red zone.
Christian Ponder completed 35 of 52 passes for 352 yards.
SEAHAWKS 24, PATRIOTS 23
SEATTLE — Russell Wilson found Sidney Rice behind the secondary for a 46-yard touchdown with 1:18 remaining, and Seattle rallied for 14 points in the final 7:31.
The matchup between the Patriots’ No. 1 ranked offense and Seattle’s No. 1 defense instead turned in to a starring performance for Wilson — and a shocking rally.
Wilson hit Braylon Edwards on fourth down for a 10-yard TD to get the Seahawks’ within 23-17. After a pair of holds by Seattle’s defense, Wilson found Rice open on a double move. Steven Hauschka’s extra point gave Seattle the lead.
Tom Brady and the Patriots (3-3) were then stopped on fourth down at their 28 when Wes Welker came up 2 yards short, and the Seahawks (4-2) were able to celebrate the unlikely comeback.
BILLS 19, CARDINALS 16 OT
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jairus Byrd’s second interception of the game set up Rian Lindell’s 25-yard field goal 3:50 into overtime.
The loss ended Arizona’s eight-game home winning streak.
Byrd picked off a pass from John Skelton, who had replaced the injured Kevin Kolb, and returned it 29 yards to the Arizona 6 to set up the winning kick.
Arizona’s Jay Feely kicked a franchise-record 61-yard field goal with 1:09 left in regulation to tie it 16-16, but his 38-yard attempt to win it as the fourth quarter ended careened off the left upright. Feely says someone tipped the attempt.
The Cardinals (4-2) lost their second in a row after a 4-0 start. The Bills (3-3) won after allowing 1,201 yards and 97 points in their previous two games.
BUCCANEERS 38, CHIEFS 10
TAMPA, Fla. — Josh Freeman threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns and Ronde Barber scored on a 78-yard interception return.
Freeman teamed with Mike Williams on a 62-yard scoring play in the first quarter and threw TD passes of 19 and 17 yards to Vincent Jackson in the second half as the Bucs (2-3) stopped a three-game losing streak.
The Bucs intercepted Brady Quinn — starting for the Matt Cassel (concussion) — twice in the Kansas City quarterback’s first start in nearly three years. They also limited NFL rushing leader Jamaal Charles to 40 yards on 12 carries.
BROWNS 34, BENGALS 24
CLEVELAND — Rookie Brandon Weeden threw two touchdown passes and Cleveland snapped an 11-game losing streak that dated to last season.
Cleveland had not won since Nov. 20, matching a franchise record for consecutive losses. But for the first time this season everything fell into place for the Browns (1-5).
Montario Hardesty, filling in for injured rookie Trent Richardson, scored on a 1-yard plunge and cornerback Sheldon Brown intercepted Andy Dalton and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Browns outscored the Bengals (3-3) in the second half 27-10.
JETS 35, COLTS 9
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Shonn Greene ran for a career-high 161 yards and three touchdowns, Mark Sanchez was efficient and Tim Tebow made a few big plays.
Even the Jets’ maligned defense was able to shut down Andrew Luck and the Colts’ offense as New York snapped a two-game losing streak that had many wondering if the season was about to spiral out of control.
For a week, at least, Sanchez was in total control and the Jets (3-3) had their best overall performance — save for a handful of personal foul penalties — since an opening-week rout of Buffalo.
Indianapolis (2-3) trailed 21-6 at halftime and couldn’t erase a big deficit for the second straight week after coming back from 18 points and beating Green Bay last Sunday.
DOLPHINS 17, RAMS 14
MIAMI — Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes and Miami withstood a late rally.
The Rams faced a fourth-and-8 at the Miami 48-yard line with 30 seconds left, and rather than go for a first down, coach Jeff Fisher sent out rookie Greg Zuerlein to try a 66-yard field goal, which missed wide left.
Zuerlein made two field goals to improve to 15 for 15 this season, but then missed three times in a row, including from 48 and 32 yards in the first half.
The Rams outgained the Dolphins 461-209.
Both teams are 3-3. Fisher lost to the team that courted him in January, when he chose the Rams job instead.
PACKERS 42, TEXANS 24
HOUSTON — Aaron Rodgers set a career high and tied a franchise record with six touchdown passes, three to Jordy Nelson, and Green Bay routed previously unbeaten Houston.
James Jones caught two touchdown passes for the Packers (3-3). Tom Crabtree had the other one, a 48-yarder that Rodgers threw just before taking a hit from Houston linebacker Brooks Reed.
Rodgers completed 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards. He tied Matt Flynn’s game record for TD passes, set in last year’s regular-season finale against Detroit.
The Texans (5-1) came in with the league’s third-ranked defense. Arian Foster scored two touchdowns for Houston.