Patriots, Broncos hold off last-minute challenges

They needed the full 60 minutes, but hosts New England and Denver held off the last-ditch efforts of Baltimore and Dallas to highlight Week 4 activity in the NFL Sunday.

In a major early-season AFC confrontation, Baltimore looked a good bet to remain undefeated on its fall visit to New England but came up just short, as wide receiver Michael Clayton let quarterback Joe Flacco’s perfectly thrown fourth-down pass bounce off his chest on the Patriots’ 8-yard line with 28 seconds remaining, ending a Ravens fourth-quarter comeback from a 24‒14 deficit. Most surprising was Baltimore’s defensive lapse against the run. In its previous four games, the Ravens had not allowed a rushing touchdown. Against the Pats they gave up two scores on the ground. New England quarterback Tom Brady democratically spread 21 completions among nine different receivers in the 27‒21 win.

In Denver, malcontent wide receiver Brandon Marshall morphed into a Broncos’ hero with his broken field catch-and-run after taking a Kyle Orton pass on the Dallas 33, then zigzagging his way over foot-stumbling Cowboy defenders into the end zone for a 51-yard touchdown reception with 1:55 left to give Denver a 17‒10 lead. But it wasn’t over. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, under pressure of late, did his best Houdini imitation, evading a strong Broncos rush on fourth-and-3 at the Dallas 27 and completing a 53-yard pass to Sam Hurd to the Broncos 20 with 59 seconds to go. Six plays later, at the Denver 2, Romo’s fourth-down pass intended for Hurd was tipped away by All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey, and the Cinderella Broncos shockingly find themselves, along with Indianapolis, undefeated atop the AFC standings at 4-0.

At New Orleans, a matchup of unbeatens played out, as the visiting New York Jets incurred their first loss of the season. The key play came on the first play of the second quarter with the Jets on the move at the New Orleans 15. First-year New York QB Mark Sanchez, looking to put the Jets up 7‒3, instead threw a pick to Saints safety Darren Sharper, who returned the interception 99 yards for a touchdown and a 10‒0 New Orleans lead. A Saints recovery of a Sanchez fumble later in the same quarter for another score plus Sharper’s second interception of the game with 4:20 to play sealed the win for undefeated New Orleans, which joins Minnesota and the New York Giants atop the NFC.


ANGLING FOR THE CORNER: In an oddity, the Saints’ explosive points-generating offense behind the passing of quarterback Drew Brees was outscored by the New Orleans defense, 14-10—a noteworthy statement on the strength of the Jets’ new-and-much improved defense under first-year head coach Rex Ryan…We regret there can be no commentary on Monday night’s mega matchup between Minnesota and Green Bay, with its contingent hoopla over Brett Favre’s return against his former team, but our column deadline is Sunday night.
Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at:alanross_sports@yahoo.com© Sportland 2009