Pitt stop slows down Vikings

Favre: Flattened by the Steelers at Heinz Field

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The Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints remain perfect but Minnesota tasted defeat for the first time in week seven of the NFL season.

New England were another big winner, handing Tampa Bay a seventh straight defeat in the third regular-season game to be played at Wembley.

For a full report on the Patriots' 35-7 victory over the Buccaneers, click HERE

Minnesota Vikings 17-27 Pittsburgh Steelers

Minnesota's perfect start to the year came to a shuddering halt in Pittsburgh as two Brett Favre turnovers helped the Steelers to victory at Heinz Field.

The defending Super Bowl champions managed to score on offence on a 40-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace, as well as two Jeff Reed field goals.

However it was their defence who provided all their points in the second half, starting with LaMarr Woodley's 77-yard return of a Favre fumble.

The veteran quarterback then saw an interception returned 82 yards by Keyaron Fox with a minute to play when the Vikings, who head to Favre's former team Green Bay next, were in field goal range to tie the scores.

Indianapolis Colts 42-6 St. Louis Rams

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts marched on with a resounding road victory over the winless Rams who have now lost 17 games in a row.

Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Austin Collie all caught touchdown passes from Manning, though his run of 300-yard games did come to end as he finished with just 235 to his name.

Both Joseph Addai and third-string running back Chad Simpson reached the end zone on the ground while Indianapolis' defence also managed a touchdown, rookie Jacob Lacey returning an interception 35 yards.

New Orleans Saints 46-34 Miami Dolphins

New Orleans overturned a 21-point deficit to come out on top in a shoot-out in Miami and stretch their record to 6-0 for the season.

A pair of touchdowns from Ricky Williams and another six-pointer from fellow tail-back Ronnie Brown saw the Dolphins surge into a 24-3 lead at one stage in the second quarter.

However the Saints came storming back in the second half, managing 36 points. Quarterback Drew Brees ran in for two scores himself while also finding Marques Colston in the end zone with a 10-yard pass.

Although Williams did dash in for a third touchdown, the Dolphins were finished off when Tracy Porter intercepted a pass by quarterback Chad Henne in the final two minutes and returned it 54 yards for a defensive score.

Green Bay Packers 31-3 Cleveland Browns

The Green Bay Packers warmed up for the return of Brett Favre to Lambeau Field next week with a 31-3 rout of the Cleveland Browns.

Aaron Rodgers threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns; Spencer Havner, Donald Driver and James Jones all reeling in scoring passes from the quarterback.

Ryan Grant also scored, on a one-yard run on the ground, as the tail-back finished the day with 148 yards on 27 carries.

All this came after the Browns had taken an early lead on a 22-yard field goal. Quarterback Derek Anderson once again struggled, though, completing just 12 of 29 pass attempts for 99 yards whilst also throwing an interception.

San Francisco 49ers 21-24 Houston Texans

Houston held off a late rally from the San Francisco 49ers to triumph 24-21 at Reliant Stadium and move to 4-3 for the season.

The Texans looked to be coasting to victory after they built up a 21-0 lead in the first half, the in-form Matt Schaub throwing touchdown passes to Steve Slaton, who also scored on the ground, and Owen Daniels.

However the hosts were thankful for a 50-yard Kris Brown field goal in the fourth quarter as the 49ers produced a stunning fightback following a change at quarterback.

Alex Smith replaced Shaun Hill and proceeded to throw for three touchdowns, all of them to tight end Vernon Davis. In the end the comeback bid fell short, though, as Houston held on.

San Diego Chargers 37-7 Kansas City Chiefs

San Diego bounced back from their Monday night loss at the hands of the Denver Broncos with a resounding 37-7 result at Arrowhead Stadium.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns while LaDainian Tomlinson had a seasonal-best 71 yards rushing, combining with understudy Darren Sproles to pile up 135 yards on the ground.

Defensively the visitors also prospered, forcing three turnovers and scoring the final points of a one-sided contest when Jacob Hester recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.

All the Chiefs - who are now 1-6 for the season - mustered in reply was a Dwayne Bowe touchdown from Matt Cassel, though the Kansas City quarterback also threw three interceptions.

New York Jets 38-0 Oakland Raiders

The New York Jets got back to winning ways with a superb shut-out of the inconsistent Oakland Raiders.

The only disappointment for the Jets was the loss of running back Leon Washington to a broken leg, though his absence did allow rookie Shonn Greene to make his mark in the NFL.

The third-round draft pick rushed for 144 yards and two scores on 19 carries. Starting tail-back Thomas Jones also managed 121 yards and a touchdown.

Mark Sanchez bounced back from his nightmare six interceptions last week with a steady outing, managing a 38-yard touchdown to David Clowney during the third quarter of a lop-sided game.

Buffalo Bills 20-9 Carolina Panthers

The Buffalo Bills triumphed 20-9 in Carolina despite managing just 167 yards of offence against the Panthers.

A touchdown apiece from running back Marshawn Lynch and wide receiver Lee Evans, plus two field goals from Rian Lindell, proved enough for the Bills at Bank of America Stadium.

They were helped out by Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme, who threw for three interceptions to take his tally for the season to 13.

The Panthers also saw kicker John Kasay fail with two field goals attempts as they somehow lost a game despite totalling 425 yards and having 17 more plays than their opponents.

Chicago Bears 10-45 Cincinnati Bengals

Cedric Benson enjoyed a career day to help the Cincinnati Bengals demolish his former employers.

Running back Benson, a first-round draft pick of the Bears who was released after two disappointing seasons, rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown on 37 carries.

Carson Palmer also shone for the Bengals, the quarterback throwing for five touchdowns. Chad Ochocinco caught two of them as he finished with 118 yards receiving on 10 catches.

The Bears trailed 31-3 at half time but did offer something offensively after the interval, Jay Cutler throwing a five-yard strike to Devin Hester.

Atlanta Falcons 21-37 Dallas Cowboys

Miles Austin enjoyed another big day as the Dallas Cowboys improved to 4-2 with a 31-27 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Austin hauled in two of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo's three touchdown passes during a six-catch, 171-yard outing to go with his 250-yard, two-touchdown effort against the Chiefs two weeks ago.

Patrick Crayton also got in the end zone twice, via a five-yard pass from Romo just before half-time and then a 73-yard punt return that put Dallas 34-14 ahead with under nine minutes left to play.

Romo's opposite number Matt Ryan threw two touchdowns, to Roddy White and Eric Weems respectively, but was also picked off twice as the Falcons slipped back to 5-2.

New York Giants 17-24 Arizona Cardinals

A run of 17 consecutive points helped Arizona claim a rare victory at Giants Stadium.

The Cardinals came from 14-7 down to lead 24-14 with two minutes and 32 seconds left in the third quarter - with the defending NFC champions intercepting Giants quarterback Eli Manning three times on their way to a third straight win.

The Giants could only reply with a field goal in the final quarter - with two fumbles and an interception ending their hopes of a comeback.

Manning, who was intercepted by Adrian Wilson and Antrel Rolle, completed 19 of 37 passes for 243 yards.

And safety Wilson admitted: "We have been playing kind of consistently on defence in the secondary.

"We just kind of got on a roll today and ended up making our plays.

"(We wanted) to kind of confuse him (Manning). To give him some looks he had not seen on tape and just take his first read. I think we did a good job of that."