Carter, Dallas clock Panthers

Quincy Carter threw two touchdown passes to revive Dallas's sputtering offense, then made his best plays by keeping alive the final drive of a 24-20 victory over Carolina yesterday in Irving, Texas, in a battle for the best record in the NFC.

The Panthers were within 6 yards of tying the game with about five minutes left, then ended up settling for a 34-yard field goal in hopes of getting the ball back and working their late magic. Carolina has won six times in the final two minutes or overtime.

Carter, though, never gave them the chance. Dallas took over with 3:47 left and kept the ball until time ran out.

Carter converted two third downs, the first with the aid of a facemask penalty on Brentson Buckner. The next was a 13-yard pass to Jason Witten with 1:39 left that forced Carolina to use its final timeout.

Dallas (8-3) remained tied with Philadelphia atop the NFC East, and there's a four-way tie with the Panthers and St. Louis Rams for the conference's best record. The Eagles play at Carolina next Sunday, then the Cowboys are in Philadelphia the week after that.

Carter ended up with the most attempts (44) and completions (29) of his career, for 254 yards. His two touchdown passes -- a 24-yarder to Joey Galloway and a 5-yarder to Jeff Robinson -- boosted an offense that had scored only four TDs in four games. Carolina's Jake Delhomme was only 2 of 7 for 41 yards in the first half, and finished 9 for 24 for 175 yards.

Ravens 44, Seahawks 41 -- Matt Stover kicked a 42-yard field goal with 6:32 left in overtime, capping an amazing 17-point, fourth-quarter comeback for host Baltimore. Anthony Wright brought the Ravens (6-5) back with the finest performance of his career. He went 20 for 37 for 319 yards and a personal-best four touchdowns -- all to Marcus Robinson. On the winning drive, Wright connected with Robinson for a 19-yard gain on a third-and-5 play.

Matt Hasselbeck threw a career-high five touchdown passes for the Seahawks (7-4), going 23 for 41 for 333 yards.

Chiefs 27, Raiders 24 -- Trent Green hit Marc Boerigter for 16 yards on fourth and 14, then Morten Andersen booted a 35-yard field goal with four seconds left, lifting host Kansas City. Sebastian Janikowski's 41-yarder tied the game at 24 with 2:18 left after Phillip Buchanon made a boneheaded mistake following his 27-yard return of Jason Baker's short punt. Buchanon drew a 15-yard penalty when he took off his helmet in an apparent celebration, pushing the Raiders (3-8) back to the Kansas City 41.

The Chiefs (10-1) maintained their one-game lead for home-field advantage in the AFC.

Packers 20, 49ers 10 -- Ahman Green ran through visiting San Francisco's stingy run defense for 154 yards on 27 carries, setting Green Bay records with his fourth straight 100-yard game and his eighth of the season. The Packers (6-5) beat the 49ers (5-6) for the 10th time in 11 tries when quarterbacked by Brett Favre, who threw two touchdown passes, including a 66-yarder to Javon Walker.

The 49ers' fourth-ranked run defense had allowed just one 100-yard game this season, but San Francisco's undersized front seven was no match for Green or backup Najeh Davenport, who added 62 yards on 11 carries.

Bears 19, Broncos 10 -- Kordell Stewart scored on a 1-yard run after replacing Chris Chandler, and Paul Edinger kicked four field goals, leading visiting Chicago (4-7) to a surprising win over Denver.Denver (6-5) clicked last week against San Diego with the return of Jake Plummer, but Clinton Portis was the only one who managed to do much this time. He finished with 165 yards on 14 carries for his second straight 1,000-yard season. Plummer, who missed four games with foot and shoulder injuries, was 19 for 35 for 176 yards.

Vikings 24, Lions 14 -- Corey Chavous and Brian Williams each returned interceptions for touchdowns late in the game, and Minnesota sent Detroit to its 22d straight road loss. Minnesota (7-4) snapped a four-game losing streak and remained one game ahead of Green Bay in the NFC North. Aaron Elling's 24-yard field goal capped a 73-yard drive and put the Vikings up, 10-7, with 2:45 left. Chavous picked off Joey Harrington's pass and returned it for a score 19 seconds later, and Williams grabbed his third interception and ran it back for a touchdown 20 seconds after that.

The Lions (3-8) tied Buffalo (1983-86) for the second-longest road skid in NFL history and are just one behind the Houston Oilers (1981-84), who own the dubious league record.

Eagles 33, Saints 20 -- Donovan McNabb passed for 259 yards and one touchdown, leading host Philadelphia (8-3) to its sixth straight victory. Deuce McAllister ran for 18,4 including TD runs of 76 and 22 yards, and Aaron Brooks threw for 287 yards for the Saints (5-6), who had won four of five.

Rams 30, Cardinals 27 -- Jeff Wilkins kicked a 49-yard field goal with 10:22 left in overtime to give visiting St. Louis sole possession of first place in the NFC West and move the Rams (8-3) into a four-way tie for best record in the conference. Jeff Blake threw two second-half touchdown passes to rookie sensation Anquan Boldin and the Cardinals (3-8) rallied from a 14-point third-quarter deficit to take a 27-24 lead before Marc Bulger led the Rams back.

Bengals 34, Chargers 27 -- Taking another big step to shed their image as laughable losers, visiting Cincinnati (6-5) manhandled sad-sack San Diego (2-9). Jon Kitna matched his career high with four touchdown passes, three of them to Chad Johnson, and Corey Dillon ran for 108 yards on 18 carries to help the Bengals win for the fifth time in six games.

Titans 38, Falcons 31 -- Billy Volek took over for Steve McNair and threw his second career touchdown pass, rallying visiting Tennessee (9-2) from a 21-point deficit in a win over Atlanta (2-9). McNair left in the second quarter when he hurt his right calf. Volek finished 9 for 15 for 117 yards. Before this season, he hadn't thrown a pass since 2001.

Jets 13, Jaguars 10 -- At East Rutherford, N.J., Chad Pennington threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss with 26 seconds remaining to give New York (4-7) a win over former college teammate Byron Leftwich and Jacksonville (2-9).

Steelers 13, Browns 6 -- Visiting Pittsburgh (4-7) capitalized on five Cleveland turnovers, and Jerome Bettis ran for a season-high 93 yards on 24 carries as the Steelers' kept their slim playoff hopes alive.