No disguising Jets' problem

The Philadelphia Eagles faced a New York Jets team wearing throwback uniforms and looking for some new results.

Navy and gold or green and white, it didn't matter in the end.

"Our personality shows when we win a football game," running back Brian Westbrook said.

Donovan McNabb threw for 278 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis, and the Eagles' defense stopped the Jets on fourth down with just over 3 1/2 minutes remaining for a 16-9 victory yesterday in East Rutherford, N.J.

The Eagles (2-3) improved to 8-0 all time against the Jets, but it wasn't easy. The Jets (1-5), wearing retro-look uniforms of their previous incarnation, the New York Titans, had a chance to tie it but came up short when Sheldon Brown knocked away Chad Pennington's pass in the end zone intended for Laveranues Coles.

"I lined up in man coverage and stayed with him," Brown said. "I thought he might take a hard out, but he just kind of kept going. I just backed up a bit, kind of opened up, and I was able to be right there to make a play."

McNabb finished 22 of 35 and was sacked just three times, a huge improvement from the 12 times he was taken down by the Giants in the Eagles' last game two weeks ago. Westbrook ran for 120 yards on 20 carries after missing the last game with an abdominal strain.

After New York held Philadelphia to a three-and-out, the Jets drove for a potential tying score, using a razzle-dazzle play to give them a chance.

On third and 5 from the Eagles' 27, Brad Smith took the handoff from Pennington, ran to the right, and then flipped it to Jerricho Cotchery, who took it 14 yards to the 13. Thomas Jones followed with a 9-yard run, but was stopped for no gain on the next play and Pennington got nothing on a quarterback sneak.

The Jets elected to go for it on fourth and 1, but Brown got his hand between the ball and Coles.

"I felt like I could give Laveranues a chance," said Pennington, who was 11 of 21 for 130 yards. "Sheldon Brown made a really good play - a really good play."

Jones, who ran for a season-high 130 yards on 24 carries, bristled at the suggestion he should've been given the ball at the goal line.

"I don't call the plays," he said. "I'm not the offensive coordinator and I'm not one of the offensive coaches. I do what I'm asked to do."

With the Jets trailing, 16-6, Kerry Rhodes sacked McNabb on a blitz to drive the Eagles back to their 2. Hank Poteat grabbed his first career interception on the next play to give the Jets the ball at the 17. New York ended up settling for a 30-yard field goal by Mike Nugent with 9:28 left.

"Right now, I'm just numb," Pennington said. "Not a lot of answers."

Chiefs 27, Bengals 20

Tony Gonzalez set the NFL record for touchdown catches by a tight end and host Kansas City rediscovered its offensive swagger by feasting on Cincinnati's flimsy defense.

The Chiefs (3-3) rolled up an impressive - for them - 354 total yards. Gonzalez caught Damon Huard's 3-yard TD pass in the first quarter, breaking Shannon Sharpe's NFL record of 62 by a tight end. Then Gonzalez snared a 26-yard scoring pass from Huard in the fourth quarter, and wound up with 102 yards receiving.

Larry Johnson had 119 yards on 31 carries against a Bengals defense that had been giving up 152 yards on the ground. After a Carson Palmer interception in the second quarter, Johnson slipped into the end zone on an 8-yard run and the Chiefs had a 17-7 lead.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught eight passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns for Cincinnati (1-4), which has lost four in a row and is 1-7 in its last eight games. Palmer was 26 of 43 for 320 yards.Saints 28, Seahawks 17

Reggie Bush gained 141 yards, Drew Brees threw for 246, and former Patriot receiver David Patten had eight catches for 113 yards to lift New Orleans past host Seattle for its first victory of the season.

The Saints (1-4) hadn't scored more than 14 points in four dispiriting losses, but looked revitalized behind Bush, who finished with 97 yards rushing and 44 receiving on exactly 25 touches, almost all the damage done in the first two quarters while New Orleans was amassing a 28-10 lead.

Shaun Alexander ran for 35 yards on 14 carries, hardly making good on coach Mike Holmgren's vow last week to fix the Seahawks' troubled running game. Matt Hasselbeck threw for 362 yards, his most since December 2004, though most came with Seattle (3-3) trying to overcome a three-touchdown deficit.

Chargers 28, Raiders 14

LaDainian Tomlinson matched his career high with four touchdowns, rushing for 198 yards on 24 carries and leading San Diego to its eighth straight win over visiting Oakland.

Tomlinson scored on runs of 3, 27, 13, and 41 yards to tie Jim Brown for fourth on the all-time list with 106 rushing touchdowns. The defending AFC West champion Chargers (3-3) got back to .500 after their three-game losing streak had left everyone frustrated.

The Raiders (2-3) looked more like the team that went an NFL-worst 2-14 last year than the one that was coming off consecutive wins. Daunte Culpepper, making his second start, was intercepted twice, lost a fumble, and was sacked six times.

Panthers 25, Cardinals 10

Vinny Testaverde, who joined Carolina just last week because of injuries to its top two quarterbacks, hit Steve Smith for a go-ahead 65-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter as the Panthers improved to 4-0 on the road.

DeAngelo Williams rushed for 121 yards, including a 75-yard run that helped ice the game. He also scored on a 13-yard run. Testaverde completed 20 of 33 passes for 206 yards without an interception, and John Kasay had four field goals for Carolina (4-2).

New addition Tim Rattay was rushed into action for Arizona (3-3) when starting quarterback Kurt Warner sprained his left elbow in the first quarter. Rattay was 12 of 24 for 159 yards with three interceptions.

Buccaneers 13, Titans 10

Matt Bryant's 43-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining gave Tampa Bay (4-2) the win and compounded a frustrating day for Tennessee, which had its five-game road winning streak halted.

Titans quarterback Vince Young suffered a strained quadriceps when he scrambled for a 2-yard gain and was pushed out of bounds midway through the third quarter. He never returned. Kerry Collins led Tennessee (3-2) on a 13-play, 86-yard drive to tie the game, LenDale White scoring on a 2-yard run with 1:17 left.

Ravens 22, Rams 3

Baltimore forced Rams quarterback Gus Frerotte into six turnovers, and used five field goals from Matt Stover and a TD run from Willis McGahee to embarrass visiting St. Louis.

Baltimore (4-2) converted the turnovers into 12 points. The last time the Rams started 0-6 was in 1962, when the franchise was in Los Angeles.

Jaguars 37, Texans 17

David Garrard threw two touchdown passes, Maurice Jones-Drew had 260 all-purpose yards, and host Jacksonville (4-1) rolled to its fourth consecutive win by beating Houston (3-3), which had won four of the previous six meetings.