NFL Week 3: Comebacks are order of the day

By Sam Farmer

Sept. 25, 2011 12 AM PT

Step aside, Dream Team.

Make room for the onetime pipe dreams.

Buffalo and Detroit — and not the star-laden Philadelphia Eagles — have found their way to center stage. The Bills and Lions are 3-0, both overcoming huge deficits Sunday to keep their records unblemished.

The Bills ended a streak of 15 losses to New England, erasing a three-touchdown deficit to beat the Patriots in Buffalo, 34-31. Tom Brady was intercepted four times, the most he had been picked off in almost five years.

“To beat these guys at home, in front of our fans, with the way they’re behind us despite being down early, it’s huge,” Bills linebacker Chris Kelsay said. “I’ll never forget it.”

Fans in the Motor City are collecting memories too. The Lions trailed by 20 at Minnesota before rallying for a 26-23 victory in overtime, one that secured a shameful little slice of history for the Vikings, the first team to blow a double-digit halftime lead three weeks in a row.

“If you’d have told me this would happen the third week in a row,” Vikings receiver Percy Harvin said, “I’d have told you were crazy.”

Well, it was a crazy Sunday with comeback patterns the order of the day. Seven of the eight winners of the early games had to come from behind.

In the night game, Indianapolis surprisingly came back to forge a late tie with Pittsburgh before the Steelers won with a field goal, 23-20, with four seconds remaining.

Cleveland was one of those comeback teams, orchestrating an 80-yard drive against Miami when it counted most and scoring on a 14-yard reception by Mohamed Massaquoi with 43 seconds left.

“We played like garbage for the most part of the day,” Browns quarterback Colt McCoy said after the 17-16 victory. “As ugly as it was, it was a huge win for us.”

New Orleans also had to come back at home to beat Houston, but that game featured a tad more pyrotechnics than Dolphins-Browns. In fact, the Saints and Texans combined for more points in the fourth quarter (37) than Miami and Cleveland did all game. Spectators at the Superdome witnessed the Saints’ digging their way out of an 11-point hole in the fourth quarter, as well as a combined 927 yards and 48 first downs.

Looking for defensive highlights from that game?

Dealt a bad hand

A week after sustaining a concussion in a loss to Atlanta, left-handed Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick suffered a broken right hand in a 29-16 loss to the New York Giants.

Afterward, Vick complained that officials aren’t doing enough to discourage defenders from hitting him late.

“I felt I got hit late — no flag,” he said. “At some point, something catastrophic is gonna happen. Not to blame the refs, but more precautions should be taken. I’m on the ground all the time in the pocket.”

Vick said he’s on the ground “every time I throw the ball.”

“I get hit in the head,” he said. “I don’t know why I don’t get the 15-yard flag like everybody else does. I’m not trying to blame the refs. I just want them to take notice.”

Those hits might not be an issue against San Francisco next Sunday because it’s not clear whether Vick will play. He’s due for more medical examinations Monday.

Bills beat Brady

More on Buffalo’s stunning victory over New England:

Brady threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns, but his four picks matched a career high — and his season total from 2010.

“We played a good football team and made too many mistakes,” he said. “We had too many turnovers, too many penalties that allowed them to get some easy plays.”

The Bills, who came back to beat Oakland a week earlier, are the only team in the modern era to overcome deficits of at least 18 points in consecutive victories, according to STATS LLC.

“That’s the loudest I’ve ever heard it in here,” Buffalo kicker Rian Lindell said of Ralph Wilson Stadium. “Certainly, they’ve been the team to beat. It’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

Day of emotion

In talking to his team before its game at St. Louis, Baltimore Coach John Harbaugh memorialized former Ravens tackle Orlando “Zeus” Brown, who died last week at 40.

In New Orleans, the home team’s honorary captain was former Saints safety Steve Gleason, now suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. He spoke to the team Saturday night and took part in the coin toss Sunday. Five years ago, in the first game back in the Hurricane Katrina-damaged Superdome, Gleason famously blocked a punt against Atlanta.

A payoff at last

Carolina’s Cam Newton finally experienced an NFL victory as the Panthers beat Jacksonville, 16-10 — and weathered a virtual monsoon in the process.

Newton set an NFL record by throwing for more than 400 yards in each of his first two games, yet both of those were losses. This time, he threw for only 158 yards but came away much happier.

“At times, the defense wasn’t giving me the looks that we were wanting,” he said. “That’s one where you have to make up your decision in your mind as a quarterback: Are you going to force it to get a completion, or are you just going to check it down to your backs?

“Today was a prime example of you just managing the game and getting it to your backs and keeping the chains going.”

Raiders gone wild

Oakland Coach Hue Jackson has said he wants to “build a bully.” The Raiders look as if they already have one in hard-running Darren McFadden.

McFadden ran for a career-high 171 yards and two touchdowns to power the Raiders to an impressive 34-24 victory over the visiting New York Jets.

“Against a kid like that, you’d better set the edges,” Jets Coach Rex Ryan said. “He outran us and made some great plays.”

One player who didn’t have a great game was Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie. He was flagged four times and mishandled a late kickoff that was recovered by the Raiders. It was a miserable game for the counterpart to All-Pro Jets corner Darrelle Revis.

Sunday, it was Revis Island on one side. And Gilligan on the other.

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