Patriots Top Steelers on Late Field Goal: NFL Week 3

(Bloomberg) -- Adam Vinatieri's 43-yard field goal with one second left gave the New England Patriots a 23-20 road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in a rematch of last year's American Football Conference championship game.

The field goal came 1:20 after the Steelers tied the game on a Hines Ward touchdown catch. The Patriots, who beat the Steelers 41-27 in last year's AFC title game, halted the Steelers' 16-game regular-season winning streak with yesterday's win in Pittsburgh.

In other games during Week 3 of the NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Cleveland Browns 13-6, the Atlanta Falcons beat the Buffalo Bills 24-16, the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Chicago Bears 24-7, the St. Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans 31-27, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Carolina Panthers 27-24, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the New York Jets 26-20 in overtime, the Minnesota Vikings defeated the New Orleans Saints 33-16 and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Oakland Raiders 23-20.

In late afternoon games, the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Arizona Cardinals 37-12 and the Dallas Cowboys rallied past the San Francisco 49ers 34-31. The San Diego Chargers beat the New York Giants 45-23 in last night's game.

The Denver Broncos host the Kansas City Chiefs tonight.

At Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, New England scored on its opening drive on Corey Dillon's four-yard touchdown run. The Steelers answered when Ben Roethlisberger found Ward for an 85- yard scoring pass.

Pittsburgh (2-1) had a six-point lead midway through the third quarter after a pair of field goals by Jeff Reed. The Patriots (2-1) then got a field goal, Dillon's second rushing touchdown and another score from Vinatieri to take a 20-13 lead.

The Steelers' 16-game regular-season winning streak was tied for the second longest in NFL history. The longest, an 18-game streak by the Patriots, was stopped by Pittsburgh last season.

Elsewhere yesterday:

-- San Diego 45, New York Giants 23: LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 192 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Chargers (1- 2). Eli Manning passed for 352 yards and two scores as the Giants dropped to 2-1.

-- Seattle 37, Arizona 12: Shaun Alexander had four rushing touchdowns for Seattle (2-1). The Cardinals are 0-3.

-- Dallas 34, San Francisco 31: Drew Bledsoe threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys (2-1). Tim Rattay had three scoring passes for the 49ers (1-2).

-- Tampa Bay 17, Green Bay 16: Carnell Williams rushed for 158 yards for Tampa Bay (3-0) to increase his season total to 434 yards, an NFL record for rookies. The loss dropped the Packers to 0-3 for the first time since 1988.

-- Atlanta 24, Buffalo 16: Michael Vick threw two touchdowns for the Falcons (2-1). The Bills are 1-2.

-- Cincinnati 24, Chicago 7: Carson Palmer threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns as the Bengals got off to their first 3-0 start in 15 years. Chicago is 1-2.

-- Indianapolis 13, Cleveland 6: Edgerrin James rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown for the Colts (3-0). The Browns are 1- 2.

-- St. Louis 31, Tennessee 27: Marc Bulger threw for 292 yards and three scores for the Rams (2-1). The Titans are 1-2.

-- Miami 27, Carolina 24: Rookie Ronnie Brown rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown for the Dolphins (2-1). Steve Smith caught 11 passes for 170 yards and three scores for Carolina (1-2).

-- Jacksonville 26, New York Jets 20 (OT): The Jaguars (2-1) won on Byron Leftwich's 36-yard pass to Jimmy Smith in overtime. The Jets are 1-2.

-- Minnesota 33, New Orleans 16: Daunte Culpepper threw for 300 yards and three scores for Minnesota (1-2). The Saints fell to 1-2.

-- Philadelphia 23, Oakland 20: The Eagles (2-1) won on David Akers' 23-yard field goal with nine seconds to play. Kerry Collins threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns for Oakland (0-3).

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