The San Diego Chargers intercepted Peyton Manning six times and held a 23-0 lead over the Indianapolis Colts but only a late missed field goal from Adam Vinatieri saw them escape with a 23-21 home win.

San Diego's Darren Sproles got the game off to an explosive start by returning the opening kick-off 89 yards for a touchdown.

After Nate Kaeding made it 10-0 with a 33-yard field goal, Sproles scored another electric touchdown on a 45-yard punt return to extend the Chargers' lead.

LaDainian Tomlinson deepened the Colts' misery with a four-yard touchdown run to open up a 23-0 lead with 8:47 left in the second quarter.

"You just keep battling because you never know what is going to happen," Tomlinson said.

"You just keep on playing and hope good things happen for you."

But then Manning kicked the Colts into gear, throwing touchdown passes to Reggie Wayne (eight yards) and Kenton Keith (seven yards) to narrow the deficit to 23-15 after a two-point conversion.

The Chargers looked on the verge of collapse after the Colts' Gary Brackett recovered a fumble in the San Diego end zone.

Indianapolis tried to tie the game with a two-point conversion but Joseph Addai could not break into the end zone, leaving the Colts down by two at 23-21.

After the Chargers' offense sputtered again, Manning drove the Colts downfield but the usually reliable Vinatieri missed a 29-yard field goal with 90 seconds left on the clock.

Manning completed 34 of 56 passes for 328 yards.

The loss was the second in a row for the Colts (7-2), who were beaten by the undefeated New England Patriots last week.

Tony Romo threw for four touchdowns to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 31-20 win over the New YorkGiants while Brett Favre became the second quarterback to throw for 60,000 yards in the Green Bay Packers' 34-0 victory over the Minnesota Vikings .

Terrell Owens caught two touchdown passes from Romo as Dallas improved to 8-1 and took control of the NFC East.

Green Bay's Favre, now 38 years of age with a 17-year career behind him, connected on 33 of 46 passes to move to 60,257 yards. He is now only behind the retired Dan Marino, who threw for 61,361 on the all-time list.

Ben Roethlisberger threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to rally the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2) from a 15-point deficit to a 31-28 home victory over the Cleveland Browns (5-4).

The St. Louis Rams (1-8) won their first game of the season, beating the New Orleans Saints (4-5) 37-29 on the road. Marc Bulger passed for 302 yards and Torry Holt caught eight passes for 124 yards as the Rams ended an eight-game skid.

Fred Taylor scored a touchdown and rushed for 45 yards to become the 21st NFL player to top 10,000 yards rushing in the Jacksonville Jaguars (6-3) 28-13 road victory over the Tennessee Titans (6-3).

Rian Lindell kicked a 34-yard field goal with 46 seconds left as the Buffalo Bills (5-4) beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10 for their fourth victory in a row. The Dolphins dropped to 0-9.

Donovan McNabb passed for four touchdowns and Brian Westbrook scored three times in the Philadelphia Eagles' (4-5) 33-25 road victory over the Washington Redskins (5-4).

Shayne Graham kicked a team-record seven field goals and the Cincinnati Bengals posted a 21-7 road win over the Baltimore Ravens (4-5). Graham had kicks of 34, 19, 22, 35, 35, 21 and 33 yards for the Bengals (3-6).

The Denver Broncos (4-5) scored a 27-11 road win over the Kansas City Chiefs (4-5).

Alge Crumpler caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Joey Harrington with 20 seconds left as the Atlanta Falcons (3-6) eked out a 20-13 victory over the Carolina Panthers (4-5).

Kurt Warner passed for three touchdowns as the Arizona Cardinals (4-5) surprised the Detroit Lions (6-3) 31-21 in Phoenix.

The Chicago Bears (4-5) scored two touchdowns in the final three minutes to seal a 17-6 road victory over the Oakland Raiders (2-7).

Reuters