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Lamarr Woodley and Keyaron Fox returned Brett Favre turnovers for late touchdowns as Pittsburgh beat previously undefeated Minnesota 27-17 at Heniz Field.

The reigning Super Bowl champions had not scored two defensive touchdowns in the same quarter since 1995 but the Steelers shut down late Viking marches by forcing mistakes from veteran Favre.

"There were a lot of what ifs, a lot of reasons we didn't win," Favre said. "The red zone was one of them. They're physical, and they were as good as we thought they'd be. When I came here and looked at our schedule (and saw the Steelers game), I went, 'Oh-h-h.'"

Two other NFL unbeaten sides in action Sunday stayed perfect. Indianapolis improved to 6-0 with a 42-6 rout at winless St. Louis as Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes and New Orleans came from behind to topple Miami 46-34.

Pittsburgh improved to 5-2 with a fifth consecutive triumph with some help from fourth quarter blunders by the once-perfect Vikings.

A tripping penalty on Minnesota blocker Jeff Dugan wiped out a touchdown for the Vikings and just two plays later, Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel knocked the ball from Favre's grasp.

"It's easy to look back now and say we should've done this or should've done that," Favre said.

Woodley grabbed the fumble and raced 77 yards for a touchdown, teammates blocking out tackle attempts on the runback to give Pittsburgh a 20-10 lead with 6:42 to play.

Minnesota's Percy Harvin answered on the ensuing kickoff with an 88-yard touchdown return that pulled the Vikings back within 20-17 with 6:23 to play before Favre marched Minnesota downfield once again in the final seconds.

A deflected Favre pass wound up in the hands of Steeler defender Fox, who raced 82 yards with the interception for a touchdown that gave Pittsburgh a 27-17 lead with 83 seconds remaining, ending the Vikings' hopes.

It was only the third interception surrendered by Favre in seven games.

"Brett tried to force it in there and the running back bobbled it and slipped out of his hands and it fell into my lap," Fox said. "I had just run across the field after Peterson and I was winded, so it felt like it was 100-plus yards."

An offensive pass interference penalty on Pittsburgh's Heath Miller erased a first-quarter touchdown as the Steelers settled for a 39-yard Jeff Reed field goal to open the scoring.

Minnesota seized a 7-3 lead on Adrian Peterson's two-yard touchdown run with 5:12 remaining in the second quarter, the 13-play march equalling their longest of the season.

At St. Louis, Manning threw touchdown tosses of 27 yards to Dallas Clark and six yards to Reggie Wayne in the first quarter and another of eight yards to Austin Collie with 3:42 remaining.

Joseph Addai scored on a six-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, Jacob Lacey returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown late in the third and Chad Simpson ran 31 yards for another touchdown to complete the rout.

Manning, who was not sacked in the game, reached a milestone, passing quarterback Warren Moon for fourth on the career completion list.

"I really appreciate the protection I've been getting," Manning said. "It's something I don't take for granted."

Drew Brees ran for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter, as the New Orleans Saints rallied from a huge first-half hole to grind out a victory over the Dolphins and remain unbeaten.

The Saints (6-0) trailed 24-3 with just under nine minutes left in the first half and appeared to be in line for a loss but changed their fortunes by scoring 36 points in the second half.

Brees threw for 298 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-38 passing but was intercepted three times and lost a fumble.

The Saints got two running touchdowns from Brees and one from Reggie Bush. Darren Sharper and Tracy Porter also returned interceptions for scores for the Saints, who are 6-0 to start the season for the first time since 1991.

Carson Palmer passed for five touchdowns and Cedric Benson rushed for a career-best 189 yards as the Cincinnati Bengals routed the Chicago Bears 45-10.

Hosts Cincinnati improved to 5-2 for the season, one more victory than they had in 2008, to remain tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the AFC North lead.

Palmer, who was one off his career-best six TD passes, connected on four scoring strikes in the first half as

Cincinnati built a 31-0 lead against the Bears (3-3). He completed 20 of 24 passes for 233 yards for the game. Benson, a former Chicago player, tormented the Bears with 37 carries and scored on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter.

New York Jets running back Leon Washington broke his right leg in his team's 38-0 win at Oakland and underwent surgery in California after the game.

"It's a pretty severe injury," Jets coach Rex Ryan said. "Hopefully he'll be rejoining us sooner rather than later."

Washington broke his right fibula while carrying the ball five minutes into the game.

The Arizona Cardinals intercepted New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning three times and surged to an upset 24-17 road victory in the Sunday night game.

The Cardinals (4-2), who have seldom won at Giants Stadium, put together 17 consecutive points in the second and third quarters -- the final seven after Manning was intercepted - to take a 24-14 lead with 2:32 left in the third quarter as they posted their third straight win.

New York (5-2) could muster only a field goal in the final quarter with its last two drives ending in a fumble and an interception.

"Our defense played great today. We made enough plays on offense to get a win," Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, who passed for 231 yards and a touchdown, said.

Arizona, the defending NFC champions, moved into first place in the West Division with the victory while New York remained atop the NFC East despite its second consecutive loss following a 5-0 start.

Safety Adrian Wilson sparked the aggressive Arizona defense, making a key third quarter interception.

Wilson picked off a Manning pass at the Giants 24 and three plays later Jason Wright scored on a six-yard pass from Warner as the Cardinals went up 24-14.

Antrel Rolle sealed the win by intercepting Manning at the Arizona 21 with 68 seconds to play.

"We have been playing kind of consistently on defense in the secondary," said Wilson. "We just kind of got on a roll today and ended up making our plays.

"(We wanted) to kind of confuse him (Manning). To give him some looks he had not seen on tape and just take his first read. I think we did a good job of that."

Manning, who completed 19 of 37 passes for 243 yards, staked the Giants to a 14-7 lead on a 62 yard pass to Hakeem Nicks late in the second quarter.

But that would be the last New York points until Lawrence Tynes kicked a 20-yard field goal with 8:14 to go in the game.

AFP & / Reuters