Colts, Saints stay perfect as Steelers defeat Vikings

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

Brett Favre of the Minnesota Vikings readies to throw against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lamarr Woodley and Keyaron Fox returned Favre turnovers for late touchdowns Sunday and Pittsburgh beat previously undefeated Minnesota 27-17 in a National Football League game.

The reigning National Football League's 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 unbeatens 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 wasn't 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.

Star quarterback Tom Brady said playing at London's Wembley Stadium reminded him of the Super Bowl after he led the New England Patriots to a 35-7 thrashing of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brady had an off-day yet still threw three touchdowns as the winless Buccaneers suffered their seventh straight defeat this season.

This was the third regular season NFL match to be played at Wembley and unlike this one the previous two had been close games.

"It was like a Super Bowl, all the flashbulbs going off and the fans waving their flags for the first five minutes of the game, you don't see that too often," Brady said after the Patriots went 5-2 for the season.