CINCINNATI — Michael Vick has found a balance. His passer rating is just as impressive as his 40-yard dash these days.

Vick threw three more touchdown passes yesterday, leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 29-27 victory over a Cincinnati Bengals team that had never seen anything quite like the show he put on.

Few teams have.

The mercurial quarterback has led the Falcons (5-2) to consecutive wins over the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers and the defending AFC North champion Bengals by throwing seven touchdown passes in the last two games.

"I feel I just need the opportunity to throw the ball," said Vick, whose passer rating of 140.6 was the second-highest of his career. "Just give me the chance to do it. I've felt like all along, this is what I could do."

No matter what they did, the Bengals (4-3) were helpless to run him down or shut him down.

Vick went 20 of 28 for 291 yards and left would-be tacklers scattered all over the field while running for another 55 yards.

"He's a heck of a player," defensive end Bryan Robinson said. "When your goal is to keep him in the pocket and you do that and he still makes the play, that's frustrating."

Vick was so good that Carson Palmer, last year's NFL leader in touchdown passes, was reduced to a sideshow.

Palmer made it close, throwing a 55-yard touchdown pass to Chris Henry that cut it to 29-27 with 3:41 to go. But Vick helped the Falcons run the clock down to 19 seconds before a punt pinned the Bengals at their 17-yard line.

BEARS 41, 49ERS 10

CHICAGO — The Bears (7-0) overwhelmed the 49ers (2-5) from the outset, jumping to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and 41-0 halftime cushion before coasting home.

"Twenty-four points in the first quarter? That's pretty impressive, especially in this league," said Chicago's Rex Grossman, who rebounded from his poorest performance to throw three TD passes in a 23-for-29 day.

Brian Urlacher's acrobatic interception, in which he batted Alex Smith's pass and then caught it with one hand as he was being knocked down, was one of four turnovers the Bears generated in the first half. All four led to touchdowns.

"No one wants to give us any credit," Urlacher said. "Everyone wants to say they didn't play well. There's a reason they didn't play well."

RAVENS 35, SAINTS 22

NEW ORLEANS — Steve McNair, in his return from a concussion and strained neck two weeks ago, ran for one touchdown and threw for two more as the Ravens (5-2) beat the Saints (5-2).

"Feeling confident and having the will to go out there and execute" got him off to the fast start, McNair said. "Our offense has been struggling and today was a good day."

The Ravens' defense accounted for two touchdowns on a pair of 12-yard interception returns by Ronnie Prude and Dawan Landry. They also knocked Reggie Bush out of the game in the fourth quarter. Bush went to the locker room favoring his left ankle, but later said he did not expect to miss a game.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees finished 24 of 45 for 383 yards and three touchdowns.

GIANTS 17, BUCCANEERS 3

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Despite playing without three injured defensive starters and losing another (linebacker Brandon Short) early, the Giants (5-2) held the Bucs (2-5) to 174 total yards to extend their winning streak to four games.

"You know what? I'm not surprised because the backups, the guys who came in, are like starters," Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan said.

During the winning streak which started after a bye week, the defense has allowed 42 points, and hasn't given up a touchdown in the last two home games.

The Bucs were 2 for 16 on third-down chances and 0 for 3 on fourth-down opportunities in seeing their two-game winning streak snapped.

CHARGERS 38, RAMS 24

SAN DIEGO — LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for a season-high 183 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Chargers (5-2) past the Rams (4-3).

"So many questions start to come when you don't have 100 yards," Tomlinson said. "People start to wonder, are you getting old or have you lost a step? For me, it's all motivation."

Tomlinson surpassed 8,000 yards rushing for his six-year career, and tied Emmitt Smith as the second-fastest to score 90 touchdowns, in 86 games. Tomlinson has 91. Jim Brown did it in 81 games.

San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman, who's facing a four-game suspension for a positive drug test, played with his usual urgency, sacking Marc Bulger three times.

JAGUARS 13, EAGLES 6

PHILADELPHIA — The Jaguars (4-3) held the NFL's top-ranked offense to 229 total yards — 164 before its last drive — to hand the Eagles (4-4) their third straight loss.

"As a team, it was embarrassing," said Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb, who was 18 of 34 for 162 yards.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars kept it simple without injured quarterback Byron Leftwich and relied on Fred Taylor and rookie Maurice Drew, who totaled 103 and 77 yards rushing, respectively. Of the Jaguars' 285 total yards, 209 were gained on the ground.

"Starting from the first play, I knew it was going to be a smash-mouth day," Taylor said.

RAIDERS 20, STEELERS 13

OAKLAND, Calif. — Chris Carr returned an interception by Ben Roethlisberger 100 yards for a touchdown, Nnamdi Asomugha also took back an interception for a score and the Raiders (2-5) mounted a late goal-line stand to beat the Steelers (2-5).

"We're not going to go around and stroke our egos or anything like that," Oakland defensive tackle Warren Sapp said. "We have a long way to go to get ourselves to .500."

The Steelers, who lost for the fifth time in six games, are in danger of missing the playoffs. Pittsburgh committed four turnovers, four personal fouls and allowing five sacks.

"I'm embarrassed about the way I played," said Roethlisberger, who threw interceptions on two of Pittsburgh's first three possessions and then twice in the fourth quarter when the Steelers were driving for a potential tying score.

COWBOYS 35, PANTHERS 14

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tony Romo rallied the Cowboys (4-3) from a 14-point first-quarter deficit, throwing for 270 yards and a touchdown, and Julius Jones ran for 94 yards and a score to help beat the Panthers (4-4).

Romo, starting in place of the benched Drew Bledsoe, finished 24 of 36.

"Tony gives us a different change of pace," said Terrell Owens, who had nine catches for 107 yards. "He gets the ball out quick and he gave us some chances."

Marion Barber had touchdown runs of 3 and 14 yards late as Bill Parcells won a game after trailing by 14 points in the first quarter for only the second time in his career.

BROWNS 20, JETS 13

CLEVELAND — Chris Baker's amazing, one-handed grab in the end zone was ruled out of bounds and not reviewable as the Browns (2-5) edged the Jets (4-4).

As he soared through the air, Baker caught Chad Pennington's pass with one hand then was drilled from the side by defensive back Brodney Pool with 59 seconds to play.

Referee Mike Carey said Baker could not have made the catch in bounds. Because it was a judgment call, the play — on fourth-and-4 — was not reviewable.

"I saw it the same way," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said with a grin.

CHIEFS 35, SEAHAWKS 28

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Larry Johnson rushed for 155 yards and scored four touchdowns, including the go-ahead 3-yard TD run with 2:15 to play, as the Chiefs (4-3) hung on to beat the Seahawks (4-3).

Kansas City had 499 total yards to 240 for Seattle and 42 minutes, 15 seconds of possession time compared with Seattle's 17:45.

But outrageous mistakes let the Seahawks score two unanswered touchdowns and grab a 28-27 lead with about 6 minutes left.

"That goes to show you what happens ... when you miss opportunities and turn the ball over in the wrong area of the field and give up big plays," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said.

PACKERS 31, CARDINALS 14

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Ahman Green rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns, and backup Vernand Morency added 101 yards — the first time Green Bay has had two 100-yard rushers in a game in 26 years— to help the Packers (3-4) beat the Cardinals (1-7).

"It's just two wins (in a row)," Brett Favre said. "But in our situation right now, we'll take them any way we can get them."

At this point, so would the Cardinals, whose seven-game losing streak has stoked speculation that Dennis Green will be fired before the end of the year.

"I'll be in to work tomorrow," Green said.

TITANS 28, TEXANS 22

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vince Young ran for a touchdown and threw for another as the Titans (2-5) beat the Texans (2-5) to win consecutive games for the first time since the end of the 2003 season.

"It is certainly nice to get back-to-back wins now," said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, whose team had gone 39 games before putting together successive wins.

The Titans harassed Houston quarterback David Carr into his worst performance this season, sacking him four times and forcing him into three of Houston's five turnovers.

Carr was pulled midway through the third quarter and replaced by Sage Rosenfels, who threw three TD passes in the final 17 minutes.