PHILADELPHIA — Pinned on the 3-yard line and out of timeouts, Chicago's final drive looked like a bust.

That was before the audio cut out on Brian Griese's helmet.

The only noise Griese heard was the sound of his own voice calling the plays, rallying the Bears and driving them 97 yards for the winning score in a 19-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles last night.

Don't count out the Bears quite yet in the NFC playoff picture.

"I felt really good calling my own plays in that situation," Griese said. "Before I got out into a 2-minute drill, I kind of look at our play sheet and get in my mind a plan of what we want to do. So I felt comfortable in that situation."

Griese did get some help on the final play that turned into the winning TD. He ran to the sideline with the clock stopped, then came back and connected with Muhsin Muhammad for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 9 seconds left for the stunning score.

"When we came out in the second half we pretty much knew that our season was on the line," Muhammad said.

The Bears didn't even need Devin Hester to bail them out with an explosive return. Instead, the final, thrilling drive was all Griese.

The Bears (3-4) started on their 3 with 1 minute, 57 seconds left and trailing 16-12. Griese completed a series of short passes over the middle. And Hester, the dynamic kick returner shut down on special teams by the Eagles (2-4), had a 21-yard catch that brought Chicago to the 15. Then Muhammad made his winning catch in the back of the end zone.

Before that, Robbie Gould kicked four field goals for the Bears and David Akers made three for Philadelphia.

COWBOYS 24, VIKINGS 14

IRVING, Texas — Chris Canty swatted a potential go-ahead field goal by Minnesota and Pat Watkins returned it 68 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.

Dallas bounced back from a lopsided home loss to New England and guaranteed itself at least two more weeks atop the NFC because of an upcoming bye. During the time off, the Cowboys can savor being 6-1 for the first time since 1995 (their last Super Bowl season) and having beaten the Vikings for the first since 1996.

"If there's any kind of doubt about what kind of heart or character they have, we saw it again," Dallas coach Wade Phillips said. "For some reason, we've been behind every game. We seem to keep our poise."

Minnesota (2-4) lost for the third time in four games. Rookie Adrian Peterson followed his record-setting, 224-yard performance last week with only 63 this time. He had a 20-yard TD run, but his final carry was a fumble near his end zone early in the fourth quarter. Dallas recovered at the 22 and wound up kicking a field goal for a 10-point lead that stood up.

Tony Romo was 31-of-39 for 277 yards, with a touchdown and a fumble.

SEAHAWKS 33, RAMS 6

SEATTLE — Nate Burleson returned the second-half kickoff 91 yards for a game-changing touchdown and the sputtering Seahawks (4-3) pulled away from winless St. Louis (0-7), sending the Rams to their worst start in their 70 years in the NFL.

Seattle led 10-3 at the half, even though St. Louis had just 41 total yards. Matt Hasselbeck, the only constant in a skittish offense this season, was feeling the sting of a rib cage hit by Claude Wroten.

Then Burleson took the second-half kickoff, ran through a tackle near midfield and shook off Jonathan Wade at about the 20 for his first career kickoff score. Seattle took off from there.

"Whatever coach says, you've got to adhere to it," Burleson said of Mike Holmgren's halftime speech, where the coach pleaded for a spark on special teams. "But it's like super heroes stuff. I don't know if I can do that every time."

Pro Bowl quarterback Marc Bulger was sacked seven times, four by Darryl Tapp. Bulger fumbled three times, lost two, and finished 21-of-40 for 225 yards passing with three interceptions.

GIANTS 33, 49ERS 15

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Osi Umenyiora scored on a 75-yard fumble return and the New York defense helped account for 24 points as the Giants won their fifth straight.

The dynamic four-end defensive line of the Giants (5-2) had a field day against the NFL's worst offense. New York forced four turnovers by the 49ers (2-4), sacked Trent Dilfer six times and made him play with his head on a swivel while Alex Smith rested his ailing shoulder on the sideline.

"They bring enough pressure right when you think you're getting comfortable," Dilfer said. "They do a good job making adjustments and overloading you. By the end of the deal, they are going to be one of the better defensive teams in the league."

Michael Strahan had his biggest sack performance since 2003 with 2 1/2 against his former defensive coordinator and current 49ers coach Mike Nolan.

Eli Manning threw touchdown passes to Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey, and Brandon Jacobs ran for 107 yards and a touchdown for the Giants.

REDSKINS 21, CARDINALS 19

LANDOVER, Md. — In a game marred by bad penalties and boneheaded mistakes, the Redskins (4-2) had the only thing resembling a normal scoring drive. But they finished the day with only 160 total yards and survived a 55-yard field-goal attempt by Neil Rackers that was barely wide left with 2 seconds remaining.

Rackers' attempt was set up when the Cardinals recovered an onside kick following a touchdown and a failed 2-point conversion.

"Any team can come back and beat you at the end of the game if you give them the amount of chances we gave those guys," Redskins cornerback Fred Smoot said. "Put it like this: We're lucky to get out of here with a victory."

There were a combined 15 penalties for 128 yards, a blocked punt by the Cardinals and a blocked extra point by the Redskins. And three of the game's six touchdowns were the product of interceptions.

Clinton Portis had a pair of short touchdown runs for the Redskins.

Kurt Warner, who started despite a torn elbow ligament that made it awkward to hand off, wasn't behind center for the Cardinals (3-4) when they got within 21-19. Tim Rattay entered for the play and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Pope.

Needing a 2-point conversion, the Cardinals snapped the ball directly to receiver Anquan Boldin in shotgun formation. Boldin scrambled to the right, and with nowhere to run, threw feebly toward Larry Fitzgerald. Safety LaRon Landry broke up the pass.

LIONS 23, BUCCANEERS 16

DETROIT — The Lions scored touchdowns after Jeff Garcia's two fumbles, including wide receiver Calvin Johnson's 32-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, to beat their former teammate.

Detroit (4-2) pulled within a game of idle Green Bay in the NFC North, while Tampa Bay (4-3) lost a chance to move past idle Carolina in the NFC South.

Garcia, who played in Detroit for one forgettable season two years ago, didn't have a turnover in his first six games with the Bucs. Perhaps pressing against one of his former teams, he botched a handoff in Detroit territory in the first quarter. He also mishandled a snap on a first-and-goal when the Bucs were 1 yard from pulling within two points early in the fourth period.

"We were our own worst enemy at crucial times," Garcia said. "That's disappointing because in a game like this, it definitely came back to haunt us."

Garcia finished 37-of-45 for a season-high 316 yards with two TDs and kept his streak alive without an interception, dating to last season when he was playing for Philadelphia.

Johnson, the No. 2 pick in the draft, broke a few tackles on an end-around to give the Lions a 23-7 lead with 6:28 left.

SAINTS 22, FALCONS 16

NEW ORLEANS — Reggie Bush's power running with a short pass gave New Orleans (2-4) a 4-yard touchdown to win it. Bush spun free, overpowered three Falcons and dived across the goal line on a crucial third-and-goal screen pass.

"I was just excited to make a play for my team. We struggled throughout the game. We really didn't have the game we wanted to," Bush said. "I just kept fighting, kept my feet moving and refused to go down."

Bush then took a handoff on a 2-point conversion, raced to the sideline and dived past the pylon. He finished with 54 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving.

Atlanta (1-6) lost more than a game. Its newest starting quarterback, Byron Leftwich, left with an injured right ankle after Saints defensive end Will Smith brought him down on a long incompletion early in the third quarter.