Vicious Raven defense smothers Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger

BALTIMORE -- Any chance the Pittsburgh Steelers had of returning to the Super Bowl was seemingly laid to rest by the Baltimore Ravens.\nThe Ravens sacked Ben Roethlisberger nine times Sunday and coasted to their fifth straight victory, a 27-0 blowout that left the Steelers with only a mathematical chance of reaching the playoffs.\nBaltimore (9-2) limited the defending NFL champions to 36 yards in the decisive first half. The nine sacks, which totaled 73 yards and matched a Ravens franchise record, included a vicious hit by Bart Scott that forced Roethlisberger out of the game in the second quarter.\nRoethlisberger missed only one play, but for the rest of the afternoon he was harassed by a relentless rush. It was the second time this year that the Steelers were shut out; the last time Pittsburgh was blanked at least twice in a season was in 1989.\nThe Steelers (4-7) had won two straight following a 2-6 start, but their resurgence was emphatically squelched by the hated Ravens, who lead Pittsburgh in the AFC North by five games with five to play.\nRoethlisberger went 21-for-41 for 214 yards and two interceptions. Willie Parker got only 15 yards rushing in the first half and finished with 20.\nLANDOVER, Md. -- Chris Cooley's 66-yard touchdown reception was the difference in Washington's win over \nCarolina.\nThe victory broke a two-game losing streak for the Redskins (4-7) and gave quarterback Jason Campbell his first win in his second NFL start. The team returned to running the ball and stopping the run, but it took the big play from Cooley with 4:26 remaining to beat the Panthers (6-5).\nCampbell had only 52 yards passing when he hit Cooley on a third-and-8 at the Washington 34. Campbell finished 11-for-23 for 118 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Ladell Betts, the Redskins featured running back now that Clinton Portis is out for the year, ran for 104 yards on 24 carries.\nThe Redskins defense had its first good game, holding the Panthers to 264 total yards. The much maligned secondary limited Smith to 34 yards on five catches. Safety Sean Taylor made a tackle on fourth down to stop Carolina's next-to-last drive, and he intercepted Jake Delhomme in the end zone on the Panthers' last possession.\nSmith gave the Panthers a 13-10 lead with 7:55 to play with an 8-yard touchdown catch.\nATLANTA -- Drew Brees threw a 76-yard touchdown to Devery Henderson on the third play of the game, then lofted a 48-yarder to Terrance Copper on the final play of the first half, leading New Orleans past bumbling Atlanta.\nNew Orleans bounced back from losing three of four, boosted its playoff hopes and delivered a crushing blow to an NFC West rival. The Saints (7-4) won without rookie star Marques Colston, who didn't play because of a sprained ankle.\nThe Falcons (5-6) lost their fourth straight. Even though quarterback Michael Vick ran for 166 yards, Atlanta couldn't overcome five dropped passes and a shocking defensive breakdown just before halftime.\nBrees had no such problems with his receivers, completing 21-of-30 for 349 yards -- the fifth straight 300-yard game for the Saints' first-year quarterback. He burned the Falcons right away, going deep to Henderson -- Colston's replacement -- on third-and-7 from the New Orleans 24.\nVick challenged his NFL record for yards rushing by a quarterback, coming up seven short of his 173-yard performance in an overtime victory at Minnesota in 2002.\nCLEVELAND -- Cincinnati picked off Cleveland quarterback Charlie Frye four times in its first shutout win since 1989 and Carson Palmer threw three touchdown passes for the \nBengals.\nPalmer finished 25-of-32 for 275 yards and connected with Chris Henry for two TD passes as the Bengals (6-5) stayed firmly in the AFC playoff race by beating Cleveland for the fifth straight time.\nBefore piling up yardage during extended garbage time in the fourth quarter, the Browns (3-8) had only 167 yards -- 21 rushing -- after three quarters. By then, they were down 30-0 and on their way to dropping to 1-5 at home.\nThe shutout was the Bengals' first since Dec. 3, 1989, a span of 269 games. That one also came against the Browns.\nFollowing an interception, Browns receiver Braylon Edwards and Frye angrily exchanged words and had to be separated.\nFrye went 18-of-29 for 186 yards. Edwards had two catches for 29 yards.\nST. LOUIS -- Marc Bulger threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis with 27 seconds to go and St. Louis snapped a five-game skid.\nStymied much of the game, Bulger was 9-for-9 for 66 yards during a 12-play, 80-yard drive for the winning score. He finished 23-for-34 for 201 yards with one touchdown and one interception.\nFrank Gore had 134 yards on 21 carries for the 49ers, who missed a chance to keep the pressure on first-place Seattle in the NFC West.\nSt. Louis lost twice in the final minute during the slump, but this time safety Oshiomogo Atogwe intercepted a desperation pass by Alex Smith and ran out the clock.\nThe Rams (5-6) responded after the 49ers (5-6) punished the NFL's weakest run defense to take a 17-13 lead.\nGore, who has four 100-yard games in the last five weeks, had 40 yards on five carries in the drive. He also had a 12-yard scoring run.\nSteven Jackson was just as impressive for the Rams. After being limited to 27 yards last week, he had 121 yards on 23 carries with a 36-yard scoring run in the first half. He ran twice for 10 yards on the winning drive and had four catches for 25 yards against a resurgent San Francisco defense that had allowed only 30 points in 3 1/2 games.\nORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- J.P. Losman hit Roscoe Parrish for a 30-yard completion to set up Rian Lindell's 42-yard field goal as time ran out, lifting Buffalo over Jacksonville.\nThe Bills, who never trailed, scored 28 seconds after the Jaguars tied it when David Garrard hit Matt Jones for a 3-yard touchdown.\nLosman, who finished 21-of-28 for 169 yards, rallied the Bills. After a 6-yard completion to Parrish, the quarterback stepped up in the pocket and threw to the left sideline for Parrish, who kept both toes in bounds.\nIt was the second straight week Losman engineered a last-minute, game-winning drive.\nBills running back Willis McGahee had 63 yards rushing and two touchdowns in his first game after missing the past two with broken ribs. Parrish also scored on an 82-yard punt return.\nThe Bills (5-6) won consecutive games for the first time since October 2005, and continued to show life after a breakthrough offensive performance last week.\nThe Jaguars (6-5) dropped to 1-4 on the road.\nEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Chad Pennington had his finest passing day in weeks, throwing for 286 yards and a touchdown in New York's 26-11 victory over Houston.\nPennington, who left briefly in the third quarter after an injury scare, finished 24-of-31. He connected with Laveranues Coles nine times for 111 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Jerricho Cotchery had seven catches for 110 yards.\nMike Nugent tied a career high with four field goals, including a career-long 54-yarder for the Jets.\nPennington was 5-for-5 for 89 yards on the Jets' first possession of the third quarter. He found Chris Baker for 28 yards and Cotchery for 35 to get to the 12. Pennington then lofted a pass to the left front corner of the end zone, and Coles leaped for the score.\nCedric Houston added a 1-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter to make it 23-3.\nAndre Johnson caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from David Carr with 3:51 left to cap a 76-yard drive for the Texans (3-8), and Wali Lundy's short reception completed the 2-point conversion. Carr was 39-of-54 for 321 yards, and Johnson and Eric Moulds each had 10 catches.\nThe Jets held Houston to 25 yards rushing a week after the Texans ran for 188 against Buffalo.\nMINNEAPOLIS -- Brad Johnson threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns in Minnesota's victory against Arizona.\nChester Taylor added 136 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Vikings (5-6), and the defense forced five turnovers and allowed just 17 yards rushing to snap a four-game losing streak.\nThe Cardinals (2-9) got a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by J.J. Arrington on the opening play of the game and a 99-yard fumble return for a score by Adrian Wilson in the fourth, but couldn't overcome turnovers, penalties and a suddenly productive Vikings offense.\nRookie Matt Leinart played well for Arizona, completing 31 of 52 passes for a career-high 405 yards and two interceptions, but managed only one TD -- a 9-yard pass to Anquan Boldin with 39 seconds to play -- that came too little, too late.\nThat spoiled the return to Minnesota of former Vikings coach Dennis Green. All the Cardinals leader could do was stare blankly at the field as he watched his young team give away another game. Green last coached a regular-season game in the Metrodome on Dec. 23, 2001, a loss to Jacksonville that was the beginning of the end of a stormy 10 years in purple.\nLarry Fitzgerald Jr., had 11 catches for 172 yards. Boldin made nine receptions for 136 yards for the Cardinals.