Defensive end Justin Smith batted down Eli Manning's fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter to preserve the San Francisco 49ers' 27-20 win over the New York Giants on Sunday. With his team trailing, star quarterback Manning completed a pair of long fourth-down passes and got the Giants into scoring position late in the game. Unlike last week's rally by the Giants at New England, this time San Francisco's Smith made a leaping smack of the ball on fourth-and-two from the 10. The 49ers posted their seventh consecutive win to extend their best start since 1997. They also matched the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers for the most wins in the National Football League this season with eight. San Francisco was forced to play without runningback Frank Gore, whose franchise-record streak of five-straight games with 100 yards rushing ended with a knee injury. Manning finished 26-for-40 for 311 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. In the late game Sunday, the New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets 37-16. Quarterback Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes, including two to Rob Gronkowski, and the Patriots took control of the AFC East with a dominating win. In Cincinnati, Rashard Mendenhall ran for a pair of touchdowns Sunday, and the Pittsburgh Steelers intercepted quarterback Andy Dalton twice late in the game, holding on for a 24-17 win over the Bengals. Cornerback William Gay guessed correctly on rookie quarterback Dalton's throw and stepped in front of Jerome Simpson for the key interception inside the Pittsburgh 20-yard line with 2:27 remaining. Dalton completed two more touchdown passes, giving him 14 overall – the most by a rookie quarterback in his first nine games since the AFL-NFL merger 41 years ago. In Atlanta, John Kasay kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime to give the New Orleans Saints a 26-23 victory over Atlanta after Falcons coach Mike Smith decided to gamble on fourth down deep in his own zone. The Falcons rallied from a 10-point deficit in the final quarter, tying it on Matt Bryant's 27-yard field goal on the final play of the fourth quarter. In overtime, the Falcons failed to pick up a first down on a pass to Mike Cox. Smith decided to go for it on fourth down at their own 29 instead of kicking the ball, but their attempt backfired. Michael Turner was stopped, allowing Kasay to kick the winning field goal for the Saints. In other games Sunday it was Jacksonville 17 Indianapolis 3, Dallas 44 Buffalo 7, Miami 20 Washington 9, Denver 17 Kansas City 10, St. Louis 13 Cleveland 12, Arizona 21 Philadelphia 17, Tennessee 30 Carolina 3, Houston 37 Tampa Bay 9, Seattle 22 Baltimore 17, Chicago 37 Detroit 13 and Oakland 24 San Diego 17.
