Falcons Continue To Surge

While the Falcons were making life miserable for the NFL's most prolific passer on Sunday, they also were sending notice that they are a legitimate playoff contender.

Atlanta sacked New Orleans' Drew Brees once and intercepted him three times, returning one 95 yards for a touchdown, to win for the fourth time in five games. The Falcons (6-3) pulled even with the Bucs in the NFC South, one game behind division-leading Carolina.

The Falcons improved to 4-0 on their home field, the team's best start at the Georgia Dome since the 1998 Super Bowl season.

Other Week 10 highlights:

•The Titans (9-0) stayed perfect and set a franchise record with their 12th straight regular-season win despite rushing for only 20 yards - one more than their franchise-low - against the Bears.

•Adrian Peterson rushed for 192 yards and scored the decisive touchdown with 2:22 left as the Vikings tuned up for this week's trip to Tampa to face the Bucs by rallying to beat the rival Packers. Minnesota (5-4) shares first place in the NFC North with Chicago.

•The surprising Dolphins (5-4) beat the Seahawks for their third win in a row and remained in the thick of the AFC East race. After going 1-15 last season, Miami is above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2005 season.

•Jesuit High graduate Jay Feely kicked four field goals - including a franchise record-tying 55-yarder - and the Jets (6-3) put up 40 first-half points en route to the largest margin of victory in team history. The previous biggest win was 45-3 over Houston in 1988.

•The Colts (5-4), winless in their previous 12 trips to Pittsburgh, won in the Steel City for the first time since 1968, rallying past the Steelers on Peyton Manning's 17-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Rhodes with 3:04 remaining.

•The defending champion Giants (8-1) continued to roll, winning in Philadelphia to improve to 6-0 against conference opponents and 3-0 against NFC East rivals.

NFL COVERAGE, Pages 4-5