Patriots' Moss answers his critics

AMERICAN FOOTBALL: RANDY MOSS bounced back with five catches for 70 yards and a touchdown as the New England Patriots pulled…

AMERICAN FOOTBALL:RANDY MOSS bounced back with five catches for 70 yards and a touchdown as the New England Patriots pulled clear at the top of the AFC East with a 17-10 win over the Buffalo Bills.

Moss was accused of quitting against the Panthers last week but was outstanding on Sunday, aided by a defence which recorded six sacks.

The Patriots move to 9-5, two games ahead of the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, who both lost.

The Dolphins recovered from 24-6 down to force overtime against the Tennessee Titans, but lost 27-24 after Chad Henne’s pass was picked off by Michael Griffin and Rob Bironas kicked a 46-yard field goal to win it for Tennessee.

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Vince Young threw for a career-high three touchdowns while Chris Johnson ran for 104 yards to lift the Titans to 7-7.

The Jets lost a defensive battle to the Atlanta Falcons 10-7 as Tony Gonzalez caught the winning touchdown with one minute 38 seconds remaining.

Matt Ryan threw a six-yard pass to the tight end to lift the Falcons to victory as both teams struggled in wintry conditions at the Meadowlands.

The Jets’ only score was a 65-yard Braylon Edwards touchdown catch.

Kicking woes, as Jay Feely missed a field goal and Kellen Clemens fumbled the snap on another, proved costly.

The Arizona Cardinals are on the verge of clinching the NFC West crown after Kurt Warner’s touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin with less than two minutes to go saw them beat the Detroit Lions 31-24.

Arizona had let slip a 17-0 half-time lead as Detroit twice tied the game, but they dug out one more decisive scoring drive.

Jerome Harrison scored the last of his three touchdowns on the day with 44 seconds left as the Cleveland Browns beat the Kansas City Chiefs 41-34 in a game for the record books.

Harrison’s 286 rushing yards were a team record, while Joshua Cribbs put himself in the NFL record book with kick-off returns of 100 and 103 yards, tying the single-game mark and breaking the NFL career record.

Matt Schaub threw for 300 yards for the eighth time and Andre Johnson piled up 196 receiving yards as the Houston Texans beat the St Louis Rams 16-13.

Arizona’s AFC West title was secured as the 49ers suffered a 27-13 defeat at the Philadelphia Eagles, who clinched a play-off berth of their own with the win.

The Eagles extended their winning streak to five to go to 10-4 for the season as Donovan McNabb threw for one touchdown and ran for another and DeSean Jackson had 140 yards receiving.

The San Diego Chargers clinched their fourth straight AFC West divisional title as a Nate Kaeding field goal saw off AFC North leaders the Cincinnati Bengals 27-24.

The defeat for the Bengals came in a week of tragedy for the team following the death of receiver Chris Henry.

They had tied the game at 24 on Shayne Graham’s 34-yard field goal with 54 seconds left. The Chargers’ title was confirmed when the news filtered through that Denver had lost 20-19 at home to the Oakland Raiders.

The key play came with 35 seconds left when JaMarcus Russell threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chaz Schilens to seal the Raiders’ narrow victory.

The Baltimore Ravens closed in on the Bengals at the top of the AFC North as Joe Flacco threw a career-high four touchdown passes in a 31-7 victory over an abject Chicago Bears side for whom Jay Cutler threw three interceptions.

A 19-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger on the final play helped the Pittsburgh Steelers end a five-match losing streak to beat the Green Bay Packers 37-36, whose five-match winning run was brought to a halt.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers secured only their second win of the season with a 24-7 success at the Seattle Seahawks, thanks primarily to two second-half touchdown passes from Josh Freeman.