American Football: McGINEST SAVES PATRIOTS.

THE New England Patriots squandered a 21-point third-quarter lead, then survived a late scare in defeating the Indianapolis Colts 38-34 for their eighth straight win.

The Colts nearly pulled off the victory, but were stalled on fourth-and-goal from the Patriot one-yard line on the next-to-last play of the game, Edgerrin James being dragged down for a loss by New England end Willie McGinest.

Cincinnati won for the sixth time in seven outings when Jon Kitna hooked up with Matt Schobel from 18 yards with 13 seconds remaining for his third touchdown of the day in a 24-20 victory at Pittsburgh.

The Philadelphia Eagles are another team on a hot streak. Their 25-16 victory at the Carolina Panthers was their seventh on the trot - their best run since 1980. Michael Vick made his long-awaited comeback in relief of Atlanta starter Doug Johnson after recovering from a fractured leg, but he could not prevent the Falcons losing for the tenth time in a row, 17-13 at the Houston Texans.

NFL: St Louis 48 Minnesota 17, Philadelphia 25 Carolina 16, Cincinnati 24 Pittsburgh 20, Buffalo 24 NY Giants 7, Chicago 28 Arizona 3, New England 38 Indianapolis 34, Houston 17 Atlanta 13, Baltimore 44 San Francisco 6, Denver 22 Oakland 8, New Orleans 24 Washington 20, Kansas City 28 San Diego 24, Seattle 34 Cleveland 7, Jacksonville 17 Tampa Bay 10