For the second week in a row, the Bears blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of a game, losing to former quarterback Brian Griese and the Tampa Bay Bucs 27-24 in overtime.

Down 24-14 midway through the fourth quarter, Griese, who attempted a staggering 67 passes by the way, led the Bucs to a 35-yard field goal with just over three minutes to play. Griese then threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jerramy Stevens with only seven seconds remaining to tie the game at 24 and send it to overtime.

After the teams exchanged punts in OT, Tampa started on its 7-yard line. Griese then marched the Bucs all the way down to the Bears’ 3-yard line before Mark Bryant kicked the game-winning 21-yard field goal on second down.

The Bears can spread the blame around evenly after this loss. After the Bucs kicked a field goal to cut the deficit to 24-17, Chicago took possession with just over three minutes to play in the fourth. But Kyle Orton and the offense couldn’t muster one first down and the Bears had to punt. Then the Chicago defense allowed Griese to march Tampa up the field for the game-tying score.

The refs also blew one for the Bears, too. On Tampa’s eventual game-winning scoring drive in overtime, Chicago had the Bucs stopped after a failed 3rd and 9 from the 8-yard line. But CB Charles Tillman was flagged 15-yards for unnecessary roughness, allowing the Bucs to keep the ball. But replays showed Tampa guard Jeremy Trueblood hitting Bears’ DT Tommie Harris multiple times in the helmet. Tillman then came in and pushed Trueblood in retaliation.

Tillman was still in the wrong. Everyone knows that the second guy will always get caught. But it was a game-changing moment and one the Bears never recovered from.

Rian Lindell kicked a game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Bills a 24-23 win over the Oakland Raiders in Buffalo on Sunday.

It was over when …
Rian Lindell kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired.

Game ball
Trailing 16-7 entering the fourth quarter, quarterback Trent Edwards led the Bills to 17 points, including two scoring drives in the final 6:23 to complete the comeback.

Key stat
The Bills held the Raiders to 2-of-12 on third-down conversions and only 10 first downs total.

Noteworthy
The Bills are 3-0 for the first time since 1992, when the team started 4-0. … Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell threw only three passes in the second half. One of them was an 84-yard touchdown to Johnnie Lee Higgins. … The Raiders had only 98 rushing yards after gaining 300 on the ground against the Chiefs in Week 2.

Some are going to look at this as a step back for Buffalo, but for a young team learning how to win, it was perfect. The Bills looked great the past two weeks, beating two former playoff teams. There was bound to be a drop off at some point. Oakland outplayed the Bills for three quarters, but Buffalo didn’t panic and finished with a monster fourth quarter. A win like this will do more for the Bills than had they won by a double-digit margin. It’ll keep them grounded and focused, especially with a trip to St. Louis coming up.

After stumbling last week in Tampa, the Falcons returned to the Georgia Dome this Sunday and promptly crushed the Chiefs, 38-14.

Rookie QB Matt Ryan completed 12 of 18 passes for 192 yards and also threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to WR Roddy White (5 rec., 119 yards, 1 TD). As with their win over the Lions in the opener, the Falcons stuck mostly to the ground game as Michael Turner rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns.

Atlanta has two wins over brutal teams, but Ryan is gaining confidence with each victory. Ryan needs to prove he can play on the road though. He looked bad last week in Tampa and will get tested by another division foe next week when the Falcons travel to Carolina.

Chiefs’ QB Tyler Thigpen had another rough day, throwing three interceptions. He had to deal with some dropped passes, but he also missed receivers badly all game. Larry Johnson (24 carries, 121 yards, 1 TD) bounced back from last week’s dismal performance, but without the threat of a passing game, he could only do so much. The Chiefs are in for a long year.

It was only a matter of time before the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense came around. Carson Palmer had his first respectable game of the season, throwing for 286 yards and a touchdown, while WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh hauled in 12 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown. The effort went for naught though, as the defending champion Giants snuck out a 26-23 win in overtime.

It was over when …
John Carney kicked a 22-yard field goal in overtime.

Game ball
Amani Toomer made an acrobatic catch on Eli Manning’s third-down pass in overtime to help set up the winning field goal. Toomer caught the ball on his finger tips and was able to drag his feet inbounds to keep the drive moving.

Key stat
The Giants averaged 6 yards per attempt.

Noteworthy
There were six lead changes in the game. … Carson Palmer had 228 passing yards in the first two weeks. He finished with 286 passing yards. … The Giants are off to their best start since 2000, when they started 3-0 before eventually losing to the Ravens in the Super Bowl XXXV. … The Giants sacked Palmer six times.

The Bengals showed a lot of fight, but the Giants just kept swinging back. Manning and the G-Men offense look great and they face Seattle and Cleveland the next two weeks. New York could easily be 5-0 heading into its Week 6 BYE.

At least fantasy owners who have Cincinnati players can breath a sigh of relief. I’m sure head coach Marvin Lewis is real happy for you, too.

Miami head coach Tony Soprano decided to give Ronnie Brown the start at running back Sunday in New England.

Good call, coach.

Brown rushed for four touchdowns and even threw for one in the Dolphins’ 38-13 thrashing of the Patriots.

Lining up mostly in the “Wildcat” formation, which is largely used at the collegiate level, Brown rushed for 113 yards and his one pass attempt was good for a 19-yard touchdown to tight end Anthony Fasano. Brown’s touchdown runs were good from 2, 15, 5 and 62 yards.

It was amazing to watch Brown and the Miami offense do absolutely anything they wanted to against Bill Belichick’s defense, shredding New England for 461 total yards and 38 points. Even when the Pats had no idea how to stop Brown, even though they knew he would run the ball when he was lined up at quarterback and in the shotgun.

What a great idea for the Dolphins to run that offense knowing Belichick and the Patriots wouldn’t see it coming. Soprano and offensive coordinator Dan Henning look like geniuses. New England hasn’t lost a regular season game in 21 tries and a college offense beats them. Amazing.