One was playing to maintain perfection. The other to salvage pride.
In the end Sunday, the Saints and Raiders — teams with little in common this season — pulled off remarkable come-from-behind victories.
The undefeated Saints faced three 10-point deficits at Washington before rallying to beat the Redskins 33-30 in overtime.
The three-win Raiders scored three late touchdowns to stun the Steelers 27-24 in Pittsburgh and deal a devastating blow to the postseason hopes of the defending Super Bowl champions.
In a day that underscored the unpredictability of the NFL, franchises from opposite ends of the spectrum found common ground.
“That was so exciting, I can’t even put into words how I feel,” said Raiders quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, a Pittsburgh native who won the game with an 11-yard touchdown pass to rookie Louis Murphy with :09 on the clock.
The Raiders, two-touchdown underdogs, pulled off their third jaw-dropper of the season, having already beaten the heavily favored Eagles and Bengals in Oakland.
It was the fourth loss in a row for the Steelers, their longest streak of futility since 2003. Making matters worse, they led in the fourth quarter in five of their six losses.
“I can’t even describe how frustrating it is right now to be 6-6,” linebacker James Farrior said. “We thought we’d be doing a lot better at this point.”
As for the Saints and Colts, both 12-0, they’re doing as well as you can do. They’re the only unbeaten teams, each with four winnable games remaining.
This is the first time two teams have gotten this far without a loss.
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Mind if I pass? The Chargers’ LaDainian Tomlinson was miffed at Hall of Famer Jim Brown before this season for touting the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson as, hands down, the best running back in the NFL.
Whether that’s debatable, it had to be a sweet moment for Tomlinson on Sunday when he passed Brown for eighth place on the career rushing list. The Chargers star ran for 64 yards to give him 12,321 — nine more than Brown — and needs 419 more to pass Tony Dorsett for seventh.
Tuck and roll: New York headline writers have to love plain-speaking Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck, who got into a scrape with Cowboys tackle Flozell Adams after Adams knocked him to the ground with a post-whistle shove.
“It just proves what kind of dirtbag he is,” Tuck said. “It takes a coward … to push a guy in the back when a play is dead.”
This and that: The Eagles’ Michael Vick scored the first two touchdowns of his comeback — in Atlanta, no less — on a run and a pass, both of 5 yards. …The Texans had a horrendous hat trick in a loss to the Jaguars as three players had passes intercepted: Chris Brown, Rex Grossman and Matt Schaub. … With 113 rushing yards against the Colts, Titans star Chris Johnson tied Earl Campbell’s franchise record of seven consecutive 100-yard games.
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