With just 23 seconds left in the game, Chris Redman connected with Roddy White on a touchdown pass of 5 yards to give the Falcons a 20-17 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday after they had lost their offensive stars Michael Turner and Matt Ryan to injuries.

Atlanta (6-5) was in deep trouble following another missed field goal attempt by Jason Elam. This one came from 43 yards away, and Tampa Bay (1-10) drove into Falcons territory.

However, with 2:30 left to play Connor Barth narrowly missed a field goal attempt from 51 yards to give Atlanta another opportunity. After taking over for Ryan following the injury to his big right toe in the first series of the game, Redman led the Falcons on a drive of 59 yards that just might have saved Atlanta’s season.

On fourth down and goal from the five yard line, Redman connected with White over the middle on a slant play while Derrick Roberson, cornerback, futilely swiped at the ball.

Early third quarter Corey Lynch blocked a punt to set up an 8 yard pass from Josh Freeman to Carnell Williams for a touchdown to give Tampa Bay the lead 17-10.

Tampa Bay’s lead almost held up. During the third quarter Atlanta lost Turner. The top runner for the Falcons appeared to have suffered a reinjury of his right ankle, an injury that had prevented him from playing during last week’s game.

Redman, who was a starter for the Falcons in 2007 following the suspension of Michael Vick, had only played in a few plays during the two years since Ryan had arrived.

However with Ryan in street clothes watching the game from the sideline with his right foot in a special shoe, Redman led the Falcons to a comeback victory in a game that Atlanta had to absolutely have to keep their NFC playoff hopes alive after losing four out of five games.

Redman passed to Tony Gonzalez four times for 34 yards. Atlanta received a huge break when Roberson got called for a holding penalty on a pass that was incomplete to the opposite side on the field.

However, Tampa Bay only needed to make one stop to get their second victory after Redman had three incomplete passes in a row from the five yard line. On the last try, White hauled a pass in and was then mobbed by teammates Eric Weems and Gonzales.

On Tampa Bay’s sideline Raheem Morris, head coach, kneeled in disbelief. Earlier this week, the embattled rookie head coach had taken the defensive play calling duties over after he had demoted Jim Bates, the defensive coordinator. The move almost paid instant dividends. The Bucs, instead, suffered yet another crushing loss this season.

Redman, despite suffering five sacks, completed 23 of his 41 passes for a total of 243 yards. He flipped a quick pass over to Jerious Norwood. It was just slight longer than a hand off. However, the play ended up as a touchdown of 22 yards to give Atlanta an early lead of 10-0.

Atlanta fought to tie the game up before halftime. Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman threw deep to Antonio Bryant on the left sideline. Bryant lept up to grab the ball from Tye Hill, Falcons cornerback, and then rolled over into the end zone after realizing he had not been touched to score a touchdown of 42 yards. Then Barth kicked a field goal of 39 yards with only 20 seconds left in the first half.

Coming off last week’s performance where he had four turnovers in the Buccaneers 31 point loss to the Saints, Freeman bounced back in the fourth start of his career. He went 20 out of 29 for a total of 50 yards, with no turnovers. He had one fumble but managed to recover the ball himself.

Through 10 games the Saints are perfect, but think that they are capable of playing even better.

Drew Brees, Saints quarterback said, I don’t think we have peaked yet. For this team the sky is the limit. On Sunday, Brees threw three touchdowns as New Orleans defeated struggling Tampa Bay 38-7.

It will only get harder. We cannot afford to sit back on the things we have been able to accomplish so far. Each team that we face wants to give us our first loss.

New Orleans (10-0) was able to shrug off a slow defensive start, shutting Tampa Bay down after they gave up a long drive for a touchdown at the start of the game. They took advantage offensively of the many mistakes made by Tampa Bay’s rookie quarterback Josh Freeman.

During the first half Robert Meacham caught 4 and 6 yard touchdown passes, and in the second half Mike Bell scored running touchdowns from 3 and 1 yard. The Saints gained 147 of their 183 rushing yards during the second half.

The ten game winning streak of the Saints is the longest in their franchise history.

Sean Payton, Saints coach said, I like where we are at. Our record is 10-0. We beat one of our division opponents playing on the road. I think today we got better.

Over the last month a rash of turnovers made the Saints appear to be more vulnerable. However Brees didn’t have an interception in the game, the first time that has happened in the last five games. It was also the first time that New Orleans didn’t allow any sacks since playing the Giants on October 18.

According to Brees the No. 1 offense in the NFL can become more efficient even.

Brees said, during our past four games, we have kind of gotten back into some of our old habits we didn’t want to get into, like negative plays and turnovers. We needed to have a game just like this, come out and just look sharp in every phase of the game.

On their first possession, Tampa Bay (1-9) had a touchdown drive of 95 yards. However, after his scoring pass of 18 yards to Michael Clayton, giving Tampa Bay a brief 7-0 lead, Freeman didn’t have much success.

Brees went 19 out of 29 passing for a total of 187 yards. Late fourth quarter he was replaced by Mark Brunell. Reggie Bush sat the game out due to an injured knee, but his replacement Pierre Thomas was able to gain 92 rushing yards in 11 carries. Bell had 75 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Freeman went 17 for 33 for a total of 126 yards and also had three interceptions. He was sacked a total of three times and fumbled. The fumble led to a third quarter 11 yard touchdown throw by Brees over to David Thomas.

Freeman said, we know how potent the Saints offense is. We knew our best defense would be our offense having the ability to sustain our drives. What was tough is that our first drive was the only one.

Brees answered the touchdown pass of Freeman to Clayton with his own drive of 68 yards, capped by a 4 yard scoring catch by Meacham. On that possession, Brees went 4 for 4 passing for a total of 55 yards, including a completion of 37 yards over to Thomas, the longest play for New Orleans of the day.

An interception by Malcolm Jenkins followed by a return of 14 yards down to Tampa Bay’s 29 yard line set up a field goal of 38 yards by John Carney to give the Saints a 10-7 lead. Tampa Bay’s poor clock management late second quarter provided Brees with an opportunity for scoring another touchdown, making the score at halftime 17-7.

Chris Reis and Jonathan Vilma had interceptions for the Saints as well. The sack by Scott Fujita forced a fumble that was recovered by Anthony Hargrove on Tampa Bay’s 15 yard line. It set up the touchdown pass from Brees to Thomas, who caught four passes for a total of 66 yards.

After their opening drive, Tampa Bay only had 124 yards. Freeman said that on several of his throws he was just a hair off. However, he didn’t feel that he took a step backward in his third start as a pro in running the offense.

It was just an off day, the rookie said. I don’t think it will be a problem in the future.

Chad Henne, Dolphins quarterback, stood stewing on the sideline after throwing a costly interception and rooted for Tampa Bay to score so he could get the ball back.

The Buccaneers cooperated. With 1:14 left to play they took the lead. Then Henne led Miami on a drive of 77 yards. With 10 seconds left in the game Dan Carpenter hit a field goal from 25 yards to give the Dolphins a 25-23 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Henne said, we had one minute to go. It is time to get out there to make a comeback.

The heroics of Henne spoiled Tampa Bay’s comeback, which was led by rookie quarterback Josh Freeman, who helped to rally his team during the fourth quarter. It was the second time he has done that in his two career NFL starts. Freeman was able to shake off his dreadful first half to lead the Buccaneers to two late touchdowns.

A Henne ill advised pass was picked off and set up the go ahead touchdown for the Buccaneers. With Tampa Bay at Miami’s one yard line, Henne wanted the Buccaneers to score fast to give Miami more time to rally.

Henne said, it is really tough, especially after the interception that is your fault. But you can not let that bother you forever.

The Dolphins (4-5) won the game despite losing Ronnie Brown, running back, during the third quarter due to an injured right ankle. Tampa Bay (1-8) wasn’t able to build any momentum after defeating the Packers last week.

Miami fell behind in the game 23-22. They then started at their 16 yard line. Henne connected with Davone Bess on 16 and 25 yard plays, while Ricky Williams ran 27 yards down to the 7 yard line.

Then Carpenter came in and kicked the field goal, his fourth of the game, which more than made up for the blocked extra point attempt during the first quarter.

The second year pro Henne went 15 out of 31 for a total of 175 yards, improving his starting record to 4-2.

Jason Taylor said, after the game I told him in our locker room that today you grew up. It is a maturation process. He will make some mistakes. All of us make mistakes. After 13 years I still do. The key is bouncing back after you do. Today that is what he did.

A critical replay reversal helped Miami score ten points during the last 1:25 minutes in the first half, including a Kory Sperry touchdown catch. Sperry, after being signed on Saturday from Miami’s practice squad, was making his debut in the NFL.

Sperry said, when I am playing, I don’t think too much. When I saw the ball all I could think was don’t drop it.

Williams had 102 rushing yards for the Dolphins, while Brown ran for 8 yards and scored a touchdown before he was injured.

During the first half Miami’s defense stymied Freeman. He had a fumble which was recovered by the Dolphins, ending a Tampa Bay scoring threat. He also mishandled a snap from the shotgun, losing 13 yards which stalled another drive. When sacked Freeman fumbled twice, although Tampa Bay recovered both times.

Freeman then connected with Maurice Stovall on a touchdown pass of 33 yards on the fourth quarter’s first play to cut the Dolphins lead to 19-16. Quincy Black, linebacker, intercepted a Henne pass at Miami’s 26 yard line with 1:43 remaining in the game. It set up a one yard run for a touchdown by Carnell Williams, giving Tampa Bay a brief lead.

Freeman was 16 out of 28 for a total of 196 yards.

Taylor said, the kid will be good. For being a young quarterback he has a lot of poise and moved well. I have lots of respect for the young kid.

However, Freeman wasn’t able to find much comfort in the praise.

Right now I feel miserable because we lost, Freeman said. I hate losing. That is the only thing I am thinking about.

The replay review provided the Dolphins with a chance to build a halftime lead of 13 points. Late first half, Tampa Bay was on their 4 yard line. Michael Clayton bobbled the catch, then the ball was snatched by Taylor. Initially the throw was rule incomplete. However the replay review along with a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct to an irate Raheem Morris, gave Taylor the interception and Miami the ball on Tampa Bay’s 8 yard line.

Two plays later the Dolphins scored when Henne connected with Sperry for a touchdown from 5 yards.

Morris said, this loss is my fault. A head coach getting a personal foul is totally unacceptable. I take the points. We lost by that much. I take the blame. I used inappropriate language with the official.

Connor Barth of Tampa Bay tied the NFL record that is held with another three kickers by making three field goals that were at least 50 yards long. His field goals were 51, 50 and 54 yards long, and were the longest three field goals of his career.

Wearing a ghastly creamsicle jersey which serves as an ugly memory of the past of Tampa Bay, Josh Freeman, rookie quarterback, gave a struggling Buccaneers team lots of reasons for being more optimistic about their future.

Freeman, the third quarterback picked during the NFL draft this year, led the previously winless Tampa Bay team to their 38-28 win over Green Bay in the first start of his career on Sunday. The win ended Tampa Bay’s current league leading losing streak of 11 games.

Despite being inexperienced, Freeman played with a lot of poise, passing for a total of 205 yards along with three touchdowns. He connected with Sammie Stroughter on a 7 yard touchdown pass on fourth down and four yards to score the touchdown to give Tampa Bay the lead with less than five minutes left to play in the game.

Freeman, the 17th overall pick of this year’s draft and third quarterback chosen behind Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford said, I really felt relaxed.

The twenty one year old rookie said, I did not get too high and didn’t get too low. I really didn’t do anything that spectacular. All I did was play within myself. When we had an opportunity I took it.

Freeman is the youngest quarterback starting a game for Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have had ten different starting quarterbacks in the seven seasons since they won the Super Bowl. He is the third different quarterback to start this season.

Raheem Morris, 33 year old rookie head coach said, that is a great way to start working how we would like to work and playing how we would like to play. Morris and Freeman have known each other since Morris was the defensive coordinator at Kansas State when Freeman was a freshman there.

Morris added, it is impressive no matter how you do it. At this point his age doesn’t really matter. He has to lead the team where we need to go.

Freeman went 14 for 31 passing and had an interception. A second interception by A.J. Hawk, which would have been critical, was over ruled by a penalty for illegal contact against Hawk on the drive that put Tampa Bay ahead.

Freeman threw a pass of 29 yards three plays later to Michael Clayton, setting up the second touchdown pass for him of the game.

Nick Barnett, Packers linebacker said, he was able to keep his composure and he made plays.

Tampa Bay (1-7) is the last NFL team to get a win this season. They ended a losing streak that was their longest since the years 1976-77. They set an NFL record when they lost 26 games in a row while wearing the same creamsicle uniforms that the team wore in the game versus the Packers.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers passed for a total of 266 yards along with throwing two touchdowns for the Packers (4-4). The number one rated passer in the league had three interceptions as well. One of them was returned for a touchdown during the final minute, putting the game completely out of reach.

Rodgers got sacked a total of six times, which raised the Packers total in eight games to 37, the worst in the NFL.

Rodgers said it is very frustrating. I think our special teams and offense make it tough for our defense.

Besides donning their retro uniforms, Tampa also named Lee Roy Selmon, Hall of Famer, as their first inductee of their Ring of Honor located in Raymond James Stadium. At halftime, Tampa Bay trailed 21-17, but Freeman would not let his team lose.

The rookie quarterback threw touchdown passes in the second half to Kellen Winslow as well as a wide open Stroughter, seventh round pick, in the end zone’s right hand corner with only 4:14 minutes left in the game.

A two point pass conversion play from Freeman to Clayton gave Tampa Bay the lead 31-28. The Buccaneers defense, which recorded all of their sacks in the second half, sealed the victory on Tanard Jackson’s interception of Rogers, who with less than a minute left to play weaved his way 35 yards down field to score the clinching touchdown instead of falling to the ground.

On the Packer’s second play from the line of scrimmage, Rodgers threw a touchdown pass of 74 yards to James Jones. He then led Green Bay on a 69 yard, 11 play march that was capped by Ryan Grant’s 3 yard run, making the score 14-7 late first quarter.

Elbert Mack, cornerback, who was badly beaten on the long touchdown by Jones, returned an interception 36 yards down to Green Bay’s 8 yard line to set up the first pro touchdown pass for Freeman, a 6 yard pass to Derrick Ward.

With Green Bay behind 14-7, Geno Hayes of Tampa Bay blocked the punt. Ronde Barber picked up the ball and ran it back 31 yards to record the 14th touchdown of his career. Just before halftime, Freeman led Tampa Bay on a 74 yard drive. The Buccaneers got a field goal to trim the lead to 21-17.

It looked like Rodgers was going to maybe put away the game on a 12 yard scramble on third down and goal which gave the Packers a lead of 28-17.

However, the ensuing kickoff was returned by Clifton Smith 83 yards, setting up a 7 yard touchdown pass from Freeman to Winslow, sparking the comeback.

It was the second loss in a row for Green Bay, after falling to Minnesota and Brett Favre last week.

Mike McCarthy, Packers coach said, it does not feel very good. This one really hurts. I am disappointed in how we played. There are some problems recurring that we have to be clean up.