The New Orleans Saints stayed undefeated after overcoming a surprisingly resilient St Louis Rams on Sunday.

The visiting Saints won 28-23 for their ninth win of the season as they got past a Rams side with only one win so far in 2009.

Rams quarterback Marc Bulger threw a touchdown pass to Donnie Avery in the first half as the game was tied 14-14 at half-time but Courtney Roby set the tone for the second half with an 87-yard kick-off return touchdown to push New Orleans into a lead his team would not relinquish.

Drew Brees threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Robert Meachem to seal victory.

Brett Favre threw 344 yards as the Minnesota Vikings moved to 8-1 with a home win over the Detroit Lions but the Denver Broncos' strong start to the campaign continued to unravel when they lost for the third game in a row, this time going down 27-17 at the Washington Redskins.

The Broncos, who had won their first six games of the season, had led 17-14 at half-time behind quarterback Kyle Orton, who had completed 11 of 18 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns, only to injure an ankle.

Orton did not emerge for the second half as stand-in Chris Simms took over but the Redskins took charge and after a scoreless third quarter two field goals either side of a rushing touchdown from Ladell Betts secured a home victory at FedEx Field to arrest a four-game losing streak.

Super Bowl champions the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a third loss of the season as they were beaten 18-12 at home by AFC North rivals the Cincinnati Bengals. It was the second time in the campaign the Bengals had rolled over the Steelers having beaten them on home turf back in September, the last time Pittsburgh had lost.

The Bengals now lead the division with a 7-2 record while the Steelers slipped to 6-3.

In an all-Florida battle, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a fruitless trip from the Gulf Coast to Miami as they were sunk by the Dolphins, 25-23. The Bucs' record fell to 1-8 while the Dolphins moved closer to an even return at 4-5.

In Charlotte, the Atlanta Falcons fell 28-19 to home side the Carolina Panthers while at the Meadowlands, a Josh Skobee field goal on the last play of the game gave the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars victory over the New York Jets.

That consigned the Jets to a fifth defeat in six games following a 3-0 start to the campaign and to make matters worse for first-year coach Rex Ryan, the 24-22 loss was a third straight at home to fellow AFC teams and his team is now 4-5 for the season, the Jaguars moving to 5-4.

In Nashville, the Tennessee Titans inflicted a heavy defeat on the visiting Buffalo Bills, winning 41-17 to leave both teams at 3-6 for the season. Chris Johnson starred for the Titans, making 26 rushes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.