Orchard Park, N.Y. ? Tom Brady exchanged cordial greetings with former teammate Drew Bledsoe before and after Sunday’s game.

Brady saved his biggest statement for the game, sparking the New England Patriots to a 38-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Completing 23 of 27 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns, it was the most efficient performance of Brady’s career. His 154.1 passing rating was 4.2 points short of perfection, and it came in his biggest test of the season.

Brady and the defending Super Bowl champions (4-4) snapped a four-game losing streak and climbed back into the AFC East race. And it came against Bledsoe, the Patriots’ former franchise player, who was facing New England for the first time since being traded to the Bills in April.

In a game billed as “The Bledsoe Bowl,” Brady showed up his former mentor yet again, a year after taking his job. Brady, however, said that was the “last thought on my mind.”

A better explanation for Brady was the Patriots reclaiming a sense of urgency, something they hadn’t felt for quite some time.

“For one reason or another, the last four weeks we just haven’t played Patriot football,” Brady said. “You talk about a sense of urgency, and today we had it.”

Patriots running back Antowain Smith made a major contribution against his former team with 111 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

By comparison, the 5-4 Bills unraveled, ending a three-game winning streak and squandering an opportunity to push the Patriots further out of the race.

Bledsoe, who entered the game as the NFL’s leading passer, didn’t exactly have an off day, finishing 28-of-45 for 302 yards. But he was stymied by an aggressive Patriots defense, which at times lined up in curious formations, including a four-man linebacker front.

“Back to the drawing board after that,” said Bledsoe. “After the game, you shake hands and live to fight another day.”

New England Patriot's Tedy Bruschi (54) celebrates a sack of Buffalo Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe, right, by Patriots' Richard Seymour. The Patriots defeated Bledsoe, their former teammate, and the Bills, 38-7, Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Ahead 17-7 at the half, the Patriots put the game away with a 14-point third quarter.

The backbreaker came with the Patriots ahead 24-7 and facing fourth-and-3 at the Bills’ 34. Brady hit Smith for a 5-yard pass, and five plays later, Smith capped the 76-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Kevin Faulk, with a 45-yard reception, and Christian Fauria, with a 5-yard touchdown reception, also scored touchdowns for the Patriots, while Adam Vinatieri kicked a 46-yard field goal.

It was quite a turnaround for a Patriots team that managed a combined 53 points in its previous four games.

“This is like taking 500-600 extra pounds on your back and just throwing it off, feeling like yourself again,” Patriots offensive tackle Matt Light said. “This is huge for us. There’s a feeling in here that we haven’t felt in here for a long time. And really, it’s about time. We’ve been beating up ourselves and playing some pretty undisciplined ball.”

While Bledsoe had difficulty finishing drives, he got little help from usually reliable kicker Mike Hollis, who missed all three field-goal attempts.

Bledsoe also had no control over how his defensive teammates played. After holding opponents to 34 points in its previous 10 quarters, Buffalo suddenly reverted to old form.

On New England’s first three scoring drives, Brady converted four third downs, including a screen pass to Smith, who ran it 13 yards for a touchdown to put the Patriots up 14-0.

Faulk’s 45-yard touchdown reception also came on a screen pass in which he ran untouched up the left sideline.

“Any loss is a slap in the face,” Bills safety Pierson Prioleau said. “We’re a good team. We know it, but we didn’t show it on the field today.”

49ers 23, Raiders 20

Oakland, Calif. Jerry Rice, Rich Gannon and the rest of the Oakland Raiders’ offense might have had a chance to win if the San Francisco 49ers had let them get onto the field.

Jose Cortez atoned for his missed 27-yard field goal at the end of regulation by making a 23-yarder 8:41 into overtime as the 49ers won Bay Area bragging rights.

Counting their 612-minute drive to end the fourth quarter and the overtime, the 49ers held the ball for the final 15-plus minutes.

Jeff Garcia was 25-of-36 for 282 yards, completing 17 of his 19 passes after halftime, keeping the 49ers moving downfield. Terrell Owens had his best game of the season with 12 receptions for 191 yards.

Rice, who set every significant NFL receiving record during 16 seasons with the 49ers, had six catches for 74 yards for the Raiders. Rich Gannon was 18-of-28 for 164 yards, ending his NFL-record streak of six straight 300-yard games.

Bengals 38, Texans 3

Houston Jon Kitna threw four touchdown passes and Artrell Hawkins had a 102-yard interception return for a touchdown as the Bengals became the last team to get a victory this season.

Cincinnati (1-7) made good on receiver Chad Johnson’s victory “guarantee” by pouring out all their frustrations on the Texans (2-6), starting with Hawkins’ interception on the final play of the first quarter. It tied the longest play in Cincinnati history and put the Bengals ahead for good at 10-3.

Bucs 38, Vikings 24

Tampa, Fla. The Buccaneers’ offense finally played a great game under first-year coach John Gruden. Then again, the yards came against the Vikings’ porous defense, which came in ranked 31st against the pass.

Brad Johnson, who missed a gme with a broken rib, completed 19 of 31 passes for 313 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. Keyshawn Johnson had nine receptions for 133 yards and two TDs all season highs.

The Bucs (7-2) matched the best nine-game start in their history, equaling the 1979 team.

Minnesota (2-6) has lost 15 straight road games, including the playoffs.

Falcons 20, Ravens 17

Atlanta Michael Vick had a miserable game, but the Falcons won their fourth straight after squandering a 14-point lead.

After two straight brilliant outings, Vick completed only 12 of 24 passes for 136 yards. The second-year quarterback also was sacked three times, had negative yards rushing, fumbled twice and threw his first interception of the season.

The Falcons (5-3) still managed to secure their longest winning streak since 1998, when they won nine in a row and went to the Super Bowl.

Without Ray Lewis and starting quarterback Chris Redman, the Ravens (3-5) rallied behind backup QB Jeff Blake, who directed two TD drives including a season-long 92-yarder that tied it at 17.

But Atlanta’s Jay Feely kicked a 40-yard field goal with 2:02 left in the third quarter, and the Falcons held on from there.

Steelers 23, Browns 20

Cleveland Tommy Maddox threw two touchdown passes, Amos Zereoue ran for a career-high 111 yards and Pittsburgh’s defense shut down Cleveland.

With their fourth straight win, the Steelers (5-3) took command of the AFC North and hit the halfway point looking better than they have all season.

Todd Peterson kicked field goals of 43, 28 and 42 yards for the Steelers, who started 0-2.

Dennis Northcutt had an 87-yard TD punt return for the Browns (4-5), but the Cleveland offense produced just 36 yards rushing and 193 total.

Eagles 19, Bears 13

Champaign, Ill. Defense carried Philadelphia again, shutting out the Bears in the second half and stopping their final drive.

Hugh Douglas, who knocked Jim Miller out of a playoff game in January by slamming him to the turf during an interception return, sacked the quarterback on third down from the Eagles 24 with 17 seconds to go. Miller, who had missed the previous two games with injuries, threw too high for Marcus Robinson on fourth down.

The Eagles (6-2) have allowed 13 or fewer points five times this season.

David Akers kicked four second-half field goals for the Eagles.

Titans 23, Colts 15

Indianapolis Keith Bulluck returned a fumble 61 yards for one touchdown, and Peter Sirmon’s interception led to another TD as the Titans moved into a first-place tie in the AFC South.

It was Tennessee’s third straight win, and the Colts’ third straight loss.

The Titans (4-4) managed just 198 yards, but the defense kept Indianapolis (4-4) neutralized.

Eddie George gained 95 yards for the Titans, who jumped to a 30-0 lead.

Peyton Manning completed 37 of 50 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns, but the Colts’ running game generated just 80 yards, and the fans booed the offense.

Lions 9, Cowboys 7

Detroit Jason Hanson kicked his third field goal from 43 yards out with 48 seconds left as the Lions surpassed last year’s victory total.

Detroit rookie Joey Harrington completed his longest pass of the day a 13-yarder to James Stewart on fourth-and-3 from the Dallas 43 to keep the game-winning drive going.

Detroit (3-5) surpassed last year’s 2-14 mark, which was second-worst in the league.

Rams 27, Cardinals 14

Tempe, Ariz. Marshall Faulk carried the Rams again, rushing for 178 yards and sealing the Rams’ third straight victory on a 13-yard touchdown with 1:53 to play.

The Rams (3-5) are 19-0 when Faulk reaches triple digits in rushing. He also caught five passes for 58 yards.

Marc Bulger, 3-0 as the starter in the absence of injured Kurt Warner, was 20-of-29 for 245 and two touchdowns.

Jets 44, Chargers 13

San Diego The San Diego Chargers came dressed in their powder-blue throwback jerseys and left looking like powderpuffs after getting worked over by the Jets.

One week after blowing an 18-point lead in a loss to Cleveland, the Jets (3-5) scored their most points since beating Carolina 48-21 on Nov. 29, 1998.

Chad Pennington threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and Santana Moss had a 52-yard punt return for a TD, his second in as many weeks.

Redskins 14, Seahawks 3

Seattle Kenny Watson ran for 110 yards in place of injured starter Stephen Davis, and Shane Matthews threw two first-half touchdowns passes to lead the Redskins.

That was all the offense Washington (4-4) needed, as the Seahawks gave up four sacks and Matt Hasselbeck lost two fumbles, unleashing more boos on the quarterback.

Giants 24, Jaguars 17

East Rutherford, N.J. Jim Fassel spoke, and the Giants responded to his play-calling.

Tiki Barber ran for 101 yards and scored on runs of 2 and 44 yards as the Giants broke out of a scoring slump and handed the Jaguars their fourth straight loss.

Kerry Collins, who had been getting the play calls from offensive coordinator Sean Payton, added a review-aided 8-yard touchdown pass to Ron Dixon in helping the Giants (4-4) snap a two-game losing streak.