The Associated Press

SAN DIEGO - Got Flutie? The San Diego Chargers do, and they finally used him from the start of a game. The payoff was phenomenal.

Two weeks after turning 41, Doug Flutie juked his way to two touchdowns and threw for two more in his first start in nearly two years, leading the San Diego Chargers to a stunning 42-28 win over the Minnesota Vikings Sunday.

The big performance from the pint-sized Flutie and two touchdown runs by LaDainian Tomlinson - including a 73-yarder, his longest career TD - injected some excitement into an otherwise dismal season for the Chargers (2-7).

Tomlinson, who was just 5 when Flutie won the 1984 Heisman Trophy, raved about his quarterback.

"I believe in magic, Flutie magic," Tomlinson said. "He played awesome. Doug Flutie, he's just amazing. He's unbelievable."

Flutie said that age "is just a number. I feel as good as I did when I was 30, that's for sure," he said. "It was fun. I had a blast. It was an emotionally draining day."

Flutie's second rushing touchdown might have been his most impressive moment of the day. On second-and-7 from the Minnesota 13, he fumbled the snap, picked it up and ran straight up the middle before sidestepping safety Brian Russell and diving into the end zone for a 42-21 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

"He kept them on the field," Vikings QB Daunte Culpepper said. "I have a lot of respect for him."

The 42 points were the most for the Chargers since they beat Miami 45-20 on Dec. 27, 1993, a span of 153 games. Their 458 yards were a season-high.

Minnesota (6-3) lost its third straight game. Culpepper completed 32-of-44 passes for a career-high 370 yards and four touchdowns, which tied his career-high.

Randy Moss had 11 catches for 120 yards and one touchdown, a 4-yarder.

Flutie was 21-of-29 for 248 yards and no interceptions in his first start since 2001. Tomlinson had 162 yards on 16 carries.

Cowboys 10, Bills 6

IRVING, Texas - Dallas keeps finding ways to win. Yet the way things are going, it's going to run out of answers soon.

Despite moving only 51 yards on their two scoring drives, and going more than 15 minutes between first downs in the second half, the Cowboys eked out a win Sunday.

Dan Campbell caught an early 2-yard touchdown pass, Billy Cundiff made a 51-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half and the league's stingiest defense made it hold up to give Dallas its seventh win in eight games.

The Cowboys (7-2) remained tied with Carolina for the best record in the NFC.

Buffalo (4-5) helped by failing to score a touchdown for the third straight road game.

The Bills have lost four in a row on the road, getting outscored 95-21 in those games.

Steelers 28, Cardinals 15

PITTSBURGH - Their best quarter of a so-far miserable year gave Pittsburgh a sliver of hope for the second half of its season.

Tommy Maddox threw three touchdown passes, two to Hines Ward barely a minute apart in a 21-point third quarter, and Pittsburgh (3-6) ended its five-game losing streak and Arizona's (3-6) two-game winning streak.

Maddox hit Chris Doering on a 9-yard touchdown pass to finish off an 83-yard drive that was the Steelers' longest since their opener.

Rams 33, Ravens 22

ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Rams' defense bailed out an inept offense Sunday night.

The Rams forced seven turnovers and knocked rookie quarterback Kyle Boller out of the game in the win.

St. Louis also had the drops with four turnovers, two by punt returner DeJuan Groce, and went almost two quarters without a first down at one point.

Marc Bulger was so off-target he heard some boos and calls for backup Kurt Warner in the second half.

Bulger was 13-for-26 for 110 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns, easily his worst game in 15 career starts.

The 11 total turnovers were a high for an NFL game this season.

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