NEW ORLEANS — With a few waves, Reggie Bush beckoned the crowd to its feet as he awaited a critical punt. Soon, he would have all of them in ecstasy.

Shut out of the end zone in his first four games as a pro, Bush took the punt 65 yards with under five minutes to lift the New Orleans Saints to a 24-21 victory over Tampa Bay yesterday.

Bush escaped the Buccaneers' initial pursuit by scampering across the field to his right, then accelerating quickly as he cut upfield, leaving several defenders grasping for air as bedlam erupted in the Louisiana Superdome. He pointed at the fans in the end-zone seats as he scored.

"When you see Reggie take those high steps, you know he's bound to make something happen," Saints defensive end Charles Grant said. "I knew he was gone."

The celebration was interrupted briefly while referees sorted out a flag thrown against the Buccaneers, then fans jubilantly chanted "Reg-gie! Reg-gie!" as the score was made official. Bush was hugged by numerous teammates as he made his way back to the sideline.

While it was only his fifth game as a pro, his first touchdown seemed a long time coming for a player drafted with immense fanfare after winning the Heisman Trophy at USC. After all, rookie receiver Marques Colston, drafted in the seventh round and making millions of dollars less, already had three scores.

"Once I turned that corner I was just trying to turn on the jets," Bush said. "It was so wide open the slowest guy in the world probably could have scored that touchdown. The monkey's off my back now."

Peppered with questions recently about whether he was frustrated or pressing, Bush responded he did not care about scoring as long as the surprising Saints, now 4-1 and atop the NFC South, kept winning. They may not have beaten Tampa Bay if not for him.

"He's a guy who can change games — and today he changed one," Saints coach Sean Payton said.

The runback spoiled a valiant effort by Tampa Bay (0-4), which rallied from a 10-point deficit to take the lead in the second half.

"I tip my hat to Reggie Bush," Bucs coach Jon Gruden said. "He lived up to his expectations today. Shame on him."

BEARS 40, BILLS 7

CHICAGO — Rex Grossman threw two touchdown passes, Cedric Benson scored his first two NFL touchdowns — a pair of 1-yard runs — and Chicago (5-0) forced five turnovers in a drubbing of former coach Dick Jauron and Buffalo (2-3).

"It was a long day for us, obviously," Jauron said. "We knew they were an outstanding football team coming into the game. ... All the things that we couldn't have happen, happened."

Robbie Gould kicked four field goals for the Bears, who are off to their first 5-0 start since 1986.

CHIEFS 23, CARDINALS 20

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Matt Leinart completed 22 of 35 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns in his first start, but Kansas City (2-2) scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to beat Arizona (1-4).

Larry Johnson rumbled 78 yards on a pass play from Damon Huard to set up Lawrence Tynes' 19-yard field goal with 1:36 to play to break a 20-all tie.

It was fun," Leinart said. "I had a good time out there, just playing football. ... I think we can take it as a positive. I think we moved up a little bit as an offense. That was my first start. Now we can just go from there."

COLTS 14, TITANS 13

INDIANAPOLIS — Peyton Manning led the Colts on a late scoring drive for the second straight week, hooking up with Reggie Wayne for a 2-yard touchdown pass with 5:10 left, lifting Indianapolis (5-0) over Tennessee (0-5).

"You can't end up relying on that, falling back on it," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "We've just got to play better and I think we will."

Manning finished 20 of 31 for 166 yards, including TD passes of 13 yards to Marvin Harrison and a 2-yarder to Wayne.

CHARGERS 23, STEELERS 13

SAN DIEGO — Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes, including a 22-yarder to All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates midway through the third quarter for a 17-13 lead, helping San Diego (3-1) beat Pittsburgh (1-3).

Gates' catch capped a 91-yard drive during which Rivers, in his first year as a starter, threw nine passes in the span of 10 plays, completing six. Nate Keading kicked field goals of 33 and 22 yards in the fourth quarter.

"It was a little more than a win," Rivers said. "We grew a lot as a team. We made a big step tonight."

RAMS 23, PACKERS 20

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Trailing by three with 2:46 remaining, Brett Favre drove Green Bay to the St. Louis 11 in the final minute, but he was sacked, fumbled and the Rams (4-1) held on to beat the Packers (1-4).

With the Rams leading 17-13 and driving late in the third quarter, Marc Bulger threw an errant pass that hit Green Bay's Al Harris in the numbers. But instead of running 95 yards down a clear path for a go-ahead touchdown, Harris dropped the ball.

"You've got to try to find positives in all these negatives," Favre said. "I wonder, sometimes, what I'm doing here."

GIANTS 19, REDSKINS 3

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Michael Strahan and the much-maligned defense limited Washington to 164 total yards, and Jay Feely kicked four field goals to lead New York (2-2).

The Giants (2-2) got contributions from every phase of their team against Washington (2-3), with $49 million linebacker LaVar Arrington even making a rare big play by knocking down and almost intercepting a screen pass by Mark Brunell.

"Obviously, the Giants' backs were against the wall," Brunell said. "They came out fighting, and they outplayed us in every way. They stopped the run. They stopped the pass."

PANTHERS 20, BROWNS 12

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Julius Peppers had a sack, forced a fumble and hit quarterback Charlie Frye five other times and Richard Marshall returned an interception for a touchdown as Carolina (3-2) held Cleveland (1-4) to 98 yards rushing in winning its third straight game.

"There is not another 290-pound guy that can move, that's as flexible or as strong as this guy," said defensive end Al Wallace, who also had a sack.

Peppers, who came in tied for the league lead with five sacks, constantly hounded Frye and the Browns, who got only four field goals by Phil Dawson.

VIKINGS 26, LIONS 17

MINNEAPOLIS — Detroit (0-5) squandered a 17-3 lead in the fourth quarter and Minnesota (3-2) scored two touchdowns on turnovers by Jon Kitna in the final period for a victory.

Ben Leber returned Kitna's fumble 1 yard for a touchdown to cut Detroit's lead to 17-16 and Ryan Longwell made a 20-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 19-17 lead with 3 minutes to play. E.J. Henderson's interception and 45-yard return for a TD with 1:31 left sealed the victory.

"Every time we take the field, we try to score or get the ball back," defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin said. "That's our personality. That's how we play defense."

PATRIOTS 20, DOLPHINS 10

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Asante Samuel intercepted two passes by Joey Harrington — playing for Daunte Culpepper, who missed the game with a bruised shoulder — that led to two touchdowns, and New England (4-1) overcame a mediocre performance by Tom Brady to beat Miami (1-4).

Brady completed 16 of 29 passes for a season-low 140 yards as the Patriots were outgained 283 yards to 213.

"We didn't play as well as an offense as we would have liked, but we're playing some good situational football," Brady said. "We're finishing the games when we needed to, making critical plays."

JAGUARS 41, JETS 0

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Maurice Drew ran for two touchdowns, Fred Taylor added another and Jacksonville (3-2) scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions to rout New York (2-3) and end its two game-losing streak.

The Jets (2-3) provided plenty of help. Chad Pennington threw three interceptions, Ben Graham had a punt blocked and two questionable roughing the passer penalties made it even worse.

"It felt good because last week was a hard one to swallow," offensive tackle Khalif Barnes said. "But we were never down. We knew we would bounce back."

49ERS 34, RAIDERS 20

SAN FRANCISCO — Arnaz Battle caught two touchdown passes from Alex Smith, and San Francisco (2-3) overcame Randy Moss' 100th career TD reception with a strong second half to beat Oakland (0-4).

Frank Gore rushed for a career-high 134 yards and third-string running back Maurice Hicks scored on a 33-yard screen pass for the rebuilding 49ers, who scored 24 straight points after halftime.

"We're improving almost every week, and I think this is just the start," said Walt Harris, who had three for the 49ers' four interceptions. "You can see us learning and getting better. We've had a lot of adversity, and we continue to work."