FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots have had plenty to celebrate this season. Junior Seau finally gave in to the temptation.

Now he's ready to pay the price.

In a move more suited to an 18-year-old college player than an 18-year veteran like Seau, he raised the ball high while returning an interception in yesterday's 34-17 win over the Cleveland Browns, New England's fifth one-sided win in five games this season.

"It was a fun time and, obviously, I'm going to get reprimanded," Seau said.

He had two of New England's three interceptions and Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns, tying an NFL record with at least three in each of his first five games. The Patriots became the fourth team to start a season with five wins by at least 17 points, although yesterday's margin was their smallest.

Coach Bill Belichick, an anti-showboating advocate, finds mistakes to correct no matter how well the Patriots play. All he has to do this time is watch the play by Seau, who actually thought about lateraling.

"Coach wouldn't have liked that either," he said. "So I didn't want to have two whammies in one play."

Belichick, for the most part, loves Seau as a player.

"Junior adds a lot of energy to our defense," he said, but "I don't know what Junior is thinking sometimes."

Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow thinks the Patriots are the NFL's best team.

"They're great. It's obvious," he said. "They've won three Super Bowls."

New England improved to 5-0 without a big contribution from Randy Moss, who entered the game as the NFL leader in yards receiving and total touchdowns. He had just three catches for 46 yards.

He was double-teamed most of the time, so Brady threw touchdown passes of 7 and 25 yards to Benjamin Watson, and 34 yards to Donte' Stallworth.

Former Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest wasn't excited about his return to his longtime home, especially after the Browns (2-3) fell behind 20-0.

"Who wants to come back to a whupping?" he said as he signed one of his old Patriots jerseys for New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi.

The Patriots never trailed for the fourth game as they moved to 5-0 for the third time in club history.

It shouldn't be as easy when they visit Dallas Sunday.

COLTS 33, BUCS 14

INDIANAPOLIS — Missing five starters, the Colts' offense dominated as Kenton Keith ran for two scores and 121 yards in his first NFL start, and Peyton Manning threw two more touchdown passes as Indianapolis (5-0) headed into the bye week unbeaten for the third straight year.

Indianapolis kept the ball an astounding 38:15 and limited the Bucs (3-2) to eight yards rushing and 74 yards in offense in the first three quarters.

CHARGERS 41, BRONCOS 3

DENVER — The Chargers (2-3) handed the Broncos (2-3) their worst home loss since 1966 by rediscovering their winning formula: hold on to the ball.

Reigning MVP LaDainian Tomlinson amassed 140 yards, including 73 on three receptions, and backup Michael Turner added 147 yards on 10 carries, highlighted by a 74-yard touchdown trot along the Broncos' bewildered sideline in the fourth quarter.

STEELERS 21, SEAHAWKS 0

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger, scrambling and improvising without his usual receivers, led three lengthy touchdown drives highlighted by Najeh Davenport's second-half TD runs of 1 and 5 yards as Pittsburgh (4-1) blanked Seattle.

Roethlisberger bounced back from a two-interception performance in a 21-14 loss at Arizona the previous week to complete 18 of 22 (13 in a row at one point) for 206 yards, including a 13-yard scoring strike to Heath Miller for a 7-0 halftime lead.

RAVENS 9, 49ERS 7

SAN FRANCISCO — Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and their defensive crew suffocated the 49ers (2-3) on all but a few plays, and Matt Stover made up for the Ravens' (3-2) near-equal offensive ineptitude with three field goals.

The Ravens didn't get in the end zone despite outgaining San Francisco 315-163, yet they hung on with the franchise's lowest point total in a victory since the former Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996.

JAGUARS 17, CHIEFS 7

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maurice Jones-Drew sped 52 yards for one touchdown and David Garrard hit Dennis Northcutt for a 3-yard scoring pass after they hooked up on a 40-yarder to set up the TD as Jacksonville (3-1) won its third in a row and dropped Kansas City to 2-3.

The Jaguars held the Chiefs to 10 yards rushing. The Jaguars, who gave up 282 yards rushing to Tennessee in losing their opener, have not allowed more than 48 yards on the ground in any of the three games since, all wins.

REDSKINS 34, LIONS 3

LANDOVER, Md. — Fullback Mike Sellers caught a pass for one touchdown and ran for another as Washington (3-1) made it 21-0 at home against the Detroit (3-2) since moving to the nation's capitol in 1937.

Detroit had been averaging 28.5 points and 387.3 yards per game. But offensive coordinator Mike Martz's unit could only generate a field goal and 149 total yards against a Washington defense that had five sacks by four different players.

TEXANS 22, DOLPHINS 19

HOUSTON — Kris Brown kicked five field goals, including the winner on a career-long 57-yarder with 1 second remaining, to lead Houston (3-2) over Miami (0-5), which has lost eight straight over two seasons.

Brown tied an NFL single-game record with three field goals over 50 yards. He also hit two 54-yarders. The Dolphins might have lost quarterback Trent Green, who suffered a concussion trying to block in the first quarter. He was examined at a hospital and returned to the stadium.

GIANTS 35, JETS 24

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Giants rookie Aaron Ross returned the second of his first two NFL interceptions 43 yards for a touchdown with just over 3 minutes remaining to seal the Giants' (3-2) victory over the Jets (1-4) in the latest Battle of New York.

A week after getting 12 sacks against Philadelphia, the Giants had only one, by Osi Umenyiora with less than 3 minutes left. But they intercepted Chad Pennington three times. The last was the most costly as the Jets were driving for a potential go-ahead score.

PANTHERS 16, SAINTS 13

NEW ORLEANS — Steve Smith fought for yards through two tacklers to turn a short catch into a crucial first down, and John Kasay kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired, lifting Carolina (3-2) over New Orleans (0-4).

The Saints were supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, but now their chances of even competing for a playoff spot are slim. Only the 1992 San Diego Chargers have fought back from an 0-4 start to do that since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff system in 1990.

TITANS 20, FALCONS 13

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vincent Fuller picked off a pass and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown, and Kyle Vanden Bosch sacked Byron Leftwich with 1:01 left as Tennessee (3-1) overcame five turnovers to turn back Atlanta (1-4).

The win allowed the Titans to continue their best start since 2003, when they last reached the playoffs. But it couldn't have been uglier for a team coming off its bye as Vince Young matched his career high with three interceptions.

CARDINALS 34, RAMS 31

ST. LOUIS — Kurt Warner ran for a touchdown and threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Larry Fitzgerald with 3:11 to go for a 34-23 lead to lift Arizona (3-2). The Cardinals lost Matt Leinart, who fractured his left collarbone in the first half on a sack, but beat the Rams (0-5).

Rod Hood returned an off-target pass by Gus Frerotte 68 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinals a 27-20 lead.

Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said Leinart, the team's first-round pick in 2006, would be out indefinitely.

BEARS 27, PACKERS 20

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Brian Griese threw two touchdown passes, the last a 34-yarder to tight end Desmond Clark with 2:05 left to break a 20-all tie, as Chicago (2-3) rallied to beat Green Bay (4-1), which coughed up five turnovers.

Following Griese's second TD throw, Brett Favre drove the Packers to the Bears' 31 with 13 seconds remaining. But Favre threw an incomplete pass, then was intercepted by Bears safety Brandon McGowan in the end zone to end the game. Griese also threw a 19-yard TD pass to rookie tight end Greg Olsen to cut the Packers' lead to 20-17 with 4:19 left in the third quarter.