For NFL fans this Sunday, these were the essential power tools: access to multiple television screens, a neck brace for your swiveling head and super-absorbent towels to clean up the flopsweat. Everywhere, it seemed, games were coming down to the pulse-pounding wire.

	Daunte Culpepper picks up a fumbled snap and wins the game for the Vikings.

A rare game-deciding 2-point conversion by the Vikings broke hearts in New Orleans. At nearly the same time, the Colts' goal-line stand silenced Cleveland's Dog Pound.

"This is the most down I've been after a game because I wanted to come out and win this game more than any game I've ever been in," said Tim Couch, who has led his team to six come-from-behind victories in the expansion Browns' four-year history, but couldn't produce a seventh on Sunday. "It's a heartbreaking loss."

Just as the Dolphins avoided their annual December swoon with a game-saving, one-handed interception in Miami, the Seahawks clipped Michael Vick's wings with a stunning overtime upset in Atlanta. If that were not enough, the Bills spoiled Doug Flutie's dramatic return to the spotlight in Orchard Park.

Elsewhere, receiver Wayne Chrebet -- who had complained earlier this season about not seeing the ball enough -- fumbled the Jets' last chance in Champaign, Ill., the Bears' home away from home. And at Ford Field the valiant Lions, playing without hospitalized quarterback Joey Harrington, provided a scare for the Buccaneers.

A flurry of game-deciding plays occurred in the span of 38 minutes. Here, with their approximate times, are some of the key moments from the early thrillers:

3:53 p.m. ET
Jason Taylor sacked Rich Gannon three times, but the host Dolphins needed a late interception to stave off the NFL's hottest passer and beat the Raiders, 23-17. Patrick Surtain picked off Gannon's bomb intended for Jerry Rice in the final two minutes to seal the victory.

"It was a play someone had to make, and I was fortunate to make it," Surtain said. "To hold those guys to one touchdown is a phenomenal feat."

	Self-preservation took over as Wayne Chrebet fell face forward after hurdling a Bears defender. Unfortunately, instinct didn't prevent him from fumbling away the ball.

3:53 p.m. ET
The Jets' playoff hopes are in peril again after losing 20-13 to the host Bears. Receiver Chrebet, trying to stretch a 23-yard pass reception, tried to hurdle a Bears defender in the open field. Landing face forward, he put his hands out to brace his fall and in the process fumbled away the ball. Roosevelt Williams recovered the ball at the Bears 14 to preserve the victory with 1:19 left in the game.

"It's not something I sit around and think about doing," Chrebet said. "That was my natural reaction. It's not the smartest thing to do. But if it works, we tie it up."

4:01 p.m. ET
At Detroit, Martin Gramatica's 38-yard field goal with 3:04 left gave the Buccaneers a 23-20 win over the Lions, who played most of the game without Harrington. The rookie quarterback left the game in the first half and was sent to a local hospital after an irregular heartbeat was detected. The 11-3 Bucs survived the 3-11 Lions' upset bid when kicker Jason Hanson failed to convert a 57-yard field goal with 1:51 left. The Lions' team doctor said Harrington's heartbeat returned to a normal rhythm before he was hospitalized, but he was to stay overnight at Henry Ford Hospital as a precaution.

4:10 p.m. ET
The Bills spoiled the homecomings for two of their former players in a 20-13 victory over the Chargers. Flutie, the one-time Buffalo icon, replaced season-long starting quarterback Drew Brees in the fourth quarter and engineered a drive that ended in a 53-yard game-tying field goal by Steve Christie, another ex-Bill now with the Chargers. But Travis Henry, who rushed for 144 yards, raced around right end and down the sideline for a 26-yard, game-winning TD with 52 seconds remaining.

4:17 p.m. ET
In the Superdome, quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw a 13-yard touchdown to Randy Moss with five seconds remaining, then ran for the game-winning 2-point conversion, as the Vikings snapped a 17-game road losing streak with a 32-31 victory over the Saints.

On the deciding conversion, Culpepper dropped the shotgun snap, recovered it, then threaded his way into the end zone to complete the comeback.

"The joy that came into my body, I can't put into words," Culpepper said of the deciding score.

4:18 p.m. ET
Marvin Harrison's nine-reception, 172-yard, two-touchdown showing might have been wasted if not for the Colts' last-minute defensive stand. Out of timeouts, Browns quarterback Tim Couch moved the Browns to the Colts' 10 in the final 90 seconds. But Colts defensive lineman Josh Williams, dropping back into pass coverage, deflected Couch's third-down pass at the goal line. Couch's fourth-down pass skipped off Andre' Davis' hands as the Colts hung on for a 28-23 victory.

	Shaun Alexander wouldn't have scored hisTD if Jay Feely hadn't missed his field goal.

4:31 p.m. ET
Moments after Falcons kicker Jay Feely failed to convert a 36-yard field goal in overtime, Seahawks halfback Shaun Alexander scampered 27 yards to score the winning touchdown and a 30-24 upset victory at the Georgia Dome.

Neither of those two plays would have happened without Vick's late-game heroics. He threw a 12-yard scoring pass to Trevor Gaylor with 17 seconds remaining in regulation to help force the extra period, then drove the Falcons to the Seahawks' 18 in overtime to set up Feely's attempt.

It was the 22nd overtime game of the season, breaking the NFL record set in 1995. There has been at least one OT game in 12 of the 15 weeks this season.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report