CHICAGO — The Green Bay Packers clinched their second straight NFC North title with a 21-13 victory over the archrival Chicago Bears on Sunday.
James Jones caught all three touchdown passes thrown by the Packers' Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay has now won six straight in the NFL's oldest — and fiercest — rivalry.
The Packers (10-4) have won 12 straight against NFC North opponents, the longest streak in the NFL.
Brandon Marshall had a 15-yard TD catch for the Bears, who have lost five of six and are in danger of missing the playoffs after beginning the year 7-1. Clay Matthews continued his torture of Jay Cutler with two sacks, and Alshon Jeffery hurt the Bears (8-6) with three offensive pass interference calls late in the second half.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Brandon Carr intercepted a pass from Ben Roethlisberger to set up Dan Bailey's 21-yard field goal in overtime, and the Dallas Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Sunday.
The Cowboys won a Bailey kick on the final play for the second straight week since practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in a one-car accident that led to manslaughter charges against teammate Josh Brent.
Carr intercepted Roethlisberger's pass along the sideline and returned it 36 yards to the 1. Bailey's kick came after Tony Romo took a 2-yard loss to put the kicker in better position.
It was a disappointing ending for tens of thousands of Terrible Towel-waving Pittsburgh fans at Cowboys Stadium.
The Cowboys (8-6) moved into a three-way tie for the NFC East lead with the New York Giants and Washington Redskins. The Steelers (7-7) lost for the fourth time in five games.
ST. LOUIS — Adrian Peterson ran for a season-best 212 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown that fueled the Minnesota Vikings' big second quarter in a 36-22 victory that spoiled the St. Louis Rams' home finale Sunday.
Peterson has 1,812 yards rushing, leaving him 294 shy of breaking the NFL's single-season record of 2,105 by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams in 1984. Peterson, less than a year removed from a serious knee injury, has two games left — at Houston and home against Green Bay — to top Dickerson.
The Vikings (8-6) scored 10 of their 23 points in the second quarter off turnovers by Sam Bradford, including a 29-yard interception return by defensive end Everson Griffen.
They were up by 26 before Bradford, whose botched center snap also cost the Rams (6-7-1) a field goal in the second quarter, threw touchdown passes to Danny Amendola and Lance Kendricks in the fourth quarter.
HOUSTON — The Houston Texans are AFC South champions for the second straight year after beating the Indianapolis Colts, 29-17, Sunday.
Andre Johnson had 151 yards receiving and a touchdown, Bryan Braman scored a special teams touchdown on a blocked punt, and Shayne Graham kicked five field goals.
The Colts (9-5) had won three straight and needed a win to clinch a playoff berth a year after going 2-14.
CLEVELAND — Rookie Kirk Cousins threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns filling in for injured star Robert Griffin III, leading the Washington Redskins to their fifth straight win, 38-21 over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Cousins connected with Leonard Hankerson for both TDs in his first career start and the Redskins (8-6) barely missed a beat without the talented and multi-dimensional RG3, who sat out with a sprained knee.
BALTIMORE — Chris Harris returned an interception 98 yards for a momentum-turning touchdown, and the Denver Broncos beat the skidding Baltimore Ravens 34-17 Sunday for their ninth straight victory.
Peyton Manning threw for 204 yards and a score in his ninth consecutive win against Baltimore, the first with the Broncos (11-3).
Down 10-0 late in the first half, the Ravens had a first-and-goal at the Denver 4 when Harris stepped in front of Anquan Boldin, picked off a pass by Joe Flacco and sprinted down the right sideline en route to the longest regular-season interception return in Broncos history.
The Ravens (9-5) were playing their first game under offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell, who replaced the fired Cam Cameron.
Baltimore's offense sputtered in the first half, gaining only 119 yards and committing two turnovers that led to 10 Denver points. It was the third straight loss for the Ravens
ATLANTA — Matt Ryan threw three touchdowns passes and the Atlanta Falcons handed the New York Giants their first regular-season shutout since 1996, blowing out the defending Super Bowl champions 34-0 on Sunday.
Julio Jones caught a couple of scoring throws from Ryan, who broke his own franchise records for completions and passing yards in a season. He finished 23 of 28 for 270 yards.
The Falcons (12-2), who have already clinched the NFC South, moved a step closer to locking up home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs. One more win would lock it up.
Eli Manning threw two interceptions for New York (8-6), which came into the game with a one-game lead over Washington and Dallas in the NFC East. The Giants also went 0-for-3 on fourth down.
NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees passed for 307 yards and four touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints recorded their first shutout since 1995 in a 41-0 victory over the Buccaneers on Sunday, virtually ending Tampa Bay's already slim playoff hopes.
Brees connected on his scoring passes with tight end David Thomas, running back Darren Sproles and receivers Lance Moore and Joe Morgan. Mark Ingram added an 11-yard touchdown run.
Josh Freeman endured one of his worst outings of the season for Tampa Bay (6-8), throwing four interceptions and losing a fumble. Jabari Greer made two interceptions, Rafael Bush and Isa Abdul-Quddus the others. Cameron Jordan forced Freeman's fumble on a sack and recovered it.
MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins kept former teammate Chad Henne out of the end zone, making three fourth-down stops deep in their own territory and benefiting from an odd penalty in beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-3 Sunday.
Henne, playing in Miami for the first time since he departed as a Dolphins bust last offseason, threw for 221 yards with no turnovers. But the Dolphins turned back three scoring threats, and a go-ahead touchdown for the Jaguars came off the board because of an illegal-substitution penalty.
Ryan Tannehill went 22 for 28 for 220 yards and two scores with no interceptions to help Miami (6-8) win for only the second time in the past seven games. The Jaguars (2-12) helped their chances of getting the No. 1 draft pick next April.
TORONTO — Seattle rookie quarterback Russell Wilson ran for three touchdowns and threw for another in leading the Seahawks to their second straight rout, a 50-17 win over the Bills on Sunday in Buffalo's annual home game in Toronto.
Wilson scored on runs of 14, 25 and 4 yards and then hit Zach Miller for a 4-yard touchdown in helping the Seahawks score 31 points on their first five possessions. The defense then took over by forcing three consecutive turnovers to start the second half, including Earl Thomas scoring on 57-yard interception return.
A week after a 58-0 win at home against Arizona, the Seahawks (9-5) inched closer to clinching a playoff berth and became the NFL's third team to score 50 points on consecutive weekends.
Panthers 31, Chargers 7
SAN DIEGO — Mike Tolbert scored twice against his former team and DeAngelo Williams turned a tipped pass from Cam Newton into a 45-yard touchdown reception as the Carolina Panthers beat San Diego 31-7 Sunday and eliminated the Chargers from playoff contention for the third straight season.
Carolina (5-9) won consecutive games for the first time since last December.
The Chargers (5-9) clinched their first losing season since 2003, when they were an NFL-worse 4-12. Coach Norv Turner is expected to be fired at season's end, most likely along with general manager A.J. Smith.
The game was played before thousands of empty seats on a dreary, misty afternoon.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Greg Toler brought back an interception 102 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown, the longest return in franchise history, to seal Arizona's 31-10 victory over Detroit on Sunday, snapping the Cardinals' nine-game losing streak.
The Cardinals (5-9) intercepted Matthew Stafford three times, returning two of them for touchdowns and setting up a TD with the other, while sending the Lions to their sixth straight loss. Rashad Johnson brought back a pick 53 yards for a touchdown to cap Arizona's 21-point second quarter. Patrick Peterson's interception set up another score.
Another TD by Arizona came after Detroit (4-10) muffed a punt.
Detroit's Calvin Johnson became the first player in NFL history with consecutive 1,600-yard receiving seasons and tied an NFL record with his seventh straight 100-yard receiving game.
OAKLAND, Calif. — Sebastian Janikowski kicked five field goals, Darren McFadden rushed for 110 yards and the Oakland Raiders shut out Kansas City for the second time ever, beating the Chiefs 15-0 on Sunday.
The Raiders (4-10) overwhelmed the undermanned Chiefs (2-12) to snap a six-game losing streak. Sandwiched around those losses are a pair of wins over Kansas City, a rare bright spot in this disappointing season in Oakland.
There has been little to cheer for this season for the Chiefs, who have lost 10 of 11 games and are tied for the second most losses in franchise history behind a 2-14 mark in 2008.
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