PACKERS ...34 LIONS ...12 Aaron Rodgers matched a career high with three touchdown passes as Green Bay won its third straight to improve its playoff prospects. Detroit lost its sixth straight game on Thanksgiving, setting a franchise record, and had an emotional setback after its biggest comeback win since 1957. Matthew Stafford, playing with a sore non-throwing shoulder, threw one touchdown pass and four interceptions in a rookie-like performance, after passing for five scores in Sunday's win against Cleveland. Detroit trailed the Browns by 21 before coming all the way back. The Lions (2-9) looked like they were building off that momentum by recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff and with Stafford's TD pass to Calvin Johnson. But the Packers (7-4) scored 27 consecutive points in the second and third quarters to turn the game into a familiar rout. Detroit lost its previous five games on Thanksgiving by an average of 23.4 points, and eight of nine in the showcase game. The Packers have won nine in a row against them overall. ...more

November 27, 2009

COWBOYS ...24 RAIDERS ...7 Tony Romo snapped the Dallas Cowboys from their offensive slumber by leading them to a season-high 494 yards, with receiver Miles Austin delivering 145 yards and a touchdown. By winning for the sixth time in seven games, Dallas (8-3) is guaranteed of going into the final month of the season atop the NFC East. Now comes the real challenge: Staying there. The Cowboys are 5-10 in games after Thanksgiving since Romo became the starting quarterback in 2006. Oakland (3-8) and its new starting quarterback, former Buc Bruce Gradkowski, were coming off a victory vs. division-leading Cincinnati just a few days before, but couldn't even cross midfield in the first half. The Raiders' lone highlight was top draft pick Darrius Heyward-Bey making the first touchdown catch of his career. Dallas' defense continued its strong play, with linebacker Anthony Spencer coming up with his first two sacks of the season. Romo went 18 of 29 for 309 yards with two touchdown passes and no turnovers. Tight end Jason Witten not only made his 102nd straight start, but also caught five passes for 107 yards. ...more

November 27, 2009

CARDINALS ...31 SEAHAWKS ...20 The Arizona fans finally saw a semblance of the team they saw win the NFC championship last season. Rookie Beanie Wells had second-half touchdown runs of 10 and 13 yards and the Cardinals rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to beat the Seahawks, just Arizona's second home win in five tries. Kurt Warner completed 29 of 38 for 340 yards and two TD passes for the Cardinals, who stayed two games up on San Francisco in the NFC West. In the process, Warner became the 29th player in NFL history to throw 200 touchdown passes. He had his 51st 300-yard passing game, tying Dan Fouts for fourth on the NFL career list. ...more

November 16, 2009

JAGUARS...24 JETS...22 Jacksonville boosted its playoff chances with a big road win and sent the Jets to another devastating loss. Josh Scobee kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired, making up for an earlier miss. With the Jaguars facing second-and-6 from the 10, Maurice Jones-Drew took a handoff up the middle and went to a knee at the 1 to give Jacksonville first-and-goal with just over a minute left. New York had no timeouts left. David Garrard took a knee on the next two plays, giving Scobee the opportunity to kick the winner. The Jets came out of their bye-week break making the same mistakes that plagued them in the first eight games. New York has lost five of six. ...more

November 16, 2009

TITANS ...41 BILLS ...17 Chris Johnson ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and he caught nine passes for 100 more. The Titans have won three straight games since opening the season 0-6, and they can thank Johnson, the NFL's leading rusher and the league's first back to top 1,000 yards this season. Young also threw for a touchdown and finished with 210 yards passing in winning his seventh straight start. Buffalo got Trent Edwards back and rookie Jairus Byrd picked off a pass in a fifth straight game, but the Bills lost their second straight. ...more

November 16, 2009

VIKINGS ...27 LIONS ...10 Brett Favre passed for a season-high 344 yards, 201 to Sidney Rice, and Detroit lost for the 31st time in 33 games. The Lions joined the Houston Oilers, from Nov. 21, 1982, through Nov. 4, 1984, as the only NFL teams to lose 31 games in a 33-game stretch, according to STATS. They've played tough this season several times, as the Vikings can attest, but after a slew of injuries in this game and more poor pass coverage they dropped their 12th straight at the Metrodome. Adrian Peterson lost a fumble but turned 18 carries into 133 yards and two TDs for Minnesota. The Vikings overcame a season-most 13 penalties. ...more

November 16, 2009

CHIEFS ...16 RAIDERS ...10 Jamaal Charles scored on a 44-yard run for Kansas City's first rushing touchdown of the season and the Chiefs used a late interception to win their seventh straight game in Oakland. The Chiefs have managed to win just five of their past 35 games. But three of those wins have come at the Oakland Coliseum, where Kansas City has the longest winning streak ever by a visiting team. Ryan Succop kicked three field goals and Kansas City once again pulled out a close one against the Raiders in Oakland in their first game since releasing running back Larry Johnson. The Raiders scored a touchdown on their opening drive and then managed just three points and 202 yards the rest of the way. ...more

November 16, 2009

REDSKINS ...27 BRONCOS ...17 Washington broke the 17-point barrier for the first time this season and ended a four-game losing streak. Denver lost its third straight after starting the season 6-0 and had to play the second half with ex-Buc Chris Simms at quarterback after Kyle Orton left with an ankle injury. Ladell Betts scored on a 1-yard run with 2:44 to play. With Clinton Portis sidelined after suffering a concussion in last week's loss at Atlanta, Betts made his first start since 2006 and ran for 114 yards on 26 carries. Jason Campbell completed 17 of 26 passes for 193 yards for the Redskins. The 27-point outburst was their greatest since Week 2 of last season. ...more

November 16, 2009

PACKERS ...17 COWBOYS ...7 Charles Woodson helped Green Bay's defense finally play up to its potential against a big-time opponent, forcing two fumbles and picking off a pass by Tony Romo on the goal line in a victory against Dallas. It wasn't a pretty win for the Packers, but it might have saved their season after back-to-back demoralizing losses. The Packers sacked Romo five times and held him to 251 yards passing in a momentum-killer for the Cowboys, who had won four straight. Dallas also lost starting right tackle Marc Colombo to a broken left leg. Aaron Rodgers scored on a quarterback sneak and threw a touchdown pass to tight end Spencer Havner. Rodgers endured another rough day at the office, taking four sacks and spending much of the day under pressure. ...more

November 16, 2009

CHARGERS ...31 EAGLES ...23 LaDainian Tomlinson scored twice to continue his climb up the career rushing and scoring lists, and San Diego won its fourth straight to pull into a tie atop the AFC West with slumping Denver. The Chargers and Broncos, both 6-3, play next Sunday in Denver. Four weeks ago, the Chargers appeared dead in the water, 3 1/2 games back after losing 34-23 to the then-undefeated Broncos. Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb threw for a season-high 450 yards, completing 35 of 55, and two late touchdowns. He was intercepted in the end zone by Antonio Cromartie on the game's last play. ...more

November 16, 2009