Packers stay perfect by beating Bucs

Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes and the Packers remained the National Football League's only undefeated team with a 35-26 triumph over visiting Tampa Bay. Rogers connected with Jordy Nelson on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 2:55 remaining to secure the victory, which improved the Packers to 10-0. The Buccaneers, who suffered their fourth loss in a row, fell to 4-6. Rodgers threw for 299 yards and also had 5-yard touchdown passes in the second quarter to Tom Crabtree and Nelson to help give the Packers a 21-10 half-time lead. But Josh Freeman threw for 342 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns for Tampa Bay, which kept the pressure on Green Bay until the final minutes. "It was great for us," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Adversity is awesome. Adversity (provides) healthy situations to learn from, especially when you overcome it." The Packers have little time to enjoy the victory as they will travel to Detroit for a game on Thursday, the American Thanksgiving holiday. Detroit rallied at home to beat Carolina 49-35 with Matthew Stafford completing 28-of-36 passes for 335 yards and five touchdowns, the last of them a 7-yarder to Brandon Pettigrew with 2:32 to play for the go-ahead score. Carolina's Cam Newton surrendered the last of his four interceptions on the next play from scrimmage and the Lions scored the final points on a 19-yard Kevin Smith run to seal the victory. The Lions, 7-3, became the first NFL team in more than 60 years to win three times in one season after trailing by 17 or more points. San Francisco, second overall in the NFL this season to Green Bay, kept pace with the Packers, improving to 9-1 with a 23-7 home victory over Arizona. The 49ers have the largest division lead, five games over Seattle in the NFC West. Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter and David Akers kicked three first-half field goals to spark the 49ers. Matt Moore threw three touchdown passes to power host Miami over Buffalo 35-8 for the Dolphins' third win in a row after an 0-7 start. The Bills dropped their third game in a row and also lost NFL rushing leader Fred Jackson in the third quarter with a leg injury. Another NFL loser suffered a major injury to a running back on Sunday as host Minnesota fell 27-21 to Oakland and played without Adrian Peterson for most of the game after he left with a second-quarter injury to his left ankle. Carson Palmer threw for 164 yards and a touchdown while Michael Bush rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown for Oakland, which improved to 6-4. But the Raiders suffered a scare of their own when receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey was carted off the field with a neck injury. He was moving his limbs after the game, Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. "He's going to be fine," Jackson said. "But obviously we have to take all the precautionary measures to make sure." Joe Flacco threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns while Ray Rice ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns to power Baltimore past Cincinnati 31-24, allowing the host Ravens to take a share of the AFC North division lead at 7-3. Dan Bailey kicked a 39-yard field goal 9:21 into over-time to give Dallas a 27-24 victory at Washington, lifting the Cowboys to 6-4 while the Redskins fell to 3-7 with their sixth loss in a row, their longest win drought since 1998. Dallas moved into a share of the NFC East lead when the New York Giants fell to 6-4 after losing 17-10 to the Philadelphia Eagles. Philadelphia's Vince Young flipped an 8-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper with 2:45 to play to cap an 18-play drive and provide the winning points. Chicago's Jay Cutler threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns to spark the Bears to their fifth win in a row, a 31-20 triumph over visiting San Diego that stretched the Chargers' losing streak to five games. In other games, Cleveland edged Jacksonville 14-10, Seattle beat St. Louis 24-7 and Atlanta defeated Tennessee 23-17.