Mark Sanchez drove the New York Jets 72 yards inside the last minute to score a dramatic touchdown that stunned Houston 30-27.
Sanchez stuns Texans, Rodgers batteres Vikings and Steelers show up
Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets left it to the last few seconds to stun Houston 30-27, while Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers dismantled Minnesota to end their season.
Sanchez and the Jets drove 72 yards in just 45 seconds to steal a game the Texans thought they had won, leaving New York on 8-2 and top of the AFC East, while the Packers destroyed Brett Favre's Vikings at home.
Washington edged Tennessee in overtime, and Jacksonville took advantage to move above the Titans after scraping past the Browns late on in Florida.
Pittsburgh bounced back from last week's home humbling by smashing Oakland, Baltimore's defence also came up big against Carolina and Kansas City remained unbeaten at home as their play-off charge continued.
Houston Texans 27-30 New York Jets
Mark Sanchez drove the Jets 72 yards in just 45 seconds to break Houston's hearts with a dramatic late TD throw to Santonio Holmes in a breathless finish to the game at the Meadowlands.
Holmes' first TD grab had put the Jets 23-7 ahead and cruising before a Texans comeback saw them go ahead through Joel Dreessen and Arian Foster, and a field goal made the gap four points with just 55 seconds left on the clock.
With no timeouts, the Jets looked dead and buried, but Houston's league-worst pass defence showed their very worst to allow Sanchez to hit Braylon Edwards with a long gain before Holmes was allowed space to collect in the end zone, and the Texans lost late on for the second week in a row.
Green Bay Packers 31-3 Minnesota Vikings
The Packers ended any lingering hopes Minnesota had of a late revival this season, with Aaron Rodgers shredding the Vikings to the tune of 301 yards and four touchdowns to keep Green Bay level with Chicago at the top of the NFC North.
Greg Jennings was the main beneficiary of Rodgers' exploits with three TD catches and 152 yards while the visiting defence neutralised anything Brett Favre had to offer with just a field goal all the home side could muster.
The 100th meeting of the two old rivals resulted in an emphatic endorsement of Green Bay's Super Bowl chances, while also throwing more doubt over both Favre and coach Brad Childress' futures in Minnesota.
Baltimore Ravens 37-13 Carolina Panthers
Bran St Pierre threatened to upset the odds when he threw an 88-yard TD to David Gettis in his first start as Carolina quarterback, but the Ravens soon snuffed out that danger with two interception scores.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh's 56-yard TD from Joe Flacco and a one-yard Ray Rice run put Baltimore in control but when St Pierre, only signed a week ago by the injury-ravaged Panthers, hit Gettis Carolina trailed by just 20-13.
The Ravens defence replied though, with Ed reed intercepting St Pierre before pitching the ball to Dawan Landry for the TD, and Ray Lewis also taking a pick to the house from 24 yards to seal the win.
Oakland Raiders 3-35 Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers rarely lose two games at home, and they responded to last week's humbling by New England with a dominant display against the Raiders and allowing them just 182 yards of offence and one field goal.
James Harrison had the defence fired up, as they forced QB Jason Campbell out of the game and also forced two crucial interceptions that Ben Roethlisberger turned into TDs - with the Steelers QB throwing three in all.
Rashard Mendenhall also ran in from five yards, while Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Wallace and Isaac Redman caught TD passes and Pittsburgh moved to 7-3 to keep pace with Baltimore at the top of the AFC North.
Arizona Cardinals 13-31 Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs maintained their unbeaten home record and moved clear at the top of the AFC West with a confident disposal of the Cardinals, with Dwayne Bowe and Thomas Jones both scoring two TDs for the home side.
Arizona's miserable run continued as they lost a fifth straight game despite Derek Anderson throwing for 295 yards, a TD to Larry Fitzgerald and no interceptions, but overall being unable to make the most of having more time of possession.
In contracts, the Chiefs scored on three out of four visits to the red zone, and Bowe continued his fantastic run of form that has seen him score ten touchdowns in his last six games and the Chiefs seem a solid shout for the play-offs.
Detroit Lions 19-35 Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys fans had a rare win to shout about in their new stadium, with 38-year-old QB John Kitna throwing three TDs to give interim coach Jason Garrett his second win out of two games in charge.
Kitna found his favourite receiver Dez Bryant in the first quarter and then Miles Austin for two short TD catches before bounding in for one himself - a career-best 29-yard TD run to put the icing on the cake.
Bryan McCann sparked the win as he returned a batted-down punt 97 yards for a game-changing score, just a week after his 101-yard interception TD, to extend Detroit's miserable away run to 26 consecutive defeats.
Cleveland Browns 20-24 Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville did not play well at home against the Browns, but Maurice Jones-Drew's late touchdown got them the win that puts them on 6-4 and quietly continuing to contend for the play-offs.
Six turnovers by the Jags, including three David Garrard interceptions, had them struggling before Jones-Drew took a screen pass 75 yards when storming through four tackles.
Jones-Drew punched it in two plays later, and Jacksonville grabbed the win when Colt McCoy's attempt to win it for the Browns just about failed as his pass to Mike Bell was tipped and intercepted by Sean Considine.
Washington Redskins 19-16 (OT) Tennessee Titans
Jacksonville's late win saw them move ahead of Tennessee after the Titans lost a tight game in overtime against the Redskins, with Graham Gano's fourth field goal of the game winning it for Washington.
Tennessee failed to muster an offensive TD, as Marc Mariani's 87-yard punt return was the only time they found the end zone, while Donovan McNabb responded with a five-yard pass to Santana Moss.
Chris Johnson ran for 130 yards, Nate Washington had 177 receiving but QB Vince Young was forced out with an ankle injury and nobody could fine the end zone with a kicking contest being called even until overtime.
Buffalo Bills 49-31 Cincinnati Bengals
Buffalo produced a remarkable comeback, their biggest in 13 years, to erase a 28-7 second-quarter lead and win a second successive game as the hapless Bengals fell to 2-8 for the season in front of their smallest crowd in seven years.
Ryan Fitzpatrick overcame three early interceptions to turn in a career-best performance with 316 yards and four TDs, three of them to Steve Johnson who finished with 137 yards on eight receptions.
Fred Jackson also had a big game with two TDs and 116 yards rushing as Buffalo piled up 35 second-half points while holding the Bengals scoreless as Carson Palmer and co collapsed amidst a chorus of home crowd boos.
