The New York Giants and Tennessee Titans both maintained their perfect starts to the season in week five.
Edwards injured as Bills beaten for first time
Week five results | Standings
Super Bowl champions the New York Giants recorded their biggest win since November 1972 to emphatically keep their unbeaten record intact, but the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys stayed hot on their heels in the NFC East with respective triumphs over the Philadelphia Eagles and Cinncinati Bengals.
The Tennessee Titans are also unbeaten and moved one better than the Giants at 5-0 after they left it late to earn a tough win at the Baltimore Ravens.
But the Buffalo Bills had a day to forget, suffering their first reverse of the season and losing their starting quarterback Trent Edwards to concussion in a blow-out defeat to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Ronnie Brown-inspired Miami Dolphins continued their renaissance in week five by humbling the San Diego Chargers, while the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers both produced late comebacks to win on the road.
Seattle 6-44 NY Giants
The Super Bowl champions continue to impress as they moved to 4-0 by crushing the Seahawks 44-6, making light of Plaxico Burress' absence through suspension.
Eli Manning was imperious and Brandon Jacobs at his bruising best, while Domenik Hixon proved to be a revelation.
Manning threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns, Jacobs ran for 136 and a pair of scores, while Hixon had over 100 yards receiving and also entered the end zone.
Washington 23-17 Philadelphia
Jim Zorn's Redskins came from 14-0 behind in Philadelphia to record a big road victory in the tough NFC East, putting up 388 yards of total offence against the number three-ranked defence in the NFL.
After Brian Westbrook's run into the end zone and DeSean Jackson's 68-yard punt return, the Eagles were put to sleep by the Skins' defence and three Shaun Suisham field goals got the visitors within range.
Jason Campbell again did not throw an interception, but it was Antwaan Randle El who threw a touchdown pass to Chris Cooley, before Clinton Portis ran in from four yards for what proved the decisive score.
Tennessee 13-10 Baltimore
The Titans improved to 5-0 thanks to a late touchdown from tight end Alge Crumpler, who caught Kerry Collins' 11-yard pass just two minutes from the end.
In an expected tough match-up between two strong defences, LeRon McClain's one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter put the Ravens 10-3 in front.
But Rob Bironas landed a 26-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and, when the Titans got the ball back, Collins marshalled an 11-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Crumpler's game-clincher.
San Diego 10-17 Miami
The worst team in the league last year, the Miami Dolphins continued their impressive start to the season by taking out the well-fancied San Diego Chargers.
Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington was again efficient with 228 yards passing and a touchdown throw to Greg Camarillo.
Ronnie Brown, however, was the standout performer on Miami's offence, piling up 125 rushing yards and a touchdown, while the Dolphins defence shut down LaDainian Tomlinson, who was limited to just 35 yards from 12 carries.
Chicago 34-7 Detroit
Chicago improved to a winning 3-2 record courtesy of a comprehensive success in Detroit.
Quarterback Kyle Orton defied his many critics by throwing for 332 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-7 Bears rout.
Matt Forte only rushed 36 yards but grabbed another touchdown, while Devin Hester also grabbed a touchdown and Charles Tillman ran back a 26-yard interception for a score.
Indianapolis 31-27 Houston
The Indianapolis Colts came from behind to ambush AFC South rivals the Houston Texans.
Houston conceded 21 points in three minutes late in the fourth quarter to see a 27-10 lead evaporate into a 31-27 defeat.
Indianapolis had seen their own early 10-0 wiped out with two Steve Slaton runs and an Andre Johnson touchdown, but Peyton Manning threw two touchdown passes, and Gary Brackett took a recovered fumble all the way to the house from 68 yards to turn things around.
Atlanta 27-24 Green Bay
Aaron Rodgers was healthy to play for the Packers, but rookie Matt Ryan came away with the win.
Ryan's 194 yards and two touchdowns were overshadowed by 313 yards and three touchdowns for Rodgers, but Michael Turner added a two-yard score with less the four minutes left on the clock to seal the result for the Falcons.
Kansas City 0-34 Carolina
The Kansas City Chiefs were on the wrong end of a thorough mauling at the hands of the Carolina Panthers, who strolled to a 34-0 shutout victory at Bank of America Stadium.
DeAngelo Williams scored a hat-trick of touchdowns, two on the ground and one from a 25-yard pass by Jake Delhomme, who also connected with Muhsin Muhammad on a 47-yard score.
Pittsburgh 26-21 Jacksonville
Hines Ward's touchdown with less than two minutes left on the clock sealed a 26-21 road win for Pittsburgh in Jacksonville.
Ward hauled in an eight-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive.
Roethlisberger finished with 309 yards and three touchdowns, having earlier located Heath Miller and Nate Washington in the end zone.
Buffalo 17-41 Arizona
Larry Fitzgerald and Tim Hightower both scored two touchdowns as the Arizona Cardinals' high-octane offence overwhelmed the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills in Phoenix.
Veteran quarterback Kurt Warner completed 33 of 42 passing attempts for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns - both short-range throws to Fitzgerald.
Buffalo lost starting quarterback Trent Edwards on the third play of the game when Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson - untouched on a blitz - levelled him with a fercocious hit.
Edwards lay on the ground for several minutes before being helped to the sideline - it was later confirmed he had sustained a concussion.
JP Losman took over with some success, throwing for 220 yards and a touchdown and running for another himself, although the Bills were still soundly beaten.
New England 30-21 San Francisco
New England got back to winning ways after their bye week with a 30-21 triumph in San Francisco.
The 49ers led 14-7 after the opening quarter - touchdowns from Isaac Bruce and Frank Gore sandwiched a 66-yard effort from Patriots receiver Randy Moss.
The visitors took control thereafter, Stephen Gostkowski landed a 35-yard field goal and Kevin Faulk went in from two yards on the ground to put them in front during the second quarter.
And another Faulk touchdown coupled with a pair of Gostkowski field goals sealed the result for Bill Belichick's men.
Cincinnati 22-31 Dallas
The winless Cincinnati Bengals slumped to their fifth straight loss at the Dallas Cowboys.
Touchdowns from Felix Jones and Jason Witten helped the Cowboys open a 17-point lead inside the first 20 minutes.
And despite the best efforts of Carson Palmer and TJ Houshmandzadeh - who linked up twice in the end zone - the Bengals could not turn things around.
Dallas quarterback Tony Romo threw late scores to Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton to finish with 176 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Tampa Bay 13-16 Denver
Denver eked out a narrow triumph over Tampa Bay to take total control of the AFC West.
It was largely a festival of field goals, Broncos kicker Matt Prater managed three - including a 55 yarder - compared to his opposite number Matt Bryant's two.
Brandon Stokely caught Denver's only touchdown in the third quarter from a 10-yard Jay Cutler pass. Cutler, who threw for a season-low 227 yards, adopted a conservative approach, eschewing the deep ball in favour of short passing options to negate the threat of the Buccaneers' strong secondary.
Tampa Bay lost starting quarterback Brian Griese to an elbow injury in the third quarter. Jeff Garcia replaced Griese and completed 13 of 17 passes, including a seven-yard effort to Ike Hillard for a touchdown with just over five minutes to play.
