Standing on the sideline, scowling and gingerly holding his bandaged right arm, all Brett Favre could do was watch Tony Romo impersonate him. The kid was good. Too good for Favre and the Packers. The Wisconsin native who spent all week denying Favre was his childhood hero sure played a lot like a young No. 4 Thursday night -- full of moxie and joy, but needing a bit of a high-wire act to send the Cowboys past the Packers 37-27 and into the lead for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

A terrible field and dreadful weather caused the Dolphins and Steelers to rewind to a different NFL era, a time when points came at a premium and one field goal could decide a game. They trudged through the quagmire of Heinz Field, nearly going all night without scoring. Nearly. Jeff Reed's 24-yard field goal with 17 seconds left Monday night gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 victory over winless Miami, the first time in 64 years an NFL game went that long without any points.

Green Bay 37, Detroit 26 The Thanksgiving Day slate of games opened with a clash between the Packers and Lions. Brett Favre starred in the show, throwing for 381 yards and three touchdowns. The Packers? new starting running back Ryan Grant chipped in as well, rushing for 101 yards and scored a touchdown of his own. Lions? quarterback Jon Kitna struggled, going 19-for-40 with 224 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The final score made the game look a lot closer than it actually was, as Detroit added two late touchdowns long after the result had been determined. Green Bay (10-1) travels to Dallas (10-1) for a showdown between the best teams in the NFC. Fantasy Star: Brett Favre, GB: 381 passing yards and three touchdowns. Dallas 34, N.Y. Jets 3 This one wasn?t close from the very beginning. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo wasn?t spectacular, but he didn?t have to be as the Cowboys? defense held the Jets to a measly field goal at Texas Stadium. Romo threw for 195 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while Jets? QB Kellen Clemens managed just 142 yards and a turnover. Marion Barber aided the Cowboys? attack, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown on just 18 attempts. Terrell Owens continued his hot streak, hauling in six passes for 65 yards and a score. Fantasy Star: Marion Barber, DAL: 103 rushing yards and a touchdown. Indianapolis 31, Atlanta 13 Peyton Manning and the Colts? offense righted the ship as they ended their three-game scoring draught with a dismantling of the Falcons. Manning connected on 22-of-32 pass attempts for 272 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. His counterpart, Joey Harrington, had 155 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Atlanta jumped out to a 10-0 after the first quarter, but Indianapolis (9-2) took over from there. Good thing, because the Jaguars (8-3) are right on their heels in the AFC South. Fantasy Star: Roddy White, ATL: 104 receiving yards and a touchdown. New Orleans 31, Carolina 6 The Saints kept themselves in the NFC playoff picture with a 31-6 dismantling of the Panthers. Drew Brees threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, while the New Orleans? defense pestered David Carr, and then Matt Moore, all afternoon. The Saints are still two games behind the Buccaneers for the lead in the NFC South, but their record (5-6) is good enough to remain in the Wild Card race. Fantasy Star: Drew Brees, NO: 260 passing yards and four total touchdowns. Tampa Bay 19, Washington 13 The Buccaneers didn?t put on a tremendous offensive display, but a combination of timely scoring and tough defense allowed them to improve to 7-4 on the season. Earnest Graham ran for 75 yards and scored Tampa Bay?s only touchdown early in the first quarter. Redskins? quarterback Jason Campbell passed for 301 yards and a score, but it was his two interceptions that doomed Washington?s hopes at Raymond James Stadium. The loss dropped the Redskins into a tie for last place in the NFC East with the Eagles. Fantasy Star: Chris Cooley, WSH: 96 receiving yards and a touchdown. Seattle 24, St. Louis 19 Despite losing quarterback Marc Bulger to a concussion early in the game, the Rams very nearly upset the Seahawks behind the play of Gus Frerotte. He threw for 161 yards and a touchdown, but his fumble near the Seahawks? end zone in the final moments of the game ended the Rams? chances. Without Shaun Alexander in the backfield Maurice Morris excelled, rushing for 79 yards on just 16 carries. Steven Jackson added 90 yards of his own to go along with a touchdown. The win, Seattle?s third consecutive, gave them a two-game lead in the sub par NFC West. Fantasy Star: Deion Brach, SEA: 92 receiving yards and a touchdown. Minnesota 41, N.Y. Giants 17 Eli Manning won the game on Sunday, but not for his Giants. Manning tossed four interceptions into the Minnesota secondary, with three of them being returned for scores. That was all the Vikings needed to knock off the struggling Giants. Chester Taylor added 77 yards and a score, to go along with a Tarvaris Jackson touchdown strike to Sidney Rice. Manning only managed to reach the end zone once, on a 6-yard pass to Plaxico Burress late in the fourth quarter with the game already well out of reach. The win kept Minnesota?s playoff hopes alive, while the loss may have dropped New York (7-4) out of the NFC East race. Fantasy Star: Minnesota DEF: 3 sacks, 4 interceptions and 3 touchdowns. Oakland 20, Kansas City 17 The Raiders ended a 17-game losing streak within the AFC West as they stunned the Chiefs with their defense and a late game-winning touchdown run by Justin Fargas. Daunte Culpepper passed for only 170 yards, but Fargas was all the offense Oakland needed with 139 yards on the ground. Kolby Smith stepped in nicely for the injury-riddled Chiefs with 150 yards and two scores of his own. The loss dropped Kansas City to two games back of the division-leading Chargers with just five games left in the regular season. Fantasy Star: Kolby Smith, KC: 150 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Jacksonville 36, Buffalo 14 The Patriots are so good, even this game resulted in a victory for them. The Bills loss to the Jaguars clinched the division for New England, who didn?t even take the field until several hours after Jacksonville dismantled Buffalo. David Garrard passed for 296 yards and a touchdown, and Fred Taylor ran for 104 yards and a score of his own. The Jaguars? defense held the Bills in check, who might still be reeling from the romping they received at the hands of the Pats in Week Eleven. The win kept Jacksonville (8-3) within a game of the defending champion Colts for the lead in the AFC South. Fantasy Star: Fred Taylor, JAX: 104 rushing yards and a touchdown. Cleveland 27, Houston 17 The dream season for the Cleveland Browns continues as they improved to 7-4 with a win over the Houston Texans at home on Sunday. Browns? quarterback Derek Anderson hooked up with Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards for touchdowns, and Jamal Lewis rushed for 134 yards and a score as Cleveland won rather easily. Texans? QB Matt Schaub threw for 256 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss. The victory allowed the Browns to keep pace with Pittsburgh (7-3), who faces Miami on Monday Night Football, in the AFC North. Fantasy Star: Jamal Lewis, CLE: 134 rushing yards and a touchdown. Cincinnati 35, Tennessee 6 Without Albert Haynesworth the Tennessee Titans can?t seem to stop anyone. Through the first nine weeks of the season the Titans? defense was one of the best in the league, but they have been roughed up in each of the last three weeks with Haynesworth out of the lineup. Carson Palmer passed for 283 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in the win. Palmer hooked up with Chad Johnson twelve times for 103 yards and all three of his touchdowns. The loss put the Titans (6-5) on the playoff bubble as the season enters the home stretch. Fantasy Star: Chad Johnson, CIN: 130 receiving yards and three touchdowns. San Francisco 37, Arizona 31 The 49ers earned their third win of the season, hurting the Cardinals playoff chances in the process. Trent Dilfer passed for 256 yards and two touchdowns, and Frank Gore returned to old form rushing 21 times for 116 yards and two trips to the end zone. Kurt Warner tallied 484 passing yards and two scores, but his fumble in overtime was recovered by the 49ers in the end zone, costing Arizona the game. Arizona is two games behind the Seahawks in the NFC West, heading into their Dec. 9 meeting. Fantasy Star: Larry Fitzgerald, ARI: 156 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Chicago 37, Denver 34 The Bears were victorious on a Robbie Gould field goal in overtime, allowing Chicago fans to keep their playoff hopes alive for another week. Rex Grossman struggled once again, throwing for 193 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but Devin Hester kept the Bears in the game with a pair of kick returns for touchdowns. Broncos? QB Jay Cutler had a nice game, with 302 yards and two touchdowns, but the Denver defense couldn?t keep Hester or Adrian Peterson out of the end zone. Chicago?s Cedric Benson was carried off the field after injuring his left ankle. Fantasy Star: Brandon Marshall, DEN: 97 receiving yards and a touchdown. San Diego 32, Baltimore 14 The Chargers dealt the Ravens their fourth-straight loss, catapulting themselves into first in the AFC West in the process. Philip Rivers tallied 249 yards and three scores, two of them to tight end Antonio Gates, posting one of his best performances this season. LaDainian Tomlinson ran for just 77 yards, without reaching the end zone, but the victory gave him something to smile about during his postgame interview. Kyle Boller passed for 191 yards and a touchdown and Willis McGahee ran for 59 yards and a score, but it wasn?t enough to counteract the Chargers? offense onslaught. Fantasy Star: Antonio Gates, SD: 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns. New England 31, Philadelphia 28 Philadelphia entered the game as 22-point underdogs, but someone must have forgotten to tell the Eagles that they had no business competing with the Patriots. Despite throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown on the game?s first series, A.J. Feeley kept the Eagles in the game until the final minutes, throwing for 345 yards and three touchdowns against New England?s swarming defense. Ultimately, it was Asante Samuel?s interception with the Eagles knocking on the door in the final minutes of the fourth quarter that preserved the Pats? perfect record. Philadelphia actually led midway through the fourth quarter, but a special teams penalty gave New England another chance to take the lead. Laurence Maroney took advantage of the extra series, scoring on a 4-yard run that ended up being the game-winning touchdown. The win was the closest for New England this season, and with five games left they stand tall at 11-0. Fantasy Star: Greg Lewis, PHI: 88 yards and two touchdowns.

Pick a streak. Any streak. If it's bad, the Oakland Raiders may have just snapped it. Getting 139 yards rushing from Justin Fargas and a big defensive stop on fourth down, the Raiders handed the reeling Kansas City Chiefs a 20-17 defeat Sunday that ended three different kinds of football failure. Until those final seconds ticked away, the Raiders had lost 17 straight AFC West games. They'd dropped nine in a row to Kansas City. And, they'd also lost six straight overall.

Chad Johnson commandeered a television camera behind the end zone, swung it around and aimed it at the field as part of a touchdown production that was two months in the making. What he saw through the viewfinder: A Tennessee team playing itself out of the picture. Johnson had a career-high 12 catches, set the Cincinnati record for career receptions, scored three touchdowns and steadied the Bengals to a 35-6 victory Sunday over the fading Titans. "He deserves the credit," quarterback Carson Palmer said of the Pro Bowl receiver. "He's that good. We did a good job around him, too."

Tully Banta-Cain pounced on Kurt Warner's fumble in the Cardinals' end zone to give the 49ers a wild 37-31 overtime victory and end their eight-game losing streak Sunday. "You could have swore we just won the Super Bowl the way we were celebrating," Banta-Cain said.

No running up the score this week for the New England Patriots. This win came hard. Asante Samuel returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and had a second pick to shut off a late Philadelphia drive as the Patriots beat the Eagles 31-28 Sunday night to run their record to 11-0.

When Dennis Dixon went out, the explosive Oregon offense became average, at best. When his backup at quarterback was injured as well, the Ducks had no chance. So now, unlikely as it might seem, the once-reeling UCLA Bruins have a shot at playing in the Rose Bowl game. Freshman Kai Forbath kicked three field goals, including a career-long 54-yarder, and the Bruins took advantage of No. 9 Oregon's plight to hand the Ducks a 16-0 setback Saturday -- their first shutout loss in more than 22 years. "Our goal was to be in a position for this opportunity. I can't tell you I thought we'd be 6-5 with this opportunity," Bruins coach Karl Dorrell said. "But it is what it is. "We were going to win this game. There was no question in our mind. We played smart and made critical plays when we needed to make them." Oregon (8-3, 5-3 Pac-10) had been bounced out of the national championship picture Nov. 15 when Dixon, a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, left in the first quarter of a 34-24 loss at Arizona with a torn knee ligament.

Sam Bradford returned to action after sustaining a concussion early against Texas Tech and broke the NCAA freshman record for touchdown passes in a season. He had four scoring passes, including two received by tight end Joe Jon Finley, to give him 32 this year. Nevada's David Neill (1998) and Texas' Colt McCoy (2006) held the old record with 29. The Sooners (10-2, 6-2 Big 12) had been all but assured of playing in their fifth Big 12 title game in the past six seasons even with a loss, but a Bedlam blowout left no need to rely on a tiebreaker. Oklahoma broke the game open with a huge goal-line stand in the second quarter, stuffing Oklahoma State (6-6, 4-4) on four straight rushing attempts from the 1. On fourth down, three Sooners converged on quarterback Zac Robinson just shy of the goal line to jar the ball loose, and safety D.J. Wolfe scooped it up to end the threat. Patrick ran on each of the next four plays to pick up 31 yards, and Oklahoma cashed in on Bradford's 2-yard touchdown pass to Finley for a 28-7 lead. Finley also caught a 12-yard TD pass from Bradford, and Patrick's 2-yard run in the fourth quarter extended the lead to 42-17.

Unthinkable in September, Missouri is one victory away from playing for its first national championship. Chase Daniel threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns as the third-ranked Tigers ruined No. 2 Kansas' unbeaten season Saturday night with a 36-28 victory in the most important football game either school ever played.