The San Diego Chargers went into Dallas and beat the Cowboys in their new Stadium, 20-17 as the Chargers defense took over and helped Philip Rivers & company win this one.
It was a well balanced attack for the Chargers as Rivers threw for 272 yards and a touchdown while LaDainian Tomlinson scored a touchdown as well and the Chargers offense controlled the clock in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
San Diego's defense came up big in the first half, holding the Cowboys to just three points despite three trips by Dallas (8-5) to the red zone. Included was a goal line stand as the Chargers' defense stuffed Marion Barber on two straight rushing attempts from the one-yard line.
San Diego improved to 10-3 with their eighth straight win and a record setting 16th consecutive victory in the month of December. Meanwhile, Dallas' December woes continued as they lost their second straight game this month and are 5-10 in December in the Tony Romo era dating back to 2006.
The New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts remained perfect at 13-0 with wins. The Saints struggled once again, barely winning at Atlanta, 26-23 despite the Falcons not having either starting QB Matt Ryan or All-Pro running back Michael Turner playing in the game. Saints QB Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes in the game.
The Colts had an easier time of it in topping the Denver Broncos, 28-16 in Indy as Peyton Manning threw four TD passes to offset three interceptions. The Broncos slipped to 8-5 and now likely will have to rely on the wild card to make the playoffs.
Broncos' wide receiver Brandon Marshall set an NFL record with 21 catches in the game (breaking Terrell Owens' record of 20 grabs in 2000 against the Chicago Bears) for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
The Minnesota Vikings took a step closer to wrapping up the NFC North division title with a 30-10 thrashing over the Cincinnati Bengals (9-4) as Adrian Peterson scored two touchdowns and the Vikings defense limited Cincinnati to 210 yards in total offense, including just 91 yards passing in the game.
New England beat Carolina 20-10 in a lackluster effort that saw the Patriots turn the ball over three times in their win. The Patriots are 8-5, but just one game ahead of both the Dolphins and the Jets in the AFC East.
Miami (7-6) knocked off the Jacksonville Jaguars, 14-10 to keep it's playoff hopes alive. The Jaguars slipped to 7-6 with the loss in a wild playoff chase in the AFC.
The New York Jets routed the host Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 26-3 behind Thomas Jones' two touchdown runs and a stifling defensive effort that held the hapless Bucs to just 124 total yards and
six first downs for the entire game.
Baltimore is also 7-6 following their 48-3 dismantling of the Detroit Lions as Ray Rice led the way with 166 yards rushing and a game-breaking 59-yard TD run. The Ravens had 308 yards rushing for the game.
The Philadelphia Eagles (9-4) took over first place in the NFC East after winning a shoot out 45-38 against the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football as DeSean Jackson scored two touchdowns to lead the Eagles attack. The Giants slipped to 7-6 with the loss.
Tennessee improved to 6-7 with a 47-7 trouncing of the St. Louis Rams behind the effort by Chris Johnson, who added to his NFL leading total with 117 yards rushing in the win. The Titans lost quarterback Vince Young to a hamstring injury in the game but continued to roll on with Kerry Collins taking the snaps.
The rest of the games saw...
Washington smashing Oakland 34-13 as the Raiders lost last week's game winning hero quarterback Bruce Gradkowski to an injury... Houston crushing the Seattle Seahawks 34-7 behind two TD pass hook ups by Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, who had 11 catches for 193 yards in the rout... Green Bay slipped past the Chicago Bears 21-14 with running back Ryan Grant scoring two touchdowns to keep his team in the driver's seat in the NFC wild card chase as Green Bay improved to 9-4 with it's fifth straight win... The Buffalo Bills got a scoring pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Terrell Owens in a 16-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, who had 143 yards rushing from Jamaal Charles, including a 76-yard TD run, in the loss.
The Monday Night Football game saw the Arizona Cardinals lay an egg in San Francisco with seven turnovers enroute to 24-9 loss that spoiled the Cardinals' chance to clinch the NFC West division title. San Francisco (6-7) was led by running back Frank Gore, who had 167 yards rushing and scored the game-sealing touchdown in the 49ers win.
