GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers had a record-setting night for the Green Bay Packers. The Chicago Bears’ season is quickly turning into a nightmare.
Rodgers threw six touchdown passes to tie the franchise game record and match the NFL record for a half, and the Packers routed the reeling Bears 55-14 on Sunday night.
Rodgers was 18 of 27 for 315 yards, throwing touchdown passes of 73 and 40 yards to Jordy Nelson to help the Packers (6-3) open a 42-0 halftime lead.
Rodgers tied the team touchdown pass record that he shared with Matt Flynn and matched the NFL mark for a half set by Oakland’s Daryle Lamonica in 1969.
The 190th meeting of the NFL’s oldest rivalry turned into an old-fashioned blowout and Rodgers watched most of the second half from the sideline in knit cap.
“We just kind of got things going our way,” Rodgers said. “The line did a good job of giving me time to extend plays. If you extend plays, you look down the field and there’s Jordy Nelson. He made some nice catches.”
A night full of milestones included Rodgers’ 16th scoring pass of 70 yards or more to break the record he shared with Denver’s Peyton Manning and Rodgers’ predecessor in Green Bay, Brett Favre. Rodgers looked just fine two weeks after tweaking his left hamstring in a loss to New Orleans.
The 55 points tied a Packers record at Lambeau Field.
Both teams were coming off byes. The down time didn’t help the Bears, who have lost five of six to drop to 3-6.
Their defense has fallen completely apart.
Two weeks after giving up 38 points in the first half in a 51-23 loss to the Patriots, the Bears set a dubious franchise record by giving up 42 points in a half.
Embattled quarterback Jay Cutler was on his way to having another night to forget at Lambeau Field with two first-half turnovers. He has thrown 12 interceptions in four career games in Titletown.
Cutler was 22 of 37 for 272 yards. His performance surely won’t ease the withering criticism the quarterback has faced back home in Chicago.
Rodgers could seemingly do no wrong.
He connected with tight end Andrew Quarless on a 4-yard scoring strike with 3:53 left in the quarter for a 14-0 lead.
But the misery was only just beginning for the Chicago secondary.
Rodgers found Nelson for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 12:17 left in the second quarter. A screen pass to Eddie Lacy on Green Bay’s next possession turned into another catch-and-run for a 56-yard score and a five-touchdown lead.
49ers 27, Saints 24
NEW ORLEANS — Colin Kaepernick completed a 51-yard pass on fourth down to sustain a tying drive, Ahmad Brooks sacked and stripped Drew Brees in overtime, and Phil Dawson kicked a 35-yard field goal to cap San Francisco’s stirring victory over New Orleans.
The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Niners (5-4) and marked the first home loss for the Saints (4-5) in more than a season.
The Saints had won their past 11 at home overall, and the past 20 at home including the playoffs, when coached by Sean Payton, who was suspended in 2012.
Brooks’ decisive blow on a sack of Brees had to feel like poetic justice to the Niners linebacker. His unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a vicious sack and strip in the Superdome a year ago allowed the Saints to pull out a late comeback victory in these teams’ previous meeting.
Brees was intercepted twice, but also passed for three scores, the last to Jimmy Graham to give the Saints a 24-21 lead with 1:52 left in regulation.
Graham also caught a desperation pass in the end zone at the end of regulation, but was called for offensive interference.
Broncos 41, Raiders 17
OAKLAND, Calif. — Peyton Manning threw five touchdown passes in less than 17 minutes and the Broncos handed the Raiders their 15th straight loss.
Manning threw a pair of early interceptions that put Denver (7-2) in a hole against the NFL’s only winless team. That all changed with a short pass that C.J. Anderson turned into a spectacular 51-yard catch and run. The touchdowns didn’t stop until Manning’s day was done after three quarters.
Manning added two TD passes to Julius Thomas and two more to Emmanuel Sanders as the Broncos rebounded from last week’s loss at New England by beating up on the Raiders (0-9).
Manning went 31 for 44 for 340 yards. He extended his record with at least two touchdown passes in 15 straight games and his streak of 48 games with at least one TD pass is third longest, breaking a tie with Johnny Unitas.
Cardinals 31, Rams 14
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Cardinals put together another dominant fourth quarter, but a the victory was dampened by an injury to quarterback Carson Palmer.
Palmer went down in the final period, then backup Drew Stanton and the Arizona defense rallied the Cardinals with three touchdowns over a span of 3 minutes, 48 seconds.
Rookie John Brown’s diving grab of Stanton’s 48-yard touchdown pass put the Cardinals (8-1) up 17-14 with 7:40 to play. The pass came on the first series after Palmer hurt his left knee while trying to avoid the rush.
Palmer was able to walk off the field but a short time later was taken to the locker room on a cart.
Seahawks 38, Giants 17
SEATTLE — Marshawn Lynch rushed for a season-high 140 yards and career-best four touchdowns.
Russell Wilson threw two interceptions, the Seahawks committed three total turnovers, and Eli Manning picked apart Seattle’s secondary for the first half. It all didn’t matter because of Lynch leading Seattle’s unstoppable run game.
The 350 total yards rushing by Seattle (6-3) were a franchise record and the most by any NFL team since Kansas City had 352 in 2012.
Jets 20, Steelers 13
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Michael Vick threw two touchdown passes and the Jets forced four turnovers while shutting down Ben Roethlisberger to end an eight-game losing streak.
Roethlisberger threw six touchdown passes in each of his last two games, and was playing in front of a MetLife Stadium crowd that appeared nearly half-filled with Terrible Towel-waving Steelers fans. But the Jets (2-8) wouldn’t allow Roethlisberger to get into much of a rhythm.
Roethlisberger finished 30 of 43 for 343 yards and connected with Martavis Bryant for an 80-yard TD with 1:16 left. The Steelers (6-4) attempted an onside kick, but Eric Decker recovered to seal it for the Jets — who avoided setting a franchise mark for consecutive losses.
Vick, who became the first quarterback in NFL history to run for 6,000 career yards, threw touchdown passes to T.J. Graham and Jace Amaro. Vick was 10 of 18 for 132 yards and ran eight times for 39 yards.
Lions 20, Dolphins 16
DETROIT — Matthew Stafford led Detroit to another thrilling victory in the final minutes, throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick with 29 seconds remaining.
Calvin Johnson had seven catches for 113 yards and a touchdown in his first game back from an ankle injury, and the Lions (7-2) won their fourth straight game. Their past three victories have been by a combined six points, all with fourth-quarter comebacks.
The Dolphins (5-4) managed one touchdown — after they blocked a Detroit field goal attempt and Dion Jordan returned it deep into Lions territory. Miami’s Ryan Tannehill threw for 201 yards, but it was Stafford who made the final big play, snapping a sidearm pass to a sliding Riddick in the back left corner of the end zone.
Chiefs 17, Bills 13
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Anthony Sherman recovered a fumble to set up Alex Smith’s 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Jamaal Charles also scored on a 39-yard run as the Chiefs (6-3) scored twice in span of 4:31 to overcome a 13-3 deficit. The Chiefs’ defense then made a stand at its 15 by forcing Kyle Orton to throw four consecutive incompletions and turn the ball over on downs.
Kansas City improved to 6-1 since opening the season with two losses. Charles finished with 98 yards rushing, while Smith went 17 of 29 for 177 yards.
Cowboys 31, Jaguars 17
LONDON — Tony Romo returned after missing last week because of a back injury and helped the Cowboys snap a two-game losing streak by throwing three touchdown passes.
Originally hurt two weeks ago, Romo started for Dallas (7-3) and completed 20 of 27 passes for 246 yards against the Jaguars (1-9) at Wembley Stadium. This was the last of three regular-season NFL games this year in the British capital.
Romo threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten in the first quarter and then hit Dez Bryant for a pair of TDs in the second, the first from 35 yards and the second from 68. Romo finished with a season-high passer rating of 138.8.
DeMarco Murray ended up with 100 yards rushing on 19 carries and 31 yards receiving for Dallas. He had his record streak of eight straight 100-yard games to start a season snapped by the Cardinals last week.
Ravens 21, Titans 7
BALTIMORE — Justin Forsett ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns to back a strong performance by the Baltimore defense.
The Ravens (6-4) bottled up rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger, who went 16 for 27 for 179 yards and an interception in his first road start. He was sacked five times and rarely got the chance to comfortably plant both feet in the pocket.
Tennessee didn’t get its initial first down of the second half until 4:37 was left in the game. Soon after that, newcomer Danny Gorrer intercepted a pass to clinch the victory.
Falcons 27, Buccaneers 17
TAMPA, Fla. — Matt Ryan threw for 219 yards and one touchdown, helping the Falcons stop a five-game losing streak that left the Bucs with a five-game skid of their own.
The Falcons (3-6) won for the first time since embarrassing their NFC South rivals 56-14 on Sept. 18, a game in which the Bucs (1-8) lost quarterback Josh McCown to a thumb injury.
McCown returned to Tampa Bay’s starting lineup for the first time since loss, throwing for 301 yards and two TDs. His 1-yard pass to Austin Seferian-Jenkins put the Bucs ahead 17-16 early in the fourth quarter. But Ryan drove the Falcons down the field, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White and a 2-point conversion to Harry Douglas.
By wire sources