Tom Brady sparked the New England Patriots to their seventh consecutive victory in a 34-9 rout of Detroit, while Indianapolis receiver T.Y. Hilton scored a touchdown for his newborn daughter.

Tom Brady won the battle of the marquee quarterbacks over Peyton Manning, while the Arizona Cardinals knocked off the Dallas Cowboys to claim the NFC’s best record.

Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s all-time record for touchdown passes, leading Denver to a 42-17 rout of San Francisco to cap a scintillating Sunday in the NFL.

An embattled NFL, reeling from off-field brutality issues, received more bad news with numerous injuries to key players in the second week of an already tumultuous campaign.

Baltimore Ravens have released running back Ray Rice hours after a shocking video surfaced showing the NFL star punching his then-fiancee.

The NFL play-off picture was completed on Sunday with a dramatic final series of regular season games delivering big results for the Green Bay Packers, the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Diego Chargers.

The Green Bay Packers needed their biggest comeback in history on Sunday to somehow keep their play-off hopes alive ahead of the long-awaited return of Aaron Rodgers from injury.

A win over divisional rivals Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday evening saw the Denver Broncos emerge from the toughest part of their NFL campaign relatively unscathed and in poll position in the AFC and will now retain home advantage throughout January’s play-offs.

As the NFL heads into December, nearly every division race has an outright favourite.

Late field goals kept the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals undefeated while Houston won a rout to also stay perfect four weeks into the season.

Hours after his younger brother’s death in a motorcycle accident, Torrey Smith caught six passes for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns to spark Baltimore to a last-play 31-30 NFL win over New England.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning threw a career-best 510 yards to lead the reigning Super Bowl champions to their first win of the NFL season on Sunday.

Peyton Manning made a sparkling return after a year’s injury absence from the NFL, leading Denver to a 31-19 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in his Broncos debut.

TOM BRADY threw three touchdowns as the New England Patriots crushed the Philadelphia Eagles 38-20 and Tim Tebow led the Denver Broncos to their fourth straight win in National Football League action on Sunday.

ARIZONA scored a touchdown off a blocked punt to finish off a wild 30-24 overtime victory over Dallas on Sunday as the NFL produced a flurry of frenetic endings.

THE Arizona Cardinals ended the Buffalo Bills’ unbeaten start to the season with a surprisingly easy 41-17 victory in Week 5 of the NFL.

BRETT FAVRE has returned to his record-setting ways with the New York Jets as Washington rocked old rivals Dallas in the NFL.

SEASON-ENDING victories by the Washington Redskins and Tennessee Titans advanced both teams into the NFL playoffs, with reserve quarterbacks named Collins leading each triumph.

WHILE New England try to complete the first undefeated NFL regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, Washington and Tennessee will attempt to simply reach the playoffs.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS secured a record 15th successive victory in the NFL with a 28-7 success against Miami Dolphins.

THE New England Patriots continued their historic charge on Sunday by overcoming a winter blast of snow to beat the New York Jets 20-10 and extend their season record to 14-0.

NEW ENGLAND preserved their perfect NFL season on Sunday, while Dallas, Green Bay and Seattle locked up divisional titles and Indianapolis booked their playoff berth.

PEYTON MANNING threw for four touchdowns and the Indianapolis Colts edged Jacksonville 28-25 to deny the Jaguars a share of the NFL AFC South division lead.

THE New England Patriots romped to victory again on Sunday, downing the Cleveland Browns 34-17 to easily remain among the NFL’s unbeaten teams.

DETROIT shocked Dallas 39-31 to deny the Cowboys the NFC East title on the final day of the NFL’s regular season.

AMERICAN football’s National Football League regular season concludes with a mad dash for the playoffs this weekend, with 11 teams still chasing three postseason berths.

LADAINIAN TOMLINSON seized the NFL single-season record for touchdowns on Sunday as the San Diego Chargers captured the AFC West division crown.

TOM BRADY threw for 269 yards and a touchdown, while Asante Samuel picked off three passes as the New England Patriots beat Chicago 17-13 in a showdown of American football division leaders on Sunday.

UNDEFEATED Indianapolis and once-beaten Chicago made National Football League history Sunday in proving themselves the teams to beat for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

THE Miami Dolphins stunned the Chicago Bears on Sunday, leaving the Indianapolis Colts to emerge from the day’s action as the lone unbeaten team in the NFL.

ATLANTA, Kansas City and Tampa Bay all won their NFL games in dramatic fashion Sunday with late field goals, including Matt Bryant’s 62-yarder as time expired to lift the Bucs over Philadelphia.

BALTIMORE rallied to shock Cleveland, Cincinnati left their mark on the Steelers and Indianapolis held off Jacksonville as three NFL grudge matches lived up their billings.

THREE touchdowns off six turnovers sparked Washington past Philadelphia 31-20 on Sunday, launching the Redskins into the NFL play-offs for the first time in six seasons.

WHILE the Indianapolis Colts took another step towards perfection, the defending NFC champions Philadelphia Eagles hit the end of their road to the NFL playoffs on Sunday.

THE Cowboys and the Jaguars worked overtime for NFL victories on Sunday.

A BEAT UP Patriots defence and a supercharged San Diego offence was enough to hand Super Bowl champions New England their first home defeat in nearly three years during an exciting weekend of National Football League action.

NEW YORK Jets quarterback Chad Pennington dug himself and his team out of a hole in the fourth quarter on Sunday night to hand coach Herman Edwards his first victory of the fledgling NFL season.

WARRING team-mates Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens put aside their differences to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a 42-3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the early NFL games last night.

ST LOUIS and Denver got the victories they needed, while Minnesota and the New York Jets didn’t have to win to book their play-off berths as the National Football League regular season ended on Sunday.

BRETT FAVRE and Green Bay are headed to the National Football League play-offs again, but the three-time Most Valuable Player lost his mantle of invincibility in the cold at Lambeau Field on Sunday night.

THE Green Bay Packers are heading to the National Football League playoffs, with a little help from the Arizona Cardinals and, as quarterback Brett Favre said, maybe a little help from a guardian angel.

REIGNING Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly dug themselves out of a huge hole, but finally saw their NFL playoff hopes buried in a 30-28 loss to Atlanta at the weekend.

THE Dallas Cowboys’ star is shining brightly again. For the first time since 1999 they’re going to the playoffs.

PRIEST HOLMES had 158 combined yards and two rushing touchdowns and Trent Green threw for 368 yards and three scores, as the Kansas City Chiefs remained the National Football League’s lone unbeaten team with a 41-20 triumph over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.