Eli Manning threw for his 200th career touchdown to overhaul Phil Simms' record for the New York Giants as the team ended their recent run of losses with a 38-10 win over the Green Bay Packers.
New York, caught in one of their familiar midseason slumps, came alive in a showdown between the last two Super Bowl winners and fuelled hope of a run at back-to-back titles.
"Eli said he felt as if he was coming back for the start of the season again," Tom Coughlin, the New York coach, said afterwards.
"I thought that was a very good sign. I was very confident he would come back and be Eli."
Manning directed a balanced attack in which the Giants gained 249 yards through the air and 147 yards on the ground with Andre Brown gaining 64 yards and Ahmad Bradshaw rushing for 58, both of them running for touchdowns.
Giants pass rushers had five sacks against Rodgers, with Osi Umenyiora's causing a fumble recovered by Jason Pierre-Paul.
Cornerback Corey Webster intercepted a pass by Rodgers, who had only been picked off six times previously this season.
Manning hit Victor Cruz and rookie Rueben Randle with touchdown strikes in the first half as New York rolled to a 31-10 lead.
He then connected with Hakeem Nicks for a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put him past Simms on the Giants' all-time list.
The teams traded touchdowns on their first possessions of the game, giving the impression that a high-scoring game was to come.
However, it was the Giants who accounted for 31 of the last 34 points against a potential postseason opponent.
Manning completed 16-of-30 passes without an interception, while Rodgers was 14-of-25 for 219 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
"I never thought my arm was tired," Manning said.
"But after the week off, it felt good. It felt live, the ball seemed to come out with more pop on it."
Matt Ryan threw for 353 yards and led another late touchdown drive to give the Atlanta Falcons a 24-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The NFC South leaders found themselves trailing 23-17 after the Bucs marched for a touchdown and then forced a fumble by Ryan to set up a field goal.
But Michael Turner's one-yard TD run put Atlanta (10-1) ahead for good as they kept pace with the Houston Texans for the NFL's best record.
In the NFC North, the Chicago Bears welcomed back quarterback Jay Cutler after missing a game because of a concussion as they beat the Minnesota Vikings 28-10.
But the victory which improved the home side's record to 8-3 came at a cost with Devin Hester and Matt Forte going off injured.
The day's most dramatic finish came in Miami where Dan Carpenter kicked a 43-yard field goal on the final play as the Dolphins came from behind to beat the Seattle Seahawks 24-21.
Rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill drove Miami 65 yards in the final 92 seconds to set up the winning kick.
Leon Washington had earlier returned a kick-off for a touchdown for the eighth time to tie the NFL career record and put Seattle ahead with eight minutes left.
Peyton Manning threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns as the Denver Broncos (8-3) made hard work of beating the hapless Kansas City Chiefs 17-9 for their sixth straight win.
Manning hit tight end Jacob Tamme late in the first half and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas in the third quarter, while the Chiefs (1-10) could only muster three field goals.
Elsewhere, T.Y. Hilton scored on a 75-yard punt return and caught an eight-yard touchdown pass as the Indianapolis Colts beat the Buffalo Bills 20-13.
Hilton is the first player in franchise history to score both ways in the same game as the Colts improved to 7-4 in the AFC South.
Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes as Cincinnati thrashed the hapless Oakland Raiders 34-10, taking the Bengals (6-5) onto the same mark as the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North.
A brawl in the fourth quarter resulted in Oakland's Tommy Kelly and Lamarr Hunt and Cincinnati's Andrew Whitworth getting ejected.
The Steelers lost 20-14 at the Cleveland Browns with their seventh turnover of the game with under three minutes remaining ending hopes of a late comeback.
Charlie Batch, forced to start at quarterback for Pittsburgh because of injuries to Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich, was also intercepted three times.
Jacksonville quarterback Chad Henne enjoyed a far more productive day, throwing two touchdown passes as the Jaguars beat the Tennessee Titans 24-19 to snap a seven-game losing streak.
The Baltimore Ravens converted on the fourth-and-29 to help force overtime and ultimately claim an unlikely 16-13 win over the San Diego Chargers.
The Ravens had Ray Rice to thanks for the unusual play, which started at their 37, as he received a pass from Joe Flacco and evaded the attentions of the Chargers to reach the San Diego 33.
From there it was all about Justin Tucker, who tied the game at 13-13 with a 38-yard field goal six plays later, then repeated the feat in overtime to seal the win.
Janoris Jenkins returned two interceptions for touchdowns to help the St Louis Rams to a 31-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The rookie was the first player ever to achieve the feat for the Rams, who inflicted a seventh straight loss on the Cardinals.
San Francisco ended the New Orleans Saints' three-game winning streak with a 31-21 victory.
The 49ers sacked Drew Brees five times, though one of his three scoring passes found Marques Colston, who set a Saints record with his 56th career touchdown.
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