New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees passed for 313 yards and four touchdowns to help the Saints beat the Panthers 31-13 to regain sole possession of first place in the National Football Conference South and end Carolina's winning streak at eight games.
The Panthers' defense had not allowed more than two touchdowns in a game this season until the Saints scored three in the second quarter alone, when Brees completed 14 of 16 passes for 159 yards.
The Saints (10-3) also became the only team this season to score more than 24 points against Carolina, which entered the game No. 1 in scoring defense, allowing 13.1 points per game.
At Philadelphia, LeSean McCoy ran for a club-best 217 yards, including touchdowns of 57 and 40 yards, as the Eagles overcame two TD returns by Jeremy Ross to down the Detroit Lions 34-20 in a blizzard.
Ross returned a punt 58 yards for a score and ran a kickoff 98 yards. But McCoy sprinted 57 yards up the middle for a tying TD, and Nick Foles connected with Riley Cooper on the 2-point conversion. Foles sneaked in from the 1 and Chris Polk had a 38-yard touchdown run to cap a 28-point fourth quarter for the Eagles (8-5).
The Baltimore Ravens edged the Minnesota Vikings 29-26 after Joe Flacco threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to rookie Marlon Brown with 4 seconds left to ice the win.
Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in the final 61 seconds as New England recovered an onside kick to set up the comeback 27-27 win over the Cleveland Browns.
San Francisco's Phil Dawson kicked a 22-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining as the 49ers held off the nemesis Seattle Seahawks 19-17, while the Cincinnati Bengals downed the Indiana Colts 42-28.
The Chiefs scored on their first four possessions in the snow, sacked Robert Griffin III five times and Kirk Cousins once, and returned both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in a 45-10 victory over the Washington Redskins. The St. Louis Cardinals' Carson Palmer completed 27 of 32 passes, 12 of them to Larry Fitzgerald in a 30-10 win over the St. Louis Rams.
In other games, the Miami Dolphins defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-28, the Green Bay Packers edged the Atlanta Falcons 22-21, the New York Jets downed the Oakland Raiders 37-27, the San Diego Chargers beat the New York Giants 37-14 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 27-6 winners over the Buffalo Bills.
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org