Usually a sweep involving NFC North teams means Chicago, Minnesota, Green Bay and Detroit all lost. Not this week, when the NFL's most maligned division went 4-0.

And in quite dramatic fashion.

The Bears used the longest play in NFL history, Nathan Vasher's 108-yard return of a missed field goal at the end of the first half for a 17-9 victory over San Francisco on Sunday.

"I've never really seen it work, but we always feel like we can get big plays like that. I'm still speechless," Vasher said. "I was feeling like I was running the 400 meters out there. I just fell into the end zone. The NFL has been around a long time. For my name to be at the top of that is truly an honor."

The Vikings also set a record, becoming the first team in the NFL to get touchdown returns on a punt, a kickoff and an interception. Then Paul Edinger's 48-yard field goal with 10 seconds left beat the Giants 24-21.

"I'm glad the guys figured out that we can win the game on defense and on special teams," coach Mike Tice said. "Maybe we can figure out ... and start winning on the road, because that's what it takes in this league to win on the road — you have to play really well on defense and really well on special teams."

The Packers also scored a big road upset, surprising the Falcons 33-25 behind their fifth-string running back. Nigerian-born Samkon Gado ran for 103 yards and scored three touchdowns.

"It was surreal," Gado said. "I didn't even think it was a reality. But I'm here. I'm just enjoying it as much as possible."

And the Lions outlasted Arizona 29-21 as Roy Williams had his first big game with seven receptions for 117 yards and TD catches of 7, 21 and 29 yards. The last Lion to catch three TDs in a game was Herman Moore in 1995.

"You don't have to be perfect with him," quarterback Joey Harrington said. "A guy like Roy can make plays that aren't there."

Off this week, the final week of byes, were Tennessee, Cincinnati, New Orleans and San Diego.

At wind-swept Chicago, Bears (6-3) won their fifth straight. Joe Nedney's 52-yard attempt went wide right and Vasher caught the ball over his shoulder, hesitated momentarily on whether to come out of the end zone, sprinted to the 15, then reversed his field, picking up a convoy of blockers.The previous longest play was Baltimore's Chris McAlister's 107-yarder with a missed field goal in 2002.Cody Pickett, at one time a fourth stringer, attempted just two first-half passes for the 49ers (2-7) — both were incomplete — and finished 1-for-13.

Safety Darren Sharper had three interceptions for the Vikings (4-5), one he returned for a 92-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Koren Robinson ran back the second-half kickoff 86 yards and Mewelde Moore had a 71-yard punt return.But Minnesota did nothing on offense until a last-ditch drive after New York (6-3) tied it. Then Edinger won it.Eli Manning finished 23-of-48 for 291 yards for the Giants and threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer to give him 10 straight games with a touchdown pass, the longest active streak in the NFL. But he threw four interceptions and had two others that were dropped by Minnesota defenders.

At Atlanta, Gado supported Brett Favre, who threw for 252 yards and came up with a great escape on a drive that led to Ryan Longwell's fourth field goal, a 51-yarder with 4:01 remaining that restored a nine-point lead for Green Bay (2-7).Less than a minute later, rookie receiver Roddy White finished off the Falcons (6-3) with their sixth fumble of the day. Nick Barnett scooped up the ball and returned it to the Atlanta 2, where Gado powered into the end zone for his third TD.

The Lions (4-5) ended a two-game slide and Arizona (2-7) lost its third straight. Harrington was 22-of-32 for 231 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. He started his second straight game in place of the banged-up Jeff Garcia and didn't hear many boos at home for a change.Larry Fitzgerald had nine receptions for 141 yards and a score for the Cardinals, who got their first TD rushing this year when J.J. Arrington scored from 1 yard in the third quarter. But they had just 38 yards on the ground.

Mike Alstott squeezed into the end zone on a gutsy 2-point conversion call by coach Jon Gruden.Alstott's run with 58 seconds remaining came after the Redskins (5-4) blocked a potential game-tying extra point, only to be penalized for being offside on the previous play. Alstott was hit at the line and appeared stopped before twisting and keeping his legs moving to barely get into the end zone. The conversion stood after the replay official's review.Chris Simms threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns for the Bucs (6-3), including a 30-yarder to Edell Shepherd that set up the exciting finish. Clinton Portis ran for 144 yards and snapped a 28-28 tie with an 8-yard run.

Peyton Manning carved up the Texans for 297 yards and three touchdowns as the Colts (9-0) stayed the NFL's only unbeaten team.Manning completed 26 of 35 passes, while Marvin Harrison had seven catches for 108 yards and one TD, making Manning and Harrison the only tandem to top 10,000 career yards. The duo has hooked up for 755 completions, 10,034 yards and 90 TDs — all NFL records.Edgerrin James ran 26 times for 122 yards and one touchdown, his 47th career 100-yard game. James is now tied with Franco Harris for eighth in NFL history and topped the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth time.Visiting Houston fell to 1-8.

At Oakland, Calif., Jake Plummer passed for 205 yards and a touchdown, had no interceptions and wasn't sacked all day, and Jason Elam kicked three field goals.Darrent Williams returned an interception 80 yards for a fourth-quarter score that ended Oakland's chance at a comeback. The Broncos (7-2) took a two-game division lead.Kerry Collins had his worst game of the year for Oakland (3-6), completing 26 of 50 passes for 310 yards, doubled his season total with three interceptions and was sacked four times.

Will Witherspoon returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown and Ken Lucas grabbed two of Carolina's four interceptions. Carolina (7-2) forced six turnovers to pull away after an uneventful first half. The Panthers scored 20 points off turnovers.Host Carolina led 10-3 before the Jets (2-7) and quarterback Brooks Bollinger unraveled.

At Seattle, Shaun Alexander ran for 165 yards on a season-high 33 carries and three touchdowns, and the Seahawks took a three-game division lead on St. Louis.Seattle (7-2) turned St. Louis' botched fake field goal attempt in the second quarter into a 24-3 scoring run and has won five straight overall for the first time since 1999. The Seahawks swept St. Louis after losing the previous four to the Rams (4-5).

At Miami, Tom Brady brought New England from behind twice in the second half, throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Benjamin Watson for the winning score with 2:16 left. Gus Frerotte drove the Dolphins 70 yards to the 5 with a minute left, but his fourth-down pass was incomplete with 36 seconds to go.Two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England (5-4) remained alone atop the AFC East. The Patriots have won 21 of their last 25 division games. Miami (3-6) missed a chance to tie for the division lead, instead losing for the fifth time in six games.

J.P. Losman replaced Kelly Holcomb (concussion) in the second quarter, led Bills touchdown drives on two of his first four possessions and showed he deserved his starting job back.Losman finished 9-of-16 for 137 yards, hitting Lee Evans for both touchdowns. Losman looked nothing like the hesitant first-year starter who went 1-3 before being replaced by Holcomb following a loss to New Orleans on Oct. 2.The Bills (4-5) caused a slew of mistakes by QB Trent Green of the Chiefs (5-4): three interceptions after throwing three in his previous eight games. His first interception ended Green's streak at 159 attempts without an interception.

At Jacksonville, Fla., Greg Jones ran for a career-high 106 yards and a touchdown, Matt Jones had a career-high 117 yards receiving and a score and the Jaguars reached 30 points for the first time since 2001. Jacksonville (6-3) snapped its NFL-record 58-game streak of not scoring at least 30 points.Mike Peterson's 26-yard interception return for a score put the Jaguars at the 30-point markThe Ravens (2-7) lost their fourth consecutive game and eighth in a row on the road. The Ravens also extended their streak of not scoring a touchdown to 11 quarters.