ATLANTA — This was supposed to be Peyton Manning vs. Michael Vick.

But Vick was sitting in a jail cell, so Manning had the Thanksgiving night spotlight all to himself.

Manning went past a couple of Hall of Famers on the career passing lists, throwing for 272 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Indianapolis Colts over the Vick-less Atlanta Falcons 31-13 on Thursday.

The Falcons (3-8) stunned the Colts with 10 quick points, but Indianapolis (9-2) seized control when Manning tossed all three of his TD passes in the second quarter.

He broke a tie with Warren Moon for fifth place on the career touchdown list, having reached 294. Manning also moved past another Colts star, Johnny Unitas, for the 10th spot in career yards passing with 40,407.

"I'm a big fan of quarterbacks," Manning said. "I have great respect for Warren Moon. I never got to see Unitas, but my dad (former pro QB Archie Manning) told me what an impact he had on him."

When the NFL scheduled this prime-time matchup, they were expecting to get Manning and Vick. But the Falcons quarterback has been suspended all season; in fact, he turned himself in Monday to begin serving his expected prison sentence for dogfighting.

Indianapolis had struggled the past three weeks, losing twice and pulling out a lackluster home win over Kansas City. The Colts' malaise carried over the first quarter at the Georgia Dome, with the Falcons striking for Morten Andersen's 34-yard field goal and Joey Harrington's 48-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White.

But any thoughts the Falcons had of pulling off a huge upset were quickly wiped out by Manning in the second period. He had touchdown throws of 23 yards to Reggie Wayne, 8 yards to Dallas Clark and 5 yards to Ben Utecht.

DETROIT — Brett Favre was asked to throw 17 straight passes at one point. The way he was completing them, the Green Bay Packers didn't need to hand the ball off.Favre set a franchise record with 20 consecutive completions and finished with a season-high 381 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers' 37-26 Thanksgiving Day victory over the slumping Detroit Lions."You never think he is going to miss one," Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy said.The three-time MVP put together another sensational performance that made the 38-year-old Favre look as if he's back in his prime. His seventh 300-yard game of the season matched a team mark he set 12 years ago."I've played against him since 1996, and he's playing as well as I've ever seen him," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said.Green Bay (10-1) matched its best 11-game record since 1929 and the NFC North leaders took a four-game lead with five games left in the regular season. The Packers can improve their chances of earning home-field advantage if they win next week at Dallas — also 10-1 after manhandling the New York Jets 34-3 later Thursday.

IRVING, Texas — Tony Romo took a few minutes before the Dallas Cowboys' traditional Thanksgiving Day game to watch Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers on television.Next week, Romo will only have to look across the field to see one of his childhood heroes. And the quarterback who grew up in Wisconsin will be trying to beat the team he still cheers on for the outright NFC lead.Since their loss to still-undefeated New England, the Cowboys have won five straight games. Romo and Co. have reached 10 wins faster than any other team in the history of the franchise that has won five Super Bowl titles.Romo led the Cowboys on a game-opening touchdown drive, then later threw scoring passes to Witten and Terrell Owens, the second a 22-yarder with 6:12 left in the game. That gave Romo 29 TDs, matching Danny White's single-season team record with five games still to play. Romo finished 21-of-28 for 195 yards.Terence Newman had a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown, the first in his five seasons, to put the Cowboys up 21-0 midway through the second quarter.Coming off a victory over AFC power Pittsburgh, the Jets (2-9) quickly reverted to their losing form.Kellen Clemens, who ended 12-of-27 for 142 yards, was sacked on each of his first two series and New York didn't cross midfield until its final drive of the second quarter. Things were so bad that at the 2-minute warning, Jets coach Eric Mangini challenged the spot of a third-down play, hoping to trim a yard or two off fourth-and-3.