CHICAGO, Nov 12: Brett Favre passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns and the Packers defense kept the Bears out of the end zone as Green Bay beat Chicago 20-12 Sunday to pull into a tie for first place in the NFC Central.

Favre, who completed 19-of-32 passes, hit Bill Schroeder with a 41-yard touchdown late in the second quarter and connected with Antonio Freeman on a nine-yard scoring play in the third quarter, staking the Packers to a 17-9 lead.

Chicago settled for four field goals by Paul Edinger.

The Packers won their eighth straight at Soldier Field.

The Bears (6-2) were riding a six-game winning streak and coming off a pair of miracle come-from-behind overtime victories over San Francisco and Cleveland.

The Packers (6-2) have won 13 of their last 15 meetings with the Bears.

In Cleveland, Kris Brown notched his fifth field goal 5:22 into overtime after missing a potential game-winner late in the fourth quarter as the Pittsburgh Steelers remained atop the AFC Central Division with a 15-12 triumph over the Browns.

Jerome Bettis collected 48 of his 163 yards rushing on the opening drive of the extra session.

That set up Brown’s 32-yard kick, which lifted the Steelers (6-2) to their best season-opening mark since their last AFC Central Division title campaign in 1997.

In St Louis, Marshall Faulk played for the first time in nearly a month and rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone as the Rams routed the Panthers a 48-14.

Faulk appeared likely to break the NFL single-game rushing record of 278 yards set by Cincinnati’s Corey Dillon but coach Mike Martz opted to rest him in the second half.

Trung Canidate then ran for 145 yards on 16 carries.

Rams quarterback Kurt Warner became the fastest ever to hit the 10,000-yards passing mark, doing it in 36 games — two fewer than Dan Marino needed.

In San Francisco, Garrison Hearst recorded his first 100-yard game in nearly three years and Jeff Garcia tied a career high with four touchdown passes, two to Terrell Owens, to lead the 49ers to a 28-27 win over the New Orleans Saints.

The win kept the 49ers (6-2) within one game of first-place St Louis and moved them two games ahead of the Saints (4-4) in the NFC West.

In Seattle, Shaun Alexander rushed for 266 yards and three touchdowns, powering the Seahawks to a 34-27 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

Alexander needed 35 carries to produce the fourth best rushing performance in NFL history, falling 13 yards shy of breaking Cory Dillon’s league record.

The Seahawks (4-4) amassed 319 yards on the ground, gained a split of their season series with Oakland.

Rich Gannon threw two touchdowns for the Raiders (6-2).

In Denver, Brian Griese threw for 224 yards and a pair of scores while Dough Flutie was picked off four times as the Broncos posted a 26-16 triumph over the San Diego Chargers.

Griese completed 21-of-31 passes and was not intercepted. Terrell Davis added 83 yards and 33 carries and Rod Smith and Desmond Clark got five receptions apiece for the Broncos.

In Pontiac, Michigan, Martin Gramatica kicked a 35-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to lift the Tampa Buccaneers to a 20-17 victory over the winless Detroit Lions.

In Atlanta, Darrien Gordon had punt returns of 74 and 41 yards in the final six minutes to set up a pair of scores and give the Falcons a 20-13 triumph over the Dallas Cowboys.

In Foxboro, Massachusetts, Antowain Smith ran for a one-yard score in the third quarter and a 42-yard touchdown with 1:52 left in the game as the New England Patriots posted a 21-11 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

In Philadelphia, Duce Staley rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown and also had a big day receiving as the Eagles routed the Minnesota Vikings 48-17.

In Arizona, Tiki Barber rushed for 118 yards, Ron Dayne ran for a touchdown and Kerry Collins threw a TD in a 17-10 New York Giants victory over the Cardinals before a sparse crowd at Sun Devil Stadium.

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Curtis Martin ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns as the New York Jets gave coach Herman Edwards a victory over his mentor, Dick Vermeil, by pounding the Kansas City Chiefs 27-7.

In Jacksonville, the Jaguars (3-5) stopped a five-game losing streak, 30-13 over the Cincinnati Bengals (4-4).

Sunday’s results (home team in CAPS):

ATLANTA 20 Dallas 13

Green Bay 20 CHICAGO 12

Pittsburgh 15 CLEVELAND 12 (OT)

Tampa Bay 20 DETROIT 17

Miami 27 INDIANAPOLIS 24

JACKSONVILLE 30 Cincinnati 13

NEW ENGLAND 21 Buffalo 11

NY JETS 27 Kansas City 7

ST LOUIS 48 Carolina 14

DENVER 26 San Diego 16

NY Giants 17 ARIZONA 10

PHILADELPHIA 48 Minnesota 17

SAN FRANCISCO 28 New Orleans 27

SEATTLE 34 Oakland 27

—Reuters