Jay Cutler threw for 357 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Denver Broncos to a 34-17 victory over the New York Jets.

Despite their modest record, the Broncos have a stranglehold on the AFC West and lead by the San Diego Chargers by three games with four remaining.

The Jets (8-4) missed a chance to pull away in the AFC East as New York remained one game ahead of the New England Patriots, who were blown out by the Pittsburgh Steelers 33-10 and fell into a second-place tie with the Miami Dolphins, who beat St Louis 16-12.

The Steelers remain ahead of the Baltimore in the AFC North aftere the Ravens beat the Cincinnati Bengals 34-3.

Eli Manning passed for a season-high 305 yards and a touchdown while John Carney kicked three field goals to lead the New York Giants (11-1) to a 23-7 victory over the Washington Redskins.

New York won their seventh consecutive game despite being without wide receiver Plaxico Burress.

Gus Frerotte threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian and also rushed for a score as the Minnesota Vikings claimed sole possession of first place in the NFC North with a 34-14 triumph over the Chicago Bears.

Steve Smith's 54-yard reception set up DeAngelo Williams' fourth touchdown of the game that lifted the Carolina Panthers to a 35-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers. The win, which came after Carolina squandered a 21-10 half-time deficit, kept the Panthers (9-3) tied with Tampa Bay atop the NFC South after the Buccaneers secured a fourth consecutive win with a 23-20 win over he New Orleans Saints.

Elsewhere, the San Francisco 49ers held on for a 10-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills, the Atlanta Falcons recorded a 22-16 win over the San Diego Chargers and Larry Johnson scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter as the Kansas City Chiefs held on for a 20-13 victory over the Oakland Raiders.