Peyton Manning threw for 403 yards and five touchdowns as Denver held off a furious rally to beat Kansas City 35-28 on Sunday and seize control of the NFL's AFC West.
Eric Decker four touchdowns on eight catches for a career-high 174 yards for the Broncos (10-2), who moved a game clear of the Chiefs (9-3) in the division.
With four games left, Denver also holds the tiebreaker by virtue of two wins over Kansas City in the last three weeks.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning completed 22 of 28 passes for 235 yards and Justin Tuck had four sacks to help shut down Robert Griffin III and lead New York to a 24-17 win over Washington .
Griffin was 16 for 17 at halftime, but he went eight for 15 in the second half, and the Redskins managed only 95 total yards after halftime.
The win keeps the Giants (5-7) two games behind NFC East leaders Dallas and Philadelphia with four to play.
Carolina's Cam Newton threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another score, as the Panthers earned a club-record eighth straight regular-season victory 27-6 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Carolina victory sets up a huge showdown next Sunday night with New Orleans with first place in the NFC South on the line.
The AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals (8-4) downed San Diego 17-10 to keep a two-game lead over Baltimore, the Chargers (5-7) having lost four of their last loss in five games.
Philadelphia (7-5) won their fourth straight game to remain level with Dallas for first place in the NFC East as Nick Foles threw three touchdown passes, Zach Ertz had two TD catches and LeSean McCoy ran for 79 yards in a 24-21 win over Arizona.
Carson Palmer threw for 302 yards and three TD passes, but also had two interceptions as the Cardinals (7-5) had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Tom Brady threw for 371 yards and two scores for New England and Stephen Gostkowski made two long field goals in the fourth quarter as the Patriots edged Houston 34-31.
Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri equaled his career high with five field goals in a 22-14 win over the Tennessee Titans.
In other games, Minnesota beat Chicago 23-20 in overtime, San Francisco 49ers defeated St Louis 23-13, Miami were 23-3 winners over the New York Jets, Atlanta edged Buffalo 34-31 and Jacksonville downed Cleveland 32-28.
