ST. LOUIS — A simple slant pattern to his favorite receiver gave Brett Favre yet another record in a milestone season.

It's been a pretty big year for his team, too. The Green Bay Packers (12-2) secured a first-round playoff bye for the first time since 1997.

Favre eclipsed Dan Marino to become the NFL career leader in yards passing in a 33-14 victory over the St. Louis Rams yesterday.

"I say every time this happens that I'm honored," said Favre, who went 19 for 30 for 227 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. "I would much rather win. I'm tickled to death that I've had a chance to break these records and be a part of all these wonderful things."

Also, Greg Jennings and Donald Lee caught scoring passes and kicker Mason Crosby was 4 for 4 from 44, 50, 25 and 46 yards for Green Bay.

Favre set the record on a 7-yard toss to Donald Driver on the Packers' first drive of the fourth quarter.

"He's going to give you all that he has," St. Louis defensive tackle La'Roi Glover said. "He's the real deal and everybody knows it."

Steven Jackson had 143 yards on 23 carries for the Rams (3-11).

Marino passed for 61,361 yards in 17 seasons. Favre, who now has 61,405 yards, also is in his 17th season.

EAGLES 10, COWBOYS 6

IRVING, Texas — Donovan McNabb wasn't his old self, but he was better than the out-of-whack and possibly injured Tony Romo.

Philadelphia had lost three straight and was still smarting from a nationally televised blowout loss to Dallas six weeks ago. The Eagles ended the Cowboys' seven-game winning streak and prevented them from tying the franchise record for wins in a season. They also kept alive their hopes of snagging a wild-card berth into the postseason.

Romo started 0 for 6 and wasn't doing much better when he injured his throwing hand in the third quarter. Romo was 13 of 36 for 214 yards. All three of his pickoffs came on balls forced to Terrell Owens. He also was sacked four times, all on the final two drives, when his banged-up hand bothered him so much he dropped a ball while cocking to throw.

X-rays on Romo's hand showed no break, but it's at least bruised. Romo insisted, "I'll be fine."

Philadelphia (6-8) could've won by more, but Brian Westbrook broke free for a 24-yard run with a little more than two minutes left. Instead of sprinting into the end zone, he stopped at the 1. Dallas (12-2) was out of timeouts, so the Eagles were able to take a knee on three straight plays rather take any chances.

"It was brilliant," Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said of Westbrook. "He used that Villanova education and transferred it to the football field."

SAINTS 31, CARDINALS 24

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees connected on 87 percent of his throws for 315 yards and two touchdowns, capping his day with a clutch, 22-yard third-down completion to Billy Miller that allowed the Saints (7-7) to run out the clock against Arizona (6-8).

"We're really getting the best out of ourselves right now," said Brees, who completed 26 of 30 passes, including TDs to Marques Colston (19 yards) and David Patten (32 yards).

The Saints rushed for 114 yards as a team, with third-stringer Aaron Stecker rushing for 95 yards and two TDs.

BUCCANEERS 37, FALCONS 3

TAMPA, Fla. — Micheal Spurlock ran back a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, the first in the franchise's 32 seasons, and Tampa Bay won the NFC South for the second time in three seasons.

"Derrick Brooks always tells me: 'Today is the day to make history.' And it happened," Spurlock said of his first-quarter TD. "Everybody got their block, I hit it and found the end zone."

Ronde Barber returned an interception 29 yards for a TD and Earnest Graham scored a touchdown rushing in a team-record sixth consecutive game to help Tampa Bay (9-5) improve to 5-0 in the division after going 0-6 against NFC South rivals a year ago.

The loss was the fifth in a row for Atlanta (3-11). It capped a tumultuous week that began with suspended star quarterback Michael Vick being sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in a dogfighting ring, a lopsided loss to New Orleans and the abrupt resignation of first-year coach Bobby Petrino.

PANTHERS 13, SEAHAWKS 10

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rookie Matt Moore, the fourth starting QB for the Panthers this season, engineered three scoring drives in the fourth quarter.

Coming in with six losses in seven games and with coach John Fox sitting on the hot seat, the Panthers (6-8) turned in their best defensive performance of the season. Moore surprisingly outplayed Matt Hasselbeck as the NFC West champion Seahawks (9-5) had their five-game winning streak snapped.

"I don't even feel like we played a full game," Hasselbeck said. "I feel like we should go back out there and try again. It wasn't us."

In a game scoreless until the fourth quarter, Moore led the Panthers on two scoring drives, the last ending with John Kasay's 37-yard field goal with 2:59 left that gave Carolina a 6-3 lead.

On the next possession, Hasselbeck fumbled on a sack by Thomas Davis and Carolina's Richard Marshall recovered. That led to DeAngelo Williams' 35-yard touchdown run with 1:20 left that put it away.

REDSKINS 22, GIANTS 10

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Clinton Portis ran for 126 yards and a touchdown and Todd Collins led the Redskins on five scoring drives in his first start in 10 years.

"It was another game we had to get and we just have to keep it going," Portis said after Washington (7-7) moved within a half-game of Minnesota for a wild-card berth. "We have a lot of strong will in this room."

New York (9-5) still can clinch a playoff berth with a win at Buffalo next weekend.

Portis scored on a 5-yard run, Ladell Betts got in from 14 yards out on a draw play and Shaun Suisham kicked three field goals on a blustery evening.

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