(AP) - Tyler Palko shook off two miserable starts and threw for 157 yards and a touchdown even though he was briefly lifted for Kyle Orton, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat Chicago 10-3 Sunday on a day when the Bears lost Matt Forte to a right knee injury. Orton came on to start the second quarter and immediately left the game with an injured finger on his right hand. Palko connected with Dexter McCluster on a wild 38-yard pass to end the first half on a ball that got deflected by Brian Urlacher and Chris Conte, giving the Chiefs a 7-3 lead and their first touchdown in three games. Kansas City (5-7) got a 21-yard field goal from Ryan Succop in the third quarter, and Jon McGraw intercepted struggling backup Caleb Hanie in the end zone in the fourth. The Chiefs also recorded seven sacks - three by Justin Houston.
(AP) - Frank Gore ran San Francisco right into the playoffs, becoming the 49ers' career rushing leader in a 26-0 win over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday that wrapped up the franchise's first NFC West crown and postseason berth since 2002. Alex Smith threw second-half touchdowns of 52 and 56 yards to Michael Crabtree and Kyle Williams and David Akers kicked four field goals for San Francisco (10-2) as coach Jim Harbaugh joined George Seifert (1989) and Steve Mariucci (1997) as the only rookie coaches in 49ers history to win the division. The only downer came when star linebacker Patrick Willis left the game in the first half with a right hamstring injury. Rams quarterback A.J. Feeley struggled in place of injured starter Sam Bradford for the reeling Rams (2-10).
(AP) - Aaron Rodgers engineered a last minute drive to set up a 31-yard field goal by Mason Crosby on the final play of regulation and the Green Bay Packers remained undefeated and clinched a playoff berth with a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday. Rodgers hit three passes of more than 18 yards on the drive in the final 58 seconds as the Super Bowl champion Packers (12-0) won their 18th straight game and handed the Giants (6-6) their fourth straight loss. New York, which was blown out by New Orleans Monday night, tied the game on a 2-yard Eli Manning touchdown pass and a 2-point conversion run by D.J. Ware with just under a minute to play.
