Cam Newton's nine carries brought 86 yards and a touchdown as the Carolina Panthers hit back from an early deficit to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 20-17.
The quarterback did not throw any touchdown passes but still had an influence on the result, dashing over from nine yards after rookie Christian McCaffrey had rushed through, lifting the Panthers to a 14-10 lead having trailed 10-0 at one point.
Carolina extended their advantage thanks to a couple of field goals and held on despite Tevin Coleman setting up a grandstand finish when he caught Matt Ryan’s 19-yard touchdown pass on the right.
Victory takes the Panthers to six wins and three defeats, while NFC South rivals Atlanta slipped to their fourth defeat in eight matches.
Cincinnati wide receiver AJ Green and Jacksonville cornerback Jalen Ramsey were both ejected for fighting in the Jaguars' 23-7 win over the Bengals.
Green reacted to being shoved by putting Ramsey in a chokehold and then extraordinarily punched his rival while he was on the ground, leading to a melee as players from both sides came storming to the controversy.
The Jaguars had the last laugh, however, with Blake Bortles throwing for 259 yards and a touchdown.
Matters also turned ugly in the Tampa Bay-New Orleans clash, one in which the Saints prevailed 30-10 as they extended their winning streak to six matches.
Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans clattered into Marshon Lattimore from behind and then pounced on the prone Saints cornerback on the touchline although the pair were quickly separated.
By that time, the Saints were leading 30-3 and well on their way to a lopsided with, with Drew Brees completing 22 of his 27 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns.
The New York Giants crashed to their seventh defeat in eight matches as they were ruthlessly dispatched 51-17 by the Los Angeles Rams, with Jared Goff registering a career-best four touchdown throws.
Carson Wentz also completed four touchdown passes as the Philadelphia Eagles thrashed the Denver Broncos 51-23, the Indianapolis Colts ended a three-game losing run by beating the Houston Texans 20-14 and the the Tennessee Titans edged out the Baltimore Ravens 23-20.
Kirk Cousins drove the Washington Redskins 70 yards and Rob Kelley's one-yard touchdown run with less than a minute remaining on the clock earned them a 17-14 win over the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks had gone 14-10 ahead with 1:34 to go after Russell Wilson connected with Doug Baldwin on a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Adrian Peterson had a career-high 37 carries for 159 yards to help the Arizona Cardinals to a 20-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Peterson's running and a pair of touchdown passes in the first half from Drew Stanton was enough for the Cardinals to see off the 49ers, who have now lost 23 of their past 24 games.
Ezekiel Elliott scored the go-ahead touchdown to give the Dallas Cowboys a 28-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders remained in the race for a play-off place with a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins.
