AMERICAN FOOTBALL NFL:THE NEW England Patriots avoided their first three-game National Football League losing streak since 2002 with a 37-16 win over the New York Jets.

The New York Giants lost on Sunday 27-20 to the San Francisco 49ers in a Week 10 clash of division leaders.

Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes and Rob Ninkovich scored on a 12-yard interception return as the Patriots ended the Jets’ three-game winning streak and sent coach Rex Ryan’s squad to its first home loss in five games this season.

“We knew coming in here it was a big game and we laid it all out on the field and got the win,” Ninkovich said in a televised interview after Sunday’s game in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The Patriots improved to 6-3 and take sole possession of first place in the American Football Conference East division, ahead of the Jets and Buffalo Bills, who are both 5-4. The Bills were routed 44-7 by Dallas yesterday in the Cowboys’ most lopsided win since 2000.

The Giants (6-3) remain one game ahead of the Cowboys in the National Football Conference East after having their three- game winning streak halted in San Francisco.

The 49ers, who lead the NFC West, have now won seven in a row, their best run since an 11-game streak in 1997. Vernon Davis and Kendall Hunter scored touchdowns just over a minute apart early in the fourth quarter as the 49ers opened a 27-13 lead and withstood a late rally by the Giants. The Giants had their final drive halted at the 49ers’ 10-yard line when a fourth-down pass by Eli Manning was batted down with 34 seconds left.

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals 24-17 behind a pair of touchdown runs by Rashard Mendenhall and the New Orleans Saints knocked off the Atlanta Falcons 26-23 in overtime.

The Steelers, who entered the day a half-game behind the Bengals and Baltimore Ravens in the American Football Conference’s North division, improved to 7-3 while the Bengals had a five-game winning streak snapped to fall to 6-3. The Ravens also slipped to 6-3 with a 22-17 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle. The Saints (7-3) got a 26-yard field goal by John Kasay in overtime to win a match-up of the top two teams in the NFC South. The winning kick at the Georgia Dome came four plays after Atlanta’s Michael Turner was stopped on a fourth-and-1 run from the Falcons’ 29-yard line.

Tony Romo threw three touchdown passes, including two to Laurent Robinson, and DeMarco Murray rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys (5-4) scored 44 points against the Bills, their most since 2007.

The Bills are also 5-4. Arian Foster ran for one touchdown and caught a 78-yard scoring pass from Matt Schaub as the AFC South-leading Houston Texans (7-3) beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 37-9 to increase their chances of making the play-offs for the first time.

The Tennessee Titans (5-4) won 30-3 to hand the Carolina Panthers (2-7) a third straight home loss, while the Indianapolis Colts lost 17-3 to the Jacksonville Jaguars to drop to 0-10 for the first time since 1997. Josh Brown kicked a 34-yard field goal with 7:42 to play as the St Louis Rams won 13-12 against the Cleveland Browns to log their second victory in nine games this season.