>>Eagles Rout Bears

 

Carson Wentz tossed three touchdown passes and the NFL-leading Eagles beat the Chicago Bears 31-3 Sunday for their ninth straight win.

 

The Eagles (10-1) reduced their magic number to clinch the NFC East to one with their fourth consecutive win by at least 23 points and third in a row by exactly 28. Philadelphia would secure its first division title since 2013 if the Cowboys (5-6) lose or tie Washington on Thursday night.

Wentz had 227 yards passing, LeGarrette Blount ran for 97 yards and Zach Ertz caught 10 passes for 103 yards and one TD.

 

The defense shut down rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the inept Bears (3-8), holding them to zero first downs in the first half and 140 total yards in the game.

 

The Bears won the turnover battle (3-2), but couldn't do anything with excellent field position. They started consecutive drives at midfield and Philadelphia's 42 but Cairo Santos missed a 54-yard field goal.

 

Wentz threw a 17-yard TD pass to Ertz to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead on their second drive. Jay Ajayi ran 2 yards on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive going and Wentz connected with Alshon Jeffery for 14 yards on third-and-8 one play before the TD.

 

Wentz had a 15-yard TD pass to Nelson Agholor, who flipped over defenders into the end zone to make it 14-0 in the second quarter. Wentz spun away from a blitzer and ran 16 yards on third-and-9 to extend the drive. Then a holding penalty on Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara negated an incomplete pass on third-and-12, and the Eagles scored on the next play.

 

Another holding penalty on Amukamara gave the Eagles a first down late in the second quarter. Wentz then lofted an 8-yard TD pass to Jeffery to extend the lead to 24-0.

 

Ajayi ran 30 yards and fumbled at the Bears 5, but Agholor recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and a 31-3 lead.

 

The Bears host the San Francisco 49ers (1-9) next Sunday.

 

>>Steelers Hold Off Pesky Packers

 

A 53-yard field goal from Chris Boswell helped the Steelers escape with a 31-28 win Sunday night over the Green Bay Packers.

 

Pittsburgh (9-2) won its sixth straight behind Antonio Brown, who finished with 10 receptions for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Yet the biggest grab was a 23-yard toe-tap along the sideline on the first snap of his team's last-gasp drive that put the Steelers near the fringe of Boswell's range.

 

A more conventional 14-yard reception on the next snap pushed the Steelers closer. Boswell's career-long blast slipped inside the left upright to keep Pittsburgh tied with New England atop the AFC.

 

Brett Hundley completed 17 of 26 for 245 yards and three touchdowns for the Packers (5-6) in his best start since taking over when Rodgers went on injured reserve with a broken collarbone last month. Jamaal William ran for 66 yards, including a 4-yard leap into the end zone with 2:02 that tied it at 28.

 

Ben Roethlisberger threw for 351 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Le'Veon Bell ran for 95 yards and added another 88 yards receiving but also had a fumble that stalled a drive early in the fourth quarter. The Steelers outgained Green Bay 462-307 and had the ball for nearly 34 minutes.

 

Yet the Packers counterpunched repeatedly behind Hundley, who threw touchdown passes of 39, 54 and 55 yards then later guided Green Bay on a 12-play, 77-yard drive that was nearly enough to send the game to overtime.

 

The Packers host Tampa Bay next Sunday. Green Bay is 0-3 at home since Rogers was injured.