by DAN CAESAR, Posted: Monday, November 7, 2011 12:20 am

The Green Bay Packers are halfway to an undefeated regular season after passing a tough test Sunday, outlasting the Chargers in San Diego 45-38 in what some thought would be a trap spot — trip to the West Coast to face a formidable foe after being off last week. But Aaron Rodgers (four touchdown passes, no interceptions) outdueled Philip Rivers (four TD passes but three interceptions, two returned for TDs) as the Packers found a way to win again.

"His decision-making is clearly the highest level that I have personally been a part of,"Packers coach Mike McCarthy said of his Super Bowl MVP quarterback. Added receiver Greg Jennings, who caught one of Rodgers' TD passes: "He is a special, special, special, special player.''

The Chargers have lost three straight games, including road collapses against the Jets and Chiefs."We're fighting through a rough time right now," said Rivers, whose 14 interceptions and 17 total turnovers lead the NFL. "These tough times, you find out a lot about guys, a lot about yourself."The Packers still have a long road to perfection.

They have to play Detroit twice (the first time on the road on Thanksgiving Day) and also have a road game against the surging Giants, as well as a trip to Kansas City, among their final eight games.Julio Jones finally emerges

The Falcons used their first-round draft pick last spring to take speedy receiver Julio Jones and big things were expected from the passing attack with QB Matt Ryan having a key target to accompany Roddy White, who led the NFL in receptions last year.

But a slow start by Jones, compounded by a hamstring ailment that sidelined him for two games, led to some grumbling in Atlanta after a team that had big expectations lost three of its first five games. Although Jones surpassed 100 yards in receiving twice in that stretch, he averaged just 38.7 yards in the other three games and didn't have a touchdown catch — until Sunday when he returned to the lineup.

He made a diving 50-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, a play that at first was ruled incomplete but was overturned after a video-replay reversal following a challenge of the call by Atlanta coach Mike Smith.

Jones beat triple coverage on the play, making a great adjustment on the ball at the goal line. He was so certain he didn't trap the ball that when he saw the pass was ruled incomplete he immediately waved his right arm to implore Smith to challenge. "I knew I had caught it," Jones said. "I knew my hands were up under the ball. I didn't bobble it or nothing."

Then in the second quarter Jones took a short pass from Ryan and sprinted the rest of the way for an 80-yard TD play, sending the Falcons on their way to a rout of the Colts.

"The one on the first deep ball, he made an unbelievable catch," Ryan said. "That's what you've got to do with guys like that, you've got to give them a chance to catch the football. He made me look pretty good on that one. On the second touchdown, he showed off his athleticism. We knew he was capable of doing those types of things. We had seen that in practice, seen that in training camp. For him to go out there and do it today in the game was big."

Jones finished with three catches for a season-high 131 yards. He added two carries for 33 yards. Fab 49ers rule in the morbid NFC West. It sure doesn't look like there will be a sub-.500 team clunking into the playoffs from the NFC West, as was the case last year when Seattle got in after a 7-9 season. That's because for that to happen again, surprising San Francisco would have to lose all its remaining eight games.

Frank Gore had his fifth straight 100-yard game (107 yards on 19 yards) as the 49ers coasted Sunday against the Redskins to reach 7-1. They have a massive five-game lead at the halfway point of the season and it soon will be time to start looking at the magic number to clinch. The three other teams in the division have a combined record of 5-19.Tebow turnaround

Tim Tebow was terrible for most of his first start of the season before rallying the Broncos in the waning moments to a victory over the Dolphins. He followed up last week with a horrid performance in a loss to the Lions, leading coach John Fox to say that Tebow would keep the QB job "for this week."

But it looks as if Tebow will keep it a while longer, as he threw two TD passes and ran for 117 yards Sunday in an upset of the Raiders. He's far outside the QB mold of the modern NFL, because he utilizes his running skills more than his arm, but the bottom line is that he's 2-1 as a starter for a team that was 1-4 before he replaced Kyle Orton.

"Honestly it doesn't necessarily matter too much how you drew it up as long as you get this (winning) feeling at the end, because it was pretty special," said Tebow, who was just 10-for-21 passing for 124 yards but suffered just one sack after being taken down 13 times in his previous two starts.

"I thought he improved throwing the ball," Fox said. "I think he's always run the ball pretty effectively. He's very competitive by nature. You see evidence of that. Now it's just learning how to be an NFL scores quarterback. In my opinion he's gotten better each time out."

Bills are buffaloed. Buffalo was flying high, with a dynamic offense and an undefeated mark at home as the Bills were dreaming of the AFC East title. But then the Jets came calling and showed the Bills that they better not make playoff plans yet as they were held to 11 points and 287 yards and had three turnovers.

"We were really excited about this game, and ready to show our division that we're here and we're a better team than we've been in the past,"QB Ryan Fitzpatrick said. "Unfortunately we didn't show it."

The Bills blew a chance to have six wins in their first eight games for the first time since 1993, and if they want to snap an 11-year playoff drought they'll have plenty of work to do. Buffalo plays four of its next five on the road, including three in a row and a rematch with the Jets in three weeks.

Injury update

• Cowboys Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin, who has missed two games this season because of a left hamstring problem, injured his right one Sunday. QB Tony Romo talked as if Austin might be out a while. "It's going to be hard without him," Romo said. "He's an explosive player ... we'll have to do some things to counter it."
• Saints cornerback Tracy Porter was strapped to a stretcher and taken to a hospital after suffering a neck injury on a hard hit, but the injury is not believed to be serious.
• The Colts lost their top two tight ends. It's not know how long Dallas Clark (leg) and Brody Eldridge (hand) will be sidelined. Milestone moments.
• The Packers became the third defending Super Bowl champion to win their first eight games of the ensuing season, joining the 1990 49ers and 1998 Broncos.
• The Texans (6-3) finished with a franchise-record 261 yards rushing and moved three games over .500 for the first time.
• The Bengals have won five games in a row for the first time since 1988.
• The Colts have been outscored 75-14 in the first half, 120-24 in their last three games.

Post-Dispatch wire services contributed to this report.