Costly win in Chicago…Giants end their November slump

UNDATED (AP) — The Chicago Bears got Jay Cutler back after missing a game because of a concussion and he led the Bears to an easy 28-10 win over Minnesota at Soldier Field. Cutler threw for 188 yards and one TD. The Bears raced out to a 25-3 halftime lead and improved to 8-3. The Bears have beaten the Vikes six straight games.

But the victory could be costly. The Bears lost ace return man Devin Hester to a concussion. Also, running back Matt Forte and top cornerback Charles Tillman suffered ankle injuries. Both of Chicago’s starting guards also were injured.

Thanks to Green Bay’s loss Sunday night, the Bears have a one-game lead over the Packers in the NFC North.

In other Week 12 action:

— The New York Giants snapped their two-game slide by routing Green Bay 38-10 in the matchup of the last two Super Bowl champs. Eli Manning tossed three TDs to give him 200 career TD passes, passing Phil Simms to become the Giants all-time leader in that department. The Giants own a two-game lead atop the NFC East.

— The San Francisco 49ers returned a pair of Drew Brees interceptions for touchdowns in their 31-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Colin Kaepernick is 2-0 as a starter in relief of Alex Smith.

— Baltimore rallied from a 13-3 deficit to edge San Diego 16-13 in overtime. The Ravens are 9-2, good for a three-game lead in the AFC North. The key play for the Ravens came when they were facing fourth down and 29 yards to go late in regulation and Ray Rice converted a screen pass for a first down

— The Atlanta Falcons survived a dogfight in Tampa Bay and eked out a 24-23 win over the Bucs to improve to 10-1. Matt Ryan threw for 353 yards. Michael Turner’s 1-yard TD run with 7:55 left put the Falcons on top. The win enables the Falcons to keep pace with Houston for the NFL’s best record.

— Cincinnati moved back into the playoff picture with its third straight win, 34-10 over the hapless Raiders. The Bengals are 6-5. Andy Dalton tossed three TDs.

— Cleveland surprised Pittsburgh 20-14. The Browns forced eight Steelers turnovers as Pittsburgh struggled with third-string quarterback Charlie Batch.

— Indianapolis improved to 7-4 with a 20-13 win over Buffalo. T.Y. Hilton scored on a 75-yard punt return and caught an 8-yard TD pass from Andrew Luck.

— Jacksonville snapped a seven-game losing streak by surprising Tennessee 24-19. Two TD passes for Chad Henne.

— Dan Carpenter kicked a 43-yard field goal on the final, and Miami scored 17 points in the last 8:08 to down Seattle 24-21.

— St. Louis downed Arizona 31-17. Janoris Jenkins became the first player in Rams history and the first NFL rookie since 1960 to return two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game.

Holmgren goes out a winner with Browns

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Browns announced after their 20-14 victory over rival Pittsburgh that the game was the last for Mike Holmgren as the team’s president.

The 64-year-old former coach said earlier this fall that he hoped to stay until the end of the season in an advisory role, but left open the possibility of an earlier departure.

New owner Jimmy Haslam is replacing him with CEO Joe Banner, who spent 19 years with Philadelphia.

The Browns went 12-31 under Holmgren, who was hired by former owner Randy Lerner to fix his franchise.

Holmgren has indicated he’s still interested in coaching. There have been stories about him joining the Dallas Cowboys.

It’s unanimous – Notre Dame’s the 1

NEW YORK (AP) — The football polls continue to smile on the Irish.

Notre Dame is the unanimous No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press college football poll following a 22-13 win over USC in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The Fighting Irish claimed all 60 first-place votes after running their record to 12-0 and moving within one victory of their first national championship in 24 years.

Alabama remains No. 2 after their 49-0 rout of Auburn. Georgia sits third and will take on the Crimson Tide on Saturday for the SEC title and the right to face Notre Dame in the BCS title game. Notre Dame, Alabama and Georgia are also 1-2-3 in the new BCS standings.

Chizik dismissed

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — The Auburn Tigers are looking for a new head football coach.

Gene Chizik has been fired following a 3-9 season that included an 0-8 record in the SEC. The move comes less than two years after Chizik led the Tigers to the national championship.

It marked the worst slide within two years of winning a national title of any team since the AP poll started in 1936. Auburn hasn’t lost this many games since going 0-10 in 1950.

Auburn lost its last three games by a combined 150-21, including a season-ending 49-0 loss to rival Alabama.

Buffs coach says he’s out after 1-11 season

DENVER (AP) — Jon Embree tells The Associated Press he has been fired as coach of the University of Colorado football team.

Embree made the announcement as he was heading into a meeting with his players Sunday night and didn’t want to comment on his firing other than to confirm he’d been let go by athletic director Mike Bohn earlier in the day.

The Buffaloes just completed the worst season in the 123-year history of the program. They finished 1-11 with their only win a 35-34 win at Washington State on Sept 23.

Embree was 4-21 in two years at Colorado, where he replaced Dan Hawkins.

O’Brien fired

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Tom O’Brien led North Carolina State to four bowl appearances in six seasons, but it wasn’t enough for him to keep his job.

O’Brien was fired a day after the Wolfpack finished a 7-5 regular season with a win over Boston College. He went 40-35 at the school but also posted a 22-26 record in ACC play, including a 1-14 mark in Atlantic Division road games.

N.C. State says offensive coordinator Dana Bible will be the interim coach for a bowl game.

Spaziani gets the boot

BOSTON (AP) — Frank Spaziani is out after four years as Boston College’s head football coach.

The Eagles have gotten progressively worse under Spaziani, going from eight wins his first season to a 2-10 mark this year.

Spaziani had three years remaining on a contract that paid him $1.1 million a season.

No Hope for Purdue

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A strong finish for Purdue wasn’t enough to save Danny Hope’s job.

One day after the Boilermakers retained the Old Oaken Bucket and became bowl-eligible for the second straight season, athletic director Morgan Burke announced that Hope had been fired.

Hope went 22-27 in four mostly injury-ravaged seasons. He ended the school’s three-year bowl drought last season and brought Purdue its first bowl title since 2007 by winning the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit. He was given a two-year contract extension in December that runs through the 2016 season.

Taking a Holiday in Philly…A rout in Gotham

UNDATED (AP) — Jrue Holiday had a career-high 33 points and 13 assists, leading the Philadelphia 76ers over the Phoenix Suns 104-101.

Evan Turner scored 16 points, Lavoy Allen had 11 and Thaddeus Young 10 for the 76ers, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

In other NBA action:

— Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Paul Pierce added 23 points and Rajon Rondo was one rebound shy of a triple double with 15 points and 16 assists as the Boston Celtics outlasted the Orlando Magic 116-110 in overtime

— The New York Knicks had little trouble ending their two-game losing streak. Carmelo Anthony scored 21 of his 29 points while the Knicks were grabbing a 64-44 halftime lead in a 121-100 rout of Detroit.

— Tony Parker scored six of his 32 points in the second overtime as San Antonio outlasted Toronto 111-106. Tim Duncan had 26 points in helping the Spurs improve to a league-best 7-1 on the road.

— Joe Johnson scored 21 points and Kris Humphries and Deron Williams each had double-doubles in Brooklyn’s 98-85 triumph over Portland. Humphries finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Williams added 15 points and 12 assists for the 8-4 Nets.