Raiders 31, Jets 28
Derek Carr threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III with 5 seconds left, lifting the Las Vegas Raiders to a wild 31-28 victory over the still-winless New York Jets on Sunday.
The Jets took a 28-24 lead with 5:34 remaining on Ty Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown and the defense came up with a big fourth-down stop that appeared to end New York’s agonizing wait for its first win of the season.
But New York went three-and-out with a chance to seal it — and Carr and the Raiders had 35 seconds left to try for what appeared an unlikely comeback. Four plays later, Carr found Ruggs streaking downfield — beating rookie cornerback Lamar Jackson — and delivered the ball perfectly for the winning score.
The Raiders improved to (7-5) while the deflated Jets dropped to (0-12).
Saints 21, Falcons 16
The New Orleans Saints (10-2) held on to defeat the Atlanta Falcons, and clinched a playoff berth with Chicago’s 34-30 loss to Detroit.
Making his third straight start in place of Drew Brees, Taysom Hill threw the first two touchdown passes of his career. But his fumble deep in Atlanta territory sparked a Falcons comeback.
Atlanta drove 85 yards against the Saints, capped by Matt Ryan’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Russell Gage with 7:43 remaining.
The Falcons (4-8) got the ball back and again pushed deep into New Orleans territory. On second-and-2 at the Saints 13, Todd Gurley was stuffed for no gain. He got the ball again on third down, trying a sweep around the left end, but Demario Davis caught him for a 7-yard loss.
The Falcons threw into the end zone on fourth down, but the pass feel incomplete to finish off the home team’s best chance at pulling off an upset.
Atlanta got a desperation heave on the final play of the game, but the Saints batted it down.
Browns 41, Titans 35
Baker Mayfield threw for a season-high 334 yards with all four of his touchdown passes in the first half, and Cleveland scored the first 17 points before holding on to win its fourth straight.
With both chasing AFC playoff berths, the Browns looked like the team leading a division — they are second in the AFC North behind the unbeaten Pittsburgh Steelers — as they improved to 9-3 for the third time in their expansion era.
The Titans (8-4) came in leading the AFC South and left tied after the Colts beat Houston 26-20, though Tennessee still has the better division record. The Titans fell apart after a bad fourth-down spot on their opening drive. NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry lost his first fumble this season on the next drive.
Dolphins 19, Bengals 7
Tua Tagovailoa returned from a thumb injury that forced him to miss one game, throwing for a season-high 296 yards and a score to help Miami rally past Cincinnati in a game that included five ejections and a benches-clearing confrontation.
The Dolphins lost their best defender when NFL interception leader Xavien Howard was thrown out late in the first half, but they limited Cincinnati to 25 yards after halftime and finished with six sacks. Miami ranks second in the NFL in scoring defense and has allowed 10 points in the past two weeks.
Both benches emptied in fourth quarter after Cincinnati’s Mike Thomas was flagged for a foul covering a punt. There was pushing and shoving, and Bengals safety Shawn Williams and Miami receivers DeVante Parker and Mack Hollins were ejected.
Tyler Boyd turned a short pass into a 72-yard touchdown to give the Bengals a 7-0 lead, but he was later ejected following a tussle with Howard.
The Dolphins (8-4) won for the seventh time in eight games to achieve their best 12-game record since 2003. The Bengals (2-9-1) lost their fourth game in a row and are assured of at least nine defeats for the fifth consecutive year.
Lions 34, Bears 30
Detroit won its first game under interim coach Darrell Bevell, rallying to beat slumping Chicago.
Adrian Peterson scored from the five after Romeo Okwara strip-sacked Mitchell Trubisky with about two minutes left, capping a big comeback.
Matthew Stafford threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns for the Lions (5-7), who came away with a wild win following a major shakeup after a Thanksgiving loss to Houston. They fired general manager Bob Quinn and coach Matt Patricia while elevating Bevell, their offensive coordinator.
Detroit trailed 30-20 early in the fourth period after Trubisky threw an 11-yard touchdown to Cole Kmet on a bootleg. Chicago’s Bilal Nichols then intercepted a short pass intended for Jesse James.
But the Lions turned things around down the stretch, sending the Bears (5-7) to their sixth straight loss.
Stafford completed 27 of 42 passes. The 12-year veteran has 3,278 yards, the ninth time he has surpassed the 3,000 mark.
Colts 26, Texans 20
Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes in the first half and the Colts’ defense dominated in the second half, lifting Indianapolis to victory.
The Texans had a chance to take the lead with about 90 seconds left. They were at the Colts 2 when Deshaun Watson fumbled a low snap and Anthony Walker pounced on it to seal Indy’s win.
The Colts (8-4) led 24-20 at the break after Rivers threw TD passes of 21 and 39 yards. Their offense didn’t score after that, but the defense held Houston (4-8) scoreless in the second half and Justin Houston added a safety.
The safety was Indy’s third this season and the fourth of Houston’s career, tying him for the most in NFL history. Houston also had three sacks, three QB hits and forced a fumble.
Watson threw for 341 yards and ran for a score in the first half. But he did not have a touchdown pass for the first time this season and threw an interception after not being picked off in the last six games.
Vikings Jags 24 OT
Dan Bailey kicked a 23-yard field goal with 1:49 left in overtime after he missed two extra points and a 51-yard try with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, lifting the Minnesota Vikings to a 27-24 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday.
The Jaguars (1-11) have lost their 11th straight game
Harrison Smith set up Bailey’s redo with a diving interception at the Jacksonville 46, the fourth turnover of the game by the Jaguars.
Mike Glennon passed for 280 yards and one score in his second start, but had two interceptions.
The Vikings (6-6) got their fifth win in six games. Justin Jefferson topped the 1,000-yard mark just 12 games into his rookie season, finishing with nine receptions for 121 yards. Adam Thielen had eight catches for 75 yards and a score in his return from a one-game COVID-19 quarantine.
Kirk Cousins passed for 305 yards and three touchdowns, producing just enough clutch completions to make up for his throw on the first play of the second half that Joe Schobert returned 43 yards for a touchdown. That gave the Jaguars a 16-6 lead, their largest at any point this season.
Rams 38, Cardinals 28
L.A.’s Jared Goff passed for 351 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another in the Rams’ 38-28 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson rushed for touchdowns, tight end Tyler Higbee caught a touchdown pass and cornerback Troy Hill returned an interception for a touchdown as the Rams scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter and improved their record to 8-4.
The victory, coupled with the Seattle Seahawks’ 17-12 defeat by the New York Giants, put the Rams back into first place in the NFC West.
Along with Hill’s touchdown, linebacker Justin Hollins forced a fumble and Aaron Donald a sack as the Rams neutralized Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. Murray completed 21 of 39 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns, with an interception. He rushed for 15 yards in five carries.
Goff completed 37 of 47 passes.
Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins caught eight passes for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Giants 17, Seahawks 12
Alfred Morris scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, the New York Giants defense shut down Russell Wilson and one of the top offenses in the league, and the Giants stunned the Seattle Seahawks 17-12 on Sunday.
Double-digit underdogs, the Giants (5-7) handed Seattle its first home loss of the season and kept their spot on top of the NFC East for another week.
Following its 0-5 start, New York has won five of its past seven, the last four in a row. New York had been close in tight losses to Tampa Bay and the Rams, but picked the perfect time to get its first victory over a team with a winning record.
And the Giants did it with starting quarterback Daniel Jones (hamstring) a spectator after getting hurt last week against Cincinnati. Colt McCoy made key plays and avoided critical mistakes following a first-half interception.
McCoy was 13 of 22 for 105 yards, and Wayne Gallman rushed for 135 yards on 16 carries.
Meanwhile, alarms will be going off all over Seattle (8-4) after a sloppy, uninspired performance. Seattle’s offense that was once unstoppable couldn’t get started until it was too late. Wilson was 27 of 42 for 263 yards.
He was sacked five times, a number of those simply from holding the ball too long.
Patriots 45, Chargers 0
Cam Newton ran for two touchdowns and the New England Patriots scored two TDs on special teams in a 45-0 rout of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Newton has four games this season with multiple rushing touchdowns, breaking the league record for a quarterback. He had three such games in 2011, an achievement he shared with five others, and has 10 in his career, three more than any other QB.
The Patriots (6-6) have won two straight and four of five to get back into playoff contention in the AFC.
Los Angeles (3-9) suffered the worst loss in franchise history, eclipsing a 49-6 defeat to Kansas City in 1964. It was the first time since 2014 the Chargers were shut out. LA will finish with a losing record for the second consecutive season.
Newton completed 12 of 19 passes for 69 yards, including a 5-yard pass to N’Keal Henry during the third quarter that extended New England’s lead to 35-0.
Jarrett Stidham replaced Newton early in the fourth quarter threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Olszewski.
Rookie Justin Herbert was 26 of 53 for 209 yards for the Chargers. He was intercepted twice.
Packers 30, Eagles 16
Aaron Jones rushed for 130 yards and delivered a game-clinching 77-yard touchdown run with 2:36 left as the Green Bay Packers withstood a fourth-quarter comeback attempt to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 30-16.
Aaron Rodgers connected with Davante Adams on two of his three touchdown passes and reached a couple of career milestones to help Green Bay (9-3) hand the Eagles (3-8-1) their fourth consecutive loss. Kingsley Keke had two of the Packers’ seven sacks.
Green Bay owned a 23-3 lead in the fourth quarter when the Eagles scored two touchdowns in a span of just over a minute. Rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts, who took over for an ineffective Carson Wentz midway through the third quarter, started it by throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Greg Ward on fourth-and-18. Jalen Reagor then delivered a 73-yard punt return to cut the lead to 23-16 with 6:30 left, though Jake Elliott missed the extra point.
The Eagles forced a second straight three-and-out, but couldn’t move the ball and punted. That’s when Jones put away the game.
Rodgers, who went 25 of 34 for 295 yards, increased his career touchdown passes to 400, the seventh NFL player to join that fraternity. The others are Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Dan Marino and Philip Rivers.
Rodgers got to No. 400 in his 193rd career game, faster than any other player. He now has 36 touchdown passes this year and is the first player to throw at least 35 in five separate seasons. He also did it in 2011 (45), 2012 (39), 2014 (38) and 2016 (40).
Hurts was 5 of 12 for 109 yards with an interception to go along with his touchdown pass. Wentz was 6 of 15 for 79 yards.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Chiefs 22, Broncos 16
Patrick Mahomes threw for 318 yards and a touchdown, Harrison Butker was perfect on five field goals, and the Kansas City Chiefs overcame some big mistakes that cost them two more scores to hold off the Denver Broncos 22-16.
Travis Kelce had eight receptions for 136 yards and the go-ahead TD grab late in the third quarter, and Tyrann Mathieu twice picked off Broncos quarterback Drew Lock — the second with 24 seconds left to seal the win — as the Chiefs clinched a playoff berth by improving to 11-1 for the second time in franchise history.
The Broncos (4-8) forced the Chiefs to punt after a holding call wiped out Tyreek Hill’s 48-yard touchdown reception — he also missed out on a TD because of a coaching gaffe earlier — and Denver managed to move to midfield before stalling. But rather than going for it on fourth-and-3 with 6 minutes to go, coach Vic Fangio elected to punt the ball away.
The Chiefs melted most of the clock before Butker kicked a 48-yard field goal with 1:06 remaining, and the Kansas City defense forced Lock into a wild fourth-down throw that Mathieu intercepted to put the game away.
Lock returned after missing last week’s game against New Orleans, along with the rest of Denver’s quarterbacks, because of COVID-19 positive tests and contact tracing. The local boy finished with 151 yards passing and two touchdown throws to Tim Patrick, while Melvin Gordon ran for 131 yards on just 15 carries.
TODAY: 5p Eastern
The (4-7) Washington Football Team are in Pittsburgh to take on the undefeated (11-0) Steelers.
TONIGHT on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: 8p Eastern
The (8-3) Buffalo Bills are in the Bay Area to take on the (5-6) San Francisco 49ers.
TOMORROW (TUESDAY) NIGHT: Postponed From Last Thursday Night:
The (3-8) Dallas Cowboys are in Baltimore to battle the (6-5) Ravens.
