SATURDAY NIGHT:
Colts 27, Patriots 17
Jonathan Taylor ran for 170 yards and scored on a 67-yarder with 2:01 left to help the Indianapolis Colts seal a 27-17 victory over the New England Patriots on Saturday night.
The Colts (8-6) solidified their playoff hopes by winning for the fifth time in six games — and ending an eight-game losing streak to the rival Patriots (9-5).
Taylor has run for a touchdown in 11 straight games to tie Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the longest streak in franchise history.
New England had won seven straight and started the weekend in the top spot of the AFC playoff chase. But the Patriots could not overcome a 20-0 deficit because of too many uncharacteristic mistakes, including Taylor’s game-saving run.
Rookie quarterback Mac Jones was 26 of 45 with 299 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions as he fell to 6-1 on the road this season .
Carson Wentz was 5 of 12 with 57 yards with one TD and one interception as the Colts rushed for 226 yards on 39 carries.
SUNDAY:
Lions 30, Cardinals 12
Kyler Murray had a shaky performance and that helped the Detroit Lions stun the Arizona Cardinals 30-12 on Sunday.
Arizona (10-4) missed its chance to get in the playoffs for the first time since 2015 with a win over a team it was favored to beat by nearly two touchdowns.
Murray was 23 of 41 for 257 yards with a touchdown and an interception, adding up to a 72.9 passer rating.
Murray couldn’t get away from the scrappy Lions (2-11-1) when he tried to run, and finished with 3 yards rushing on four carries.
By the time Murray threw a touchdown pass, there was 4:40 left in the game and Arizona trailed by 15 points.
Detroit kicked a field goal on the ensuing drive, essentially sealing the win, and coach Kliff Kingsbury put Colt McCoy in the game in place of Murray.
Jared Goff, meanwhile, completed 21 of 26 passes for 216 yards with three touchdowns.
Cowboys 21, Giants 6
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence forced a fumble and made two other big plays that led to 15 points and the NFL-East leading Dallas Cowboys inched closer to their first playoff berth since 2018 with a 21-6 win over the New York Giants.
Dak Prescott threw a touchdown, Ezekiel Elliott scored on a 13-yard run and the defense forced four turnovers, including Trevon Diggs’ NFL-leading 10th interception. The Cowboys (10-4) won their third straight. Greg Zuerlein added three field goals.
Graham Gano kicked field goals of 35 and 42 yards as the Giants (4-10) lost their third straight game with backup Mike Glennon starting for the injured Daniel Jones.
Dolphins 31, Jets 24
DeVante Parker caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa with 3:37 left, Duke Johnson rushed for two scores and the Miami Dolphins extended their winning streak to six games by topping the New York Jets 31-24.
Johnson finished with 107 yards on 22 carries for the Dolphins (7-7), who rallied from an early 10-0 deficit. It was the first two-rushing-TD game of Johnson’s NFL career and the first 100-yard game from a Miami rusher this season.
Brandin Echols had a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown midway through the fourth for the Jets. Zach Wilson and Braxton Berrios rushed for scores for New York; Wilson completed 13 of 23 passes for 170 yards for the Jets.
Tagovailoa completed 16 of 27 passes for 196 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for Miami.
The Dolphins became the second team in NFL history to get to 7-7 after starting a season 1-7. The other team on that list — the Jets, in 1974. The season was only 14 weeks back then, so that’s where the Jets’ turnaround ended and did so without a playoff berth.
Steelers 19, Titans 13
Ben Roethlisberger ran for his first touchdown in three years, Chris Boswell kicked four field goals and the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive with a 19-13 win over Tennessee.
The Steelers (7-6-1) forced the Titans (9-5) into four turnovers and needed every one of them to win for the second time in three games.
Despite the miscues, Tennessee drove deep into Pittsburgh territory in the final moments, but wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was tackled inches short of the first down at the Steelers 11 with 27 seconds to go.
Pittsburgh remained in the mix in the muddled AFC North despite managing just 168 yards of total offense. Roethlisberger threw for 148 yards to move past Philip Rivers into fifth on the NFL’s career yards passing list, but it was his legs — and Pittsburgh’s resilient defense — that provided the difference.
While Tennessee remains in control of the AFC South with three games remaining, the Titans missed a chance to move into AFC’s top seed.
Texans 30, Jaguars 16
Tremon Smith returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and the Houston Texans beat woeful Jacksonville 30-16 on Sunday to end a three-game skid and extend their dominance in the series.
Smith somehow escaped five defenders near the 30-yard line — Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins broke his right ankle trying to make the tackle — before coasting the rest of the way. It was Houston’s first kickoff return for a score since Oct. 4, 2009. Every other NFL team had enjoyed at least one since.
Rookie quarterback Davis Mills won for the first time in eight starts. He connected with Brandin Cooks twice for touchdowns, once early and again late. The second one was a 43-yarder that sealed yet another Houston victory against Jacksonville.
The Texans (3-11) won their eighth straight against the Jaguars (2-12), sweeping their rivals for the ninth time in the last 11 years.
Bills 31, Panthers 14
Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes, Devin Singletary ran for a season-high 86 yards with his quarterback mostly kept in the pocket by a sprained left foot and the Buffalo Bills beat the offensively challenged Carolina Panthers 31-14 Sunday.
Allen finished 19 of 34 for 210 yards while Singletary kept Buffalo moving on the ground and opened the scoring on a 16-yard run.
Gabriel Davis scored twice, including a 20-yard catch on a post route for a 24-8 lead with six minutes left in the third quarter — Davis had several steps on defender Rashaan Melvin on that one. Davis also scored on a 14-yard catch in the fourth quarter, and Stefon Diggs had an 11-yard TD grab in a game the Bills never trailed.
Buffalo (8-6) was at risk of its first three-game skid in three years. The Bills have won four of nine games and kept a hold of at least a wild-card spot. They can still repeat as AFC East champions, too, with a key showdown against first-place New England (9-5) next Sunday.
The Panthers (5-9) dropped their fourth straight and lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Cam Newton finished 13 of 39 for 156 yards and an interception, with 15 carries for a team-leading 71 yards. He extended his NFL record by scoring a TD rushing and TD passing for the 44th time of his career. Newton also extended his streak of scoring a TD rushing to five consecutive games, matching the NFL record for a quarterback set by Arizona’s Kyler Murray last year.
49ers 31, Falcons 13
Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 235 yards and a TD, San Francisco ran for three more scores and the 49ers won for the fifth time in six games, beating the Atlanta Falcons 31-13.
The Niners (8-6) scored touchdowns on four straight drives to make easy work of the Falcons (6-8) to remain in wild-card position as the sixth-place team in the NFC.
Matt Ryan threw for 236 yards with a 20-yard TD to Russell Gage in the first half, but was under relentless pressure most of the game.
Packers 31, Ravens 30
Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes — tying Brett Favre on Green Bay’s career list — and the Packers (11-3) became the first team this season to clinch a division title, wrapping up the NFC North with a 31-30 win over Baltimore.
The Ravens missed another big 2-point conversion in the final minute.
With Lamar Jackson out with a sprained ankle, Tyler Huntley nearly led Baltimore (8-6) all the way back from a 31-17 deficit. His 8-yard touchdown run with 42 seconds left pulled the Ravens within one, but Huntley’s 2-point conversion pass was incomplete.
It was the third consecutive loss for Baltimore, which also fell to Pittsburgh two weekends ago on a missed 2-point conversion in the final seconds.
Rodgers went 23 of 31 for 268 yards. He has thrown for 13 touchdowns without an interception over his last four games and didn’t appear the slightest bit limited by his toe injury.
Huntley threw for 215 yards and two first-half touchdowns to Mark Andrews.
Bengals 15, Broncos 10
Khalid Kareem snatched the ball from backup quarterback Drew Lock on second-and-goal early in the fourth quarter and the Cincinnati Bengals stayed in the thick of the logjammed AFC playoff race with a 15-10 win over the Denver Broncos.
The Bengals (8-6) won despite star rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase being held to a single catch for 3 yards and Tee Higgins managing only 23 yards on two catches.
The Broncos (7-7) saw their postseason hopes whittled with their fourth home loss of the season.
Lock was in for Teddy Bridgewater, who was taken to the hospital in the third quarter for further evaluation of a head injury after he was carted off the field following a scary collision that also sent Bengals linebacker Joe Bachie from the game with a leg injury.
Bridgewater had movement in his extremities and coach Vic Fangio said he’d be held overnight for observation but was expected to be OK.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Saints 9, Buccaneers 0
On a night they were looking to clinch their first NFC South title since 2007, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their two Pro Bowl receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, in the first half Sunday against the New Orleans Saints and were shut out for the first time in Tom Brady’s tenure as Tampa Bay quarterback.
The 9-0 defeat to the Saints marked only the third shoutout of Brady’s NFL career with him as the starter, and first since Week 14 of the 2006 season, when he was a member of the New England Patriots and opposing Joey Harrington and the Nick Saban-coached Miami Dolphins.
The Saints (7-7) beat the Bucs (10-4) for the seventh straight time during the regular season — fourth since Brady left New England for Tampa Bay in 2020.
The victory gave New Orleans a sweep of the season series between the NFC South rivals and boosted the Saints into playoff position. It also forced Tampa Bay to wait at least one another week to clinch its first division crown since 2007.
The Bucs lead the division by three games with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
With defensive coordinator Dennis Allen standing in for coach Sean Payton, who missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19, the Saints stymied the NFL’s No. 1 passing and scoring offense and ended Brady’s streak of 255 consecutive starts without being shut out.
Brady was just 26 of 48 for 213 yards and one interception — the eighth he’s thrown in four regular-season games against the Saints, who didn’t have any turnovers Sunday night.
Taysom Hill, meanwhile, was 13 of 27 for 154 yards and no interceptions for New Orleans, which also got field goals of 39, 35 and 42 yards from Brett Maher.
**The Bucs also lost running back Leonard Fournette, who has been bothered by an ankle injury, to an injured hamstring in the third quarter. He needed the help of two trainers as he limped to the locker room.
**The Bucs were already without receiver Breshad Perriman, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Friday, and Antonio Brown, who will return from serving a three-game suspension, today.
TONIGHT on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: 2 Games, One Rescheduled Due To COVID
The Las Vegas Raiders-Cleveland Browns game was moved from Saturday to today (5pm eastern).
At 8:15pm (eastern), the Minnesota Vikings are in Chicago to take on the Bears.
TUESDAY: Rescheduled Games: Two Games At 7pm Eastern
Washington vs. Philadelphia.
And Seattle vs. the L.A. Rams.
