Lions 31, Vikings 29
Jake Bates kicked a 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in the Lions ‘ 31-29 victory on Sunday, handing the Minnesota Vikings their first loss in a back-and-forth game befitting of the NFL’s strongest division.
Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for 116 yards and two of Detroit’s three second-quarter touchdowns. He also helped Jared Goff guide the Lions 48 yards in four plays to get in range for their rookie kicker while forcing the Vikings to burn their timeouts.
Goff went 22 for 25 for 280 yards with touchdown passes to Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond and no turnovers in his third straight game with a 140-plus passer rating, joining Aaron Rodgers (2011), Kurt Warner (1999) and Roger Staubach (1971) as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to accomplish the feat.
Gibbs had 150 total yards to spearhead a commanding performance by the Lions (5-1) at the line of scrimmage against the defense that entered the week with a rushing average per play (3.6) allowed that was the second-best in the league.
Aaron Jones rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown for Minnesota despite being listed as questionable with a hamstring injury. Justin Jefferson had 81 yards receiving and a score.
Sam Darnold went 22 for 27 for 259 yards, but he spoiled a promising drive in the second quarter by ignoring a wide-open Jones in the flat off a play-action fake and forcing a throw to Jordan Addison that was intercepted by a diving Brian Branch.
Jaguars 32, Patriots 16
The Jacksonville Jaguars trailed 10-0 before rallying and overpowering the Patriots 32-16 at Wembley Stadium.
Tank Bigsby rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns and Parker Washington returned a punt 96 yards for a score. Rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. caught a touchdown pass for the Jaguars (2-5).
Trevor Lawrence completed 15 of 20 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown. Thomas had five receptions for 89 yards.
Commanders 40, Panthers 7
Jayden Daniels left with a rib injury, and the Washington Commanders routed the Carolina Panthers 40-7 behind two touchdown passes from Marcus Mariota and a 67-yard pick-6 of Andy Dalton by Dante Fowler.
Mariota was 18 of 23 for 205 yards with TD passes to tight ends Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott.
Concern over Daniels’ status overshadowed the victory after the No. 2 pick and offensive rookie of the year favorite left with a rib injury. His mother posted on social media that “he’s fine,” but coach Dan Quinn said only that he had no update and that Daniels would undergo further tests today.
Bengals 21, Browns 14
Deshaun Watson suffered an apparent season-ending Achilles tendon injury on Sunday in the first half of a 21-14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who has stuck with Watson this season despite his uneven play, didn’t officially rule out the QB for the remainder of the season. But all signs point to the 29-year-old missing the rest of the year.
Joe Burrow threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter as the Bengals (3-4) ended a six-game losing streak at Cleveland. While he has played well against every team in the NFL, Burrow had struggled against the Browns, coming in 1-5 overall and 0-3 on the road.
Packers 24, Texans 22
Brandon McManus kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired to give Green Bay a 24-22 victory over Houston on Sunday.
Green Bay (5-2) overcame three turnovers to win its third straight and snap Houston’s three-game winning streak.
Jordan Love went 24 of 33 for 220 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Houston’s Joe Mixon rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Ka’imi Fairbairn was 3 of 3 on field-goal attempts and put the Texans (5-2) ahead by making a 35-yarder with 1:44 left.
C.J. Stroud was just 10 of 21 for a career-low 86 yards and was sacked four times in a game that had seven lead changes.
Colts 16, Dolphins 10
After missing almost three full games with an injured right hip, Anthony Richardson returned to action, took advantage of Tyler Goodson’s first NFL touchdown and led the Colts to two fourth-quarter field goals to get past the Miami Dolphins 16-10.
Richardson went just 10 of 24 with 129 yards through the air and rushed 14 times for 56 yards on a day the Colts (4-3) produced just 284 total yards and one TD, Goodson’s 7-yard run to tie the score at 10 early in the third quarter.
Miami (2-4), again, couldn’t overcome its miscues while losing yet another quarterback, Tyler Huntley, to an injury in the third quarter. Huntley did not return and Tim Boyle finished the game.
Huntley was 7 of 13 with 87 yards, one TD and ran five times for 20 yards before leaving midway through the third quarter after hurting his throwing shoulder.
Boyle was 8 of 13 with 74 yards and while Devon Achane had 15 carries for 77 yards and Jonnu Smith caught seven passes for 96 yards and the Dolphins lone touchdown, Tyreek Hill had only one catch for 8 yards and Jaylen Waddle caught only one pass for 11 yards.
Eagles 28, Giants 3
Saquon Barkley torched his former teammates for 176 yards and a touchdown in leading the Eagles to a 28-3 victory over the inept Giants on Sunday.
Jalen Hurts scored on two tush-push quarterback sneaks and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown as the Eagles (4-2) beat the Giants (2-5) for the sixth time in seven games and 14th in 17. Philadelphia’s defense was just as good, recording eight sacks and limiting New York to 119 yards.
Hurts finished 10 of 14 for 114 yards and his day was over after his second TD run. He was sacked four times, including twice by Dexter Lawrence, who now has nine.
Bills 34, Titans 10
Five days after arriving in Buffalo following a trade with Cleveland, Amari Cooper turned his first catch in his Buffalo Bills debut into a go-ahead touchdown of a 34-10 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Cooper finished with four catches for 66 yards on 18 offensive snaps.
Josh Allen celebrated his 100th career start with his 26th 300-yard outing while finishing 21 of 33 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. He improved to 68-32 as a starter, matching four players — Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers — for the sixth-most wins in a quarterback’s first 100 starts.
The Titans continued their freefall in dropping to 1-5 — their worst start to a season since opening 2015 at 1-6.
Seahawks 34, Falcons 14
Derick Hall returned a fumble 36 yards for a clinching score as the Seahawks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 34-14 victory Sunday.
Geno Smith passed for two touchdowns.
The Seahawks (4-3) ended Atlanta’s run of three straight victories, shutting down a Falcons offense that averaged 37 points the two previous weeks.
Smith completed 18 of 28 passes for 207 yards, his second-lowest output of the season but more than enough to down the Falcons. He connected with Kenneth Walker on a 17-yard touchdown and a huge 31-yard scoring play to DK Metcalf just before halftime.
Kirk Cousins closed out a miserable day with interceptions on his final two possessions, to go along with three sacks. Rookie Michael Penix Jr. finished up for the Falcons, marking his NFL debut.
Chiefs 28, 49ers 18
Patrick Mahomes overcame two interceptions to deliver a few big plays with his feet and the Chiefs remained the league’s only undefeated team, beating the 49ers 28-18 Sunday in a Super Bowl rematch.
The Chiefs (6-0) ran for a season-high 184 yards and got four TDs on the ground for the first time since the 2018 playoffs against Indianapolis. The defense did the rest with three interceptions against Brock Purdy and the 49ers (3-4) on a day when Mahomes had his second fewest yards passing ever (154) in a game he didn’t leave injured.
The game came with a potentially heavy price for San Francisco. Star receiver Brandon Aiyuk was carted off after getting hit on his right knee while making a catch late in the first half. Coach Kyle Shanahan said the team fears that Aiyuk tore his ACL.
Purdy threw an off-target pass to backup receiver Ronnie Bell, leading to an interception by rookie Chris Roland-Wallace. The Chiefs then turned that into a touchdown thanks to Mahomes’ two runs.
Mahomes finished 16 for 27 for 154 yards and has eight interceptions and six passing touchdowns this season. But that has been enough for Kansas City to become the 10th defending Super Bowl champion to start the following season with six straight wins.
Rams 20, Raiders 15
Kam Curl returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown and Kyren Williams rushed for 76 yards and two scores in the Rams ‘ 20-15 victory over Las Vegas on Sunday.
Cobie Durant had an interception and later caused the fumble returned for a TD by Curl for the Rams (2-4), who forced Gardner Minshew to commit four turnovers.
The Raiders’ backup QB was forced into action by an early hand injury for Aidan O’Connell, and the Rams pounced. Jaylen McCollough had two more interceptions for Los Angeles, including the game-clinching pick with 1:18 to play.
Matthew Stafford passed for 154 yards — his lowest total in four seasons with Los Angeles — as the Rams (2-4) snapped a two-game skid during their worst start to a season in coach Sean McVay’s eight years in charge.
Minshew passed for 154 yards for the Raiders (2-5) after replacing O’Connell, who didn’t return after a hand-to-hand collision with Curl during the Raiders’ second offensive series.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Steelers 37, Jets 15
Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in his Pittsburgh debut to lead the Steelers to a 37-15 win over Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets on Sunday night.
The 35-year-old Wilson had spent the first six weeks watching from the sideline while recovering from a calf injury. He overcame a sluggish start to pass for 264 yards, including scores to George Pickens and Van Jefferson as Pittsburgh (5-2) won its second straight.
New York’s retooled offense — which now includes Davante Adams, who was reunited with Rodgers earlier this week — couldn’t keep up as the Jets (2-5) dropped their fourth consecutive game, including an 0-2 mark under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich.
Rodgers passed for 276 yards with a touchdown and connected with Adams three times for 30 yards, but was also intercepted twice by Pittsburgh rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop and the Steelers turned those into game-turning scores.
TONIGHT on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: DOUBLEHEADER
The (4-2) Baltimore Ravens are in Tampa Bay to battle the (4-2) Buccaneers.
The (3-2) Los Angeles Chargers are in Arizona to take on the (2-4) Cardinals.
