Bills 44, Seahawks 34
Josh Allen tossed three touchdown passes and scored one rushing, and the Buffalo Bills beat the Seattle Seahawks 44-34 on Sunday.
Buffalo’s defense played a major role in rattling Seattle’s Russell Wilson, who was sacked five times, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
Buffalo (7-2) matched its best record through nine games since 1993, a season that ended with the Jim Kelly-led Bills making their fourth consecutive, and final, Super Bowl appearance.
Allen finished 31 of 38 and equaled a career best set earlier this season with 415 yards passing, becoming the first Bills player to top 300 yards four times in one season since Drew Bledsoe did it seven times in 2002. The Bills offense came alive after Allen combined for just 846 yards passing and five touchdowns — including one rushing — in splitting the previous four games.
The Seahawks (6-2) blew an opportunity to match to match their best record through eight games. They were 7-1 in 2013.
The 44 points allowed were the most in coach Pete Carroll’s 11 seasons in Seattle and the most for the franchise since a 48-10 loss at Green Bay on Dec. 27, 2009. It was just the eighth time since Week 9 of the 2011 season the Carroll-led Seahawks have lost by 10 points or more.
Wilson finished 28 of 41 for 390 yards with two touchdowns.
Chiefs 33, Panthers 31
Patrick Mahomes threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill each went over 100 yards receiving, and Kansas City held on to beat Carolina when Joey Slye missed a 67-yard field-goal attempt wide right on the final play.
The Chiefs (8-1) were left clinging to the lead when Christian McCaffrey, just back from his ankle injury, scored from a yard out with 1:26 to go. The Panthers’ onside kick was recovered by Kansas City, but they used their three timeouts to get the ball back, and Teddy Bridgewater’s 23-yard pass to Curtis Samuel with 9 seconds remaining gave them hope.
Carolina (3-6) tried to get a bit closer with a pass to McCaffrey, but the incompletion brought on Slye, who had plenty of leg with the wind behind him. His kick dropped just outside the uprights, though, allowing the Chiefs to escape.
Slye also missed a 65-yard attempt late in a 27-24 loss to New Orleans in Week 7.
McCaffrey finished with 18 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown while catching 10 passes for 82 yards and another score. Bridgewater threw for 310 yards and two TDs with Samuel catching nine balls for 105 yards and the other score.
Kelce had 10 catches for 159 yards and Hill had nine for 113 and a pair of scores, helping the pass-happy Chiefs climb out of an early 14-3 hole and head into their bye with a bunch of new milestones and a big surge of momentum.
Titans 24, Bears 17
Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes, and banged-up Tennessee never trailed in snapping a two-game skid.
The Titans (6-2) avoided their longest skid since Tannehill took over as starting quarterback and stayed atop the AFC South going into Thursday night’s division showdown against Indianapolis.
Cornerback Desmond King picked up a fumble and ran 63 yards for a TD only days after the Titans picked up the 2018 All-Pro from the Chargers for a sixth-round pick. King didn’t join Tennessee until Saturday after clearing COVID-19 testing protocols and put the Titans up 17-0 late in the third quarter.
The Bears (5-4) came in trailing Green Bay in the NFC North dealing with their own injuries and COVID-19 issues. Chicago lost its third straight despite the defense coming up with three sacks and holding the NFL’s fifth-best offense averaging 407 yards a game to a season-low 228.
Vikings 34, Lions 20
Dalvin Cook kept his brilliant season rolling by rushing for a career-high 206 yards and two scores on 22 carries, leading Minnesota to victory.
Kirk Cousins threw for three touchdowns — two to tight end Irv Smith Jr. — in his second straight turnover-free performance for the Vikings (3-5), who averaged 8.9 yards per play on the way to their first home win this season.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who didn’t practice all week due to coronavirus exposure protocols, left the game in the fourth quarter for concussion evaluation after taking a knee to the head during a sack. He was picked off on consecutive possessions in the third quarter, first at the Minnesota 12 and then in the end zone. Chase Daniel threw another interception after taking over.
Peterson had eight carries for 29 yards while again dropping behind rookie D’Andre Swift in the pecking order for the Lions (3-5), who lost their ninth straight division game and are 2-13 against the NFC North under coach Matt Patricia. He’s 0-5 against the Vikings.
Ravens 24, Colts 10
Lamar Jackson turned up the tempo in the second half, and Baltimore broke the NFL record for consecutive 20-point games in its win over Indianapolis.
After Gus Edwards’ 1-yard plunge gave Baltimore the lead midway through the third quarter, Jackson sealed the win with a 9-yard TD run.
The Ravens (6-2) have scored 20 or more points 31 straight times — breaking a tie with Denver, which set the mark from 2012-14.
Baltimore has won 10 straight road games, the league’s longest active streak, and earned the franchise’s first win at Indianapolis in seven tries. The Ravens also had lost 20 straight games when trailing at halftime.
It was the first home loss for Indy (5-3) this season.
Texans 27, Jaguars 25
Deshaun Watson had touchdowns passes of 57 and 77 yards, the second one appearing to come after the play clock expired, and Houston beat Jacksonville for its sixth straight win in the series.
Jacksonville (1-7) lost its seventh straight and barely avoided making NFL history. The Jaguars would have become the first to allow at least 30 points in seven consecutive games in a single season. Instead, they will share the record with the 1968 Denver Broncos and the 1984 Minnesota Vikings.
Jacksonville had a chance to tie it late, but rookie Jake Luton’s 2-point conversion pass to DJ Chark landed at his feet. Luton, a sixth-round draft pick making his NFL debut in place of Gardner Minshew, scrambled for 13 yards to make it a two-point game with 1:39 remaining.
Luton stiff-armed rookie Jon Greenard and then spun away from Keion Crossen and into the end zone. Crossen recovered an onside kick that helped Houston (2-6) ice the game.
Both of Houston’s victories this season came against the Jaguars.
Watson threw for 281 yards and two scores in this one, which came three weeks after his 301-yard, two-touchdown passing performance in Houston.
Falcons 34, Broncos 27
Matt Ryan took advantage of Denver’s thin secondary to throw three touchdown passes and Atlanta turned back Denver’s bid for a second consecutive comeback.
Ryan completed 25 of 35 passes for 284 yards with one interception. Atlanta (3-6) improved to 3-1 under interim coach Raheem Morris.
Atlanta led Denver (3-5) 20-3 at halftime. Drew Lock, trying to lead another fourth-quarter comeback, threw two touchdown passes and ran for a 10-yard score in the final quarter that made it 34-27. With Atlanta leading by seven points, the Broncos took the ball at their 20 with 44 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Following three incompletions by Lock, a fumbled snap ended the possession.
Lock completed 25 of 48 passes for 313 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Denver lacked an effective running game to help Lock. Phillip Lindsay had eight carries for 23 yards.
Giants 23, Washington 20
Daniel Jones was 23 of 34 for 212 yards, including a 50-yard connection with Austin Mack and a touchdown pass to Evan Engram to build a 17-point halftime lead as New York held on to defeat Washington.
The Giants (2-7) attempted to run things out in the second half and survived a couple of touchdown drives led by Alex Smith, who replaced injured Washington quarterback Kyle Allen.
Smith connected with Terry McLaurin on a 68-yard score, his first TD pass in 728 days, to cut New York’s lead to 23-20 in the fourth quarter. But Smith threw two interceptions in the final 2:18 to end the threat for Washington (2-6). Both Giants wins are against Washington.
Before things got hairy for the Giants, Wayne Gallman rushed for a touchdown, and Graham Gano made three field goals to extend his streak to 18 in a row.
Allen injured his left ankle late in the first quarter, forcing Smith into just his second NFL game since gruesomely breaking his right leg in November 2018.
Smith was 24 of 32 for 325 yards, the TD and three interceptions.
Steelers 24, Cowboys 19
Minkah Fitzpatrick kept Garrett Gilbert’s pass from finding CeeDee Lamb to help the Steelers hold on to a 24-19 win against a pesky Dallas Cowboys team (2-7) at AT&T Stadium.
With the win, the Steelers moved to 8-0 for the first time in franchise history, surpassing the 7-0 mark set by the 1978 team.
A 14-point favorite, the Steelers trailed by as many as 13, the team’s largest deficit of the season.
Hit by Neville Gallimore and DeMarcus Lawrence late in the second half, Ben Roethlisberger‘s afternoon almost ended early. The quarterback tossed four passes after the hit, ending with a touchdown toss to James Washington for the Steelers’ first score of the game. But he left the field immediately afterward, going to the locker room with a minute and 10 seconds left in the half to evaluate a left knee injury. When the Steelers got the ball back on a recovered fumble, Mason Rudolph had to come on for the final drive, one that ended with a franchise-record 59-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.
A week after giving up 265 rushing yards to the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers allowed the Cowboys to rack up 144 yards. Even with Ezekiel Elliott slowed by a hamstring injury sustained a week earlier, the Cowboys averaged 4.6 yards per carry thanks to him and backup Tony Pollard.
The Steelers were also sliced up by Gilbert, the Cowboys’ third starting quarterback this season. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Cowboys also stayed ahead of the Steelers with four field goals by Greg Zuerlein.
And on the opposite side, facing the league’s worst rushing defense, the Steelers had an opportunity to run all over the Cowboys.
Instead, the team put up just 46 rushing yards. While Roethlisberger attempted 42 passes, the Steelers ran the ball just 18 times for an average of 2.6 yards per carry.
Dolphins 34, Cardinals 31
Zane Gonzalez was short on a 49-yard field goal attempt just after the two minute warning and the Dolphins were able to run out the clock on a 34-31 win.
Tua Tagovailoa was 20-of-28 for 248 yards and two touchdowns. His second scoring pass was Mack Hollins‘ first catch as a Dolphin and it tied the score with just over 11 minutes left to play in the game. He then drove the team for a 50-yard Jason Sanders field goal that put them up with 3:30 left.
Kyler Murray completed 21-of-26 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns, but he was incomplete to Christian Kirk one play before Gonzalez’s kick.
Murray ran 11 times for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Raiders 31, Chargers 26
L.A. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert thought he had the signature win of his rookie year. And then instant replay intervened.
Herbert was outstanding against the Las Vegas Raiders, throwing for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns, including an apparent game-winner to Donald Parham Jr. as time expired. But on instant replay, Parham didn’t maintain control as he hit the ground, the pass was ruled incomplete, and the Raiders won 31-26.
The Raiders employed a run-first offense to try to keep Herbert off the field, and it was fairly successful, with Las Vegas totaling 26 carries for 160 yards. Derek Carr didn’t have a great game, but he did have two touchdown passes and no interceptions.
With the win, the Raiders improve to 5-3, and they have a good chance of making a playoff run during the second half of the season. The Chargers fall to 2-6.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Saints 38, Bucs 3
Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints came out swinging against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and put on an onslaught in the first half with 31 points.
It was more than enough for the Saints to pick up their second consecutive win over the Buccaneers this season and vault them into first place in the NFC South.
The Saints scored one more time in the fourth quarter to seal the 38-3 victory.
Brees finished 26-for-32 with 222 passing yards and four touchdown passes. Each of his four touchdown passes went to different receivers – Adam Trautman, Emmanuel Sanders, Tre’Quan Smith and Josh Hill each recorded one.
Alvin Kamara ran for a touchdown and finished with 40 rushing yards on nine carries.
Tampa Bay just couldn’t get anything going on offense.
Tom Brady was sacked three times and threw three interceptions. He did not have a touchdown pass.
The Saints are now 6-2 and have control of first place in the NFC South. The Buccaneers fall to 6-3.
TONIGHT on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
The (2-5) New England Patriots take on the winless (0-8) New York Jets.
