NFL roundup: Titans rally past Chiefs; Vikings top Cowboys
Ryan Tannehill threw a 23-yard touchdown to Adam Humphries with 23 seconds left, and the Tennessee Titans blocked a last-second field goal attempt to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-32 to spoil the return of NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes.
The Titans (5-5) only had a chance to take the lead after a bad snap by the Chiefs on Harrison Butker’s fifth field goal attempt of the day. The snap caught holder Dustin Colquitt by surprise, and he threw the ball away in desperation for an intentional grounding call, setting the Titans up at their own 39.
Tannehill scrambled for 18, hit Anthony Firsker for 20 yards and then found Humphries who ran in for the TD. Tannehill also ran for the 2-point conversion for a 35-32 lead.
The Chiefs (6-4) had a final chance with Mahomes. He drove them down, setting up Butker for another field goal try from 52 yards.
Joshua Kalu blocked the kick with his left hand, and the Titans poured onto the field to celebrate.
Derrick Henry ran for 188 yards, including a 68-yard TD that put Tennessee up 20-19 with 5:58 left in the third. His 1-yard TD with 6:26 remaining pulled the Titans within 29-27.
Tannehill finished with 181 yards passing and ran for 37 yards for the win.
The loss spoiled the best passing game this season for Mahomes as the Chiefs outgained the Titans 530-371. Mahomes threw for 446 yards and three touchdowns. His best play came with the pocket collapsing around him when he jumped up to throw over the linemen to Mecole Hardman who ran for a 63-yard TD with 11:54 left and a 29-20 lead.
Mahomes looked very healthy playing for the first time since dislocating his right kneecap Oct. 17. He got lucky when his first pass first ruled an interception was overturned by replay for Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro trapping the ball on the ground. Mahomes capped the Chiefs’ first drive with a 3-yard shovel pass to Travis Kelce.
The Rams’ 17-12 loss to the Steelers dropped their record to 5-4, ruined a homecoming for star Aaron Donald and put the Rams season on verge of collapse.
The Chiefs sacked Tannehill four times and also forced a fumble but could only turn that into one of Butker’s four made field goals.
Tannehill got the Titans going with a 52-yard throw to Kalif Raymond, then he hit Anthony Firkser for a 9-yard TD. Then rookie linebacker David Long forced a fumble by Damien Williams, and linebacker Rashaan Evans picked up the ball, juked away from Mahomes and ran 53 yards for a TD and a 13-10 lead with 6:14 left in the second quarter.
Vikings 28, Cowboys 24
Dalvin Cook ran for 97 yards, including the go-ahead touchdown on fourth down, and had another 86 yards receiving to set up three other scores in helping Minnesota win at Arlington, Texas.
Cook, the NFL rushing leader, easily outplayed two-time rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott as the Vikings (7-3) beat a winning team on the road for the first time in almost two years. Minnesota was 0-9-1 in its previous 10 such games.
Amari Cooper had the most circus catches on a night full of them for both teams, including a toe-tapping TD for Dallas’ only lead in the third quarter. Dak Prescott threw for 397 yards and three touchdowns.
Kirk Cousins threw for two touchdowns, both to Kyle Rudolph, for just his second victory in nine prime-time road games.
Elliott had 47 yards rushing after three straight 100-yard games as the Cowboys (5-4) fell into a first-place tie with Philadelphia in the NFC East.
Packers 24, Panthers 16
Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey was ruled just short of a snow-covered end zone on the game’s final play as Green Bay earned the victory.
Aaron Rodgers and Co. improved to 8-2 with the home victory, helped by Aaron Jones’ three TDs. The Panthers dropped to 5-4.
They had a chance to force overtime, with Kyle Allen leading them down the field thanks to some of his career-high 307 yards passing. But McCaffrey couldn’t quite get the ball in for a score — according to both the original call on the field and a replay review.
Rodgers completed 17 of 29 passes for 233 yards, including 118 yards to Devante Adams.
McCaffrey had a relatively quiet 108 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries for the Panthers (5-4), who fell to 6-10 all-time against Green Bay. McCaffrey, who entered the day leading the league in yards from scrimmage and touchdowns, also had 33 yards on six catches.
Allen completed 28 of 43 passes for 307 yards. He also had two costly turnovers.
Falcons 26, Saints 9
Matt Ryan passed for two touchdowns and Atlanta ended its six-game slide with a victory over the host Saints that stopped New Orleans’ six-game winning streak.
Atlanta’s defense stunningly dominated New Orleans’ normally stout offensive line. Coming in with an NFL low seven sacks all season, the Falcons (2-7) sacked Drew Brees six times, with Grady Jarrett, Vic Beasley Jr., Adrian Clayborn and De’Vondre Campbell all getting involved. Jarrett finished with a team-high 2 sacks.
It was the second time this season the Saints were held without a touchdown at home, but the first time with Brees under center. New Orleans (7-2) also failed to score a TD in a 12-10 victory over Dallas in Week 4 with Teddy Bridgewater filling in at quarterback.
Ryan, returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him in the game before the Falcons’ Week 9 bye, was 20 of 35 for 182 yards.
His first touchdown went for 8 yards to tight end Austin Hooper in the second quarter and his second to running back Brian Hill in the fourth quarter to put Atlanta in front 20-9.
Dolphins 16, Colts 12
Ryan Fitzpatrick scored on an 11-yard run in the first half and Miami’s defense made a late stop to preserve the victory in Indianapolis.
The Dolphins (2-7) have won two straight after a miserable start and earned their first win at Lucas Oil Stadium since 2013.
Indianapolis (5-4) has lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since October 2018. With starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett out because of an injured left knee, the Colts offense sputtered. Indy gained just 300 total yards and Brian Hoyer was picked off three times, with Miami scoring 13 points off those turnovers.
Browns 19, Bills 16
Baker Mayfield threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Rashard Higgins with 1:44 left as the Browns snapped a four-game losing streak — and took some pressure off first-year coach Freddie Kitchens — with a win over Buffalo in Cleveland.
The Browns (3-6) rallied for a win that kept their season from completely collapsing.
Cleveland survived more problems in the red zone, but sealed the much-needed win when Buffalo kicker Stephen Hauschka’s 53-yard field-goal attempt was short with 22 seconds left. Earlier, Hauschka missed a 34-yarder.
Quarterback Josh Allen had two touchdown runs for the Bills (6-3), who were off to their best start since 1993.
Mayfield finally delivered a clutch drive after Allen’s 1-yard sneak put the Bills ahead 16-12.
On second-and-goal, he threaded his TD pass to an open Higgins, who had been suspiciously missing from Cleveland’s game plan this season after being one of Mayfield’s favorite targets last season. It was Higgins’ only catch.
Mayfield had his second straight solid game, completing 26 of 38 passes for 238 yards and two TDs. He didn’t throw an interception for the second week in a row.
Bears 20, Lions 13
Mitchell Trubisky tied a season high with three touchdown passes, and the host Bears withstood a late charge by Detroit with Jeff Driskel filling in for injured quarterback Matthew Stafford to snap a four-game losing streak.
Detroit ruled out the 31-year-old Stafford hours before kickoff because of hip and back injuries, ending his streak of 136 consecutive starts. It was the first time he missed a regular-season game since 2010.
Chicago (4-5) got its struggling offense going late in the first half, scored two touchdowns early in the third quarter and hung on to win for the first time since beating Minnesota in Week 4. Detroit (3-5-1) lost for the fifth time in six games.
Driskel threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Golloday with 5:53 remaining to cut it to 20-13. He led Detroit from its own 10 to the Chicago 25 on the game’s final drive. But with the ball on 25, he overthrew Marvin Jones Jr. in the end zone as time expired on a play that would not have counted because of an illegal forward pass penalty.
Trubisky completed 16 of 23 passes in another solid outing against Detroit. It wasn’t as good as his performance against the Lions last year in a win at Soldier Field, when the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft threw for 355 yards and three touchdowns. But it was a positive step for the struggling quarterback.
Ravens 49, Bengals 13
Lamar Jackson threw for three touchdowns in a near-perfect passing performance and added a sensational 47-yard scoring run, Marcus Peters got his third pick-6 of the season — this one off rookie Ryan Finley — and Baltimore won its fifth in a row, routing the winless Bengals in Cincinnati.
The Ravens (7-2) followed their eye-opening victory over the previously unbeaten Patriots by quickly pulling away from the NFL’s last winless team.
It was the Lamar Jackson show from the start — a 49-yard completion on his first throw. His only incompletion in the first half was on a spike.
Jackson finished 15 of 17 — a club-record completion percentage — for 223 yards and a perfect passer rating of 158.3, his second of the season. Jackson threw five TD passes and had a perfect rating during a 59-10 opening win over the Dolphins.
The Bengals (0-9) switched quarterbacks but couldn’t avoid their first sweep by the Ravens since 2011. Finley made his NFL debut and had a hand in the blowout.
Jets 34, Giants 27
Le’Veon Bell scored a go-ahead 1-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter after a 33-yard pass interference penalty on DeAndre Baker, and the Jets rallied and then held on to beat the Giants for Big Apple bragging rights.
Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder and ran for another score, and Jamal Adams scored on a 25-yard fumble return on a strip-sack as the Jets (2-7) bounced back from an embarrassing 28-16 loss last week at previously winless Miami.
Daniel Jones threw a career-high four touchdown passes, two each to Darius Slayton and Golden Tate, but couldn’t prevent the Giants (2-8) from losing their sixth straight game. It’s their first six-game skid since 2014.
Saquon Barkley had the worst game of his young career, finishing with just 1 yard on 13 carries. He also had five catches for 30 yards.
Buccaneers 30, Cardinals 27
Jameis Winston threw for 358 yards and one touchdown, helping the host Buccaneers rally to snap a four-game losing streak with a victory over Arizona.
Matt Gay kicked three field goals and Peyton Barber scored on a 1-yard run to finish a 92-yard, game-winning drive Winston put together after the Bucs (3-6) ended Kyler Murray’s NFL rookie record streak of 211 consecutive pass attempts without an interception.
Barber’s TD with less than two minutes left was set up by a booth review that determined Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson committed pass interference against Mike Evans in the end zone, giving Tampa Bay a first down at the Arizona 1.
Murray threw for 324 yards and three TDs to Christian Kirk, whose 15-yard scoring reception put the Cardinals up 27-23 midway through the fourth quarter. Kirk also scored on receptions of 33 and 69 yards and finished with six catches for 138 yards.
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