Tom Brady passed for 333 yards and a touchdown, Stephen Gostkowski added four field goals and the New England Patriots held on to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 21-13 on Sunday. It was the fourth straight victory for the Patriots (6-2). The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Chargers.
Los Angeles (3-5) got on the board first when Melvin Gordon found a seam on the outside and rumbled down the sideline for an 87-yard touchdown run. But the rest of the game was marked by Los Angeles’ mistakes and inability to move the ball offensively.
New England got their lone touchdown via a two-yard toss from Brady to Rob Gronkowski in the second quarter. The Patriots went 1 for 4 in the red zone, but were able to cobble together the Gostkowki field goals and a safety.
The Chargers cut the Patriots’ lead to 18-13 with 8:30 to play following a 24-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Travis Benjamin and failed two-point conversion pass. They got the ball back a final time after New England added Gostkowski’s fourth field goal. But Rivers’ pass with one second remaining was intercepted at the goal line by Jonathan Jones.
San Francisco 49ers 10-33 Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
(@Eagles).@TheWorldof_AJ goes up, gets it, and turns on the jets. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/fi2AcEinr4
Carson Wentz tossed two touchdown passes, Jalen Mills had a pick-6 and the NFL-leading Philadelphia Eagles beat the winless San Francisco 49ers 33-10 in the rain.
The Eagles (7-1) overcame a slow start on their way to a sixth straight win. The 49ers are 0-8 for the first time in franchise history.
Wentz was 18 of 32 for 211 yards and one interception. He threw a 53-yard TD pass to Alshon Jeffery and one-yard TD pass to Zach Ertz. He leads the NFL with 19 TD passes, most by an Eagles quarterback through eight games. CJ Beathard shoveled a 21-yard TD pass to Matt Breida and finished 17 of 36 for 167 yards with two interceptions in his second career start.
The Eagles punted on six of their first eight possessions before opening it up in the third quarter. Wentz hit Jeffery with a perfect pass to extend the lead to 27-7. After Derek Barnett blocked Robbie Gould’s field goal, the Eagles drove 62 yards and LeGarrette Blount ran in from the 12 for a 33-7 lead.
The 49ers lost five straight games by a field goal or less before Dallas routed them 40-10 last week.
Oakland Raiders 14-34 Buffalo Bills
(@buffalobills)When your defense gets you points >>>>>>#OAKvsBUF #GoBills pic.twitter.com/OjgpHhw1pT
Rookie linebacker Matt Milano scored on a 40-yard fumble return on a rain-slick field, and the Buffalo Bills forced four turnovers in beating the Oakland Raiders.
Tyrod Taylor threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Andre Holmes and also scored on a one-yard run for Buffalo. LeSean McCoy had a season-best 151 yards rushing and also scored on a 48-yard run. The Bills improved to 4-0 at home for the first time since winning their first five home games of the 1995 season.
And Buffalo improved to 5-2, matching their best start during a 17-year postseason drought the longest active streak in North America’s four major professional sports. The Bills’ defense dominated despite missing two starting defensive backs, and two days after trading its highest-priced player, defensive tackle Marcell Dareus , to Jacksonville.
Carolina Panthers 17-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Cam Newton threw for 154 yards and one touchdown and Carolina’s defense didn’t allow a TD for the second straight week, helping the Panthers snap a two-game losing streak with a 17-3 victory over the struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Newton rebounded from a subpar performance in a 14-point road loss to the Chicago Bears, leading a 17-play, 82-yard TD drive that consumed more eight minutes of the opening quarter, then completed three passes to Christian McCaffrey to set up a field goal for a 10-0 halftime lead. The Bucs (2-5) have lost four straight. The Panthers put the game away in the fourth quarter, intercepting Jameis Winston twice, with Mike Adams’ pick leading to Newton’s 25-yard TD pass to Kelvin Benjamin to make it 17-3.
Atlanta Falcons 25-20 New York Jets
Matt Ryan threw two touchdown passes and the Atlanta Falcons slipped and slid to a 25-20 victory over the New York Jets on a soggy Sunday.
Fumbled snaps, dropped passes and a big-time drenching at MetLife Stadium had both team trying to find their footing, but the Falcons (4-3) steadied themselves just enough to snap a three-game skid all to the other AFC East teams.
Austin Hooper and Mohamed Sanu each caught touchdown passes from Ryan, who finished 18 of 29 for 254 yards. The Falcons quarterback had lots of trouble with the weather, fumbling four snap exchanges from center Alex Mack and losing two of them.
The Jets (3-5) had their own issues while losing their third straight. Josh McCown had a bad snap exchange and fumbled on another play but recovered and Jeremy Kerley had a costly muffed punt.
Minnesota Vikings 33-16 Cleveland Browns
Case Keenum had one of the more miserable performances of his career the last time he played a game at Twickenham Stadium. That was not the case on Sunday. Keenum threw for two touchdowns and Kai Forbath made four field goals as the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns 33-16 in the last of four games held this season in Britain.
Adam Thielen had five catches for 98 yards and a touchdown for the NFC North-leading Vikings (6-2), who trailed 13-12 at halftime the first time the Browns, 0-8 for the second consecutive year, claimed a mid-game lead this season.
Keenum, who threw four interceptions while with the Los Angeles Rams a year ago, helped pull the Vikings out of their first-half rut. After an eight-play drive that, at 23-16, restored Minnesota’s lead, he oversaw a nine-play drive aided by 43 yards in defensive penalties that left the outcome no longer in doubt.
Indianapolis Colts 24-23 Cincinnati Bengals
(@Bengals)🚨 PICK-SIX 🚨@Carlos_Dunlap with the tip, catch, AND the TOUCHDOWN!#INDvsCIN #Bengals50 pic.twitter.com/JApgp5TeJm
Lineman Carlos Dunlap batted Jacoby Brissett’s pass into the air, grabbed the ball and ran 16 yards to the end zone for a game-turning touchdown, rallying the Cincinnati Bengals to a 24-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
The defensive end excels at swatting away passes he led NFL linemen last season and changed the game with his third career score. The Bengals (3-4) couldn’t protect Andy Dalton or get much pressure on Jacoby Brissett, who was sacked 10 times during a 27-0 loss to Jacksonville the previous week the first time Indianapolis was blanked in 15 years.
Brissett’s second touchdown pass had put the Colts (2-6) in position for a soothing road win. Instead, Dunlap snatched it away with 6:58 left, putting Cincinnati ahead to stay in a game featuring four lead changes. The Colts drove to a fourth-and-4 at the Cincinnati 48-yard line, and Brissett was hit as he threw an incompletion with 1:18 to go.
Chicago Bears 12-20 New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees completed 23 of 28 passes for 299 yards against a Bears defense that ranked sixth against the pass, and the New Orleans Saints beat Chicago 20-12 for their fifth straight win.
Running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara each ran for touchdowns for New Orleans (5-2). Ingram finished with 99 yards from scrimmage, including 75 on the ground, but his two late fumbles kept the Bears in the game into the final minutes. Kamara had 76 yards from scrimmage 48 receiving.
The Saints were threatening to score twice in the fourth quarter when the Bears stripped the ball from Ingram. Chicago converted the first fumble into its only touchdown with 3:43 to go on Tarik Cohen’s short dive over a pile of players at the goal line. The second turnover occurred with a little more than two minutes left on the Bears 30, but Chicago was unable to get a first down as rookie Mitchell Trubisky’s fourth-and-1 pass fell incomplete.
Chicago had one more chance to tie after Wil Lutz’s 49-yard field goal with 1:35 left, but an interception by Saints rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore ended that threat.