Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and LeGarrette Blount ran for two scores, lifting the Detroit Lions to a 31-23 win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
Detroit (2-3) earned a win they desperately needed under first-year coach Matt Patricia, going into its bye week.
Green Bay (2-2-1) could not overcome uncharacteristic mistakes by veteran kicker Mason Crosby and two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, who lost two fumbles for just the third time in his 14-year career. Crosby missed a career-high four field goals in one game and missed an extra point to boot. He connected on a field goal with two seconds left. Detroit recovered the onside kick to seal the win, preventing Rodgers from getting another chance at a game-winning Hail Mary in Detroit.
In the day’s later kick-offs, the Rams, Chargers, Vikings and Cardinals beat the Seahawks, Raiders, Eagles and 49ers respectively.
New York Giants 31-33 Carolina Panthers
New York Giants
(@Giants)DID. YOU. SEE. THAT!?! @OBJ to @SAQUON #NYGvsCAR pic.twitter.com/iHVJwwPCTW
Graham Gano connected on a career-long 63-yard field goal with one second remaining to lift the Carolina Panthers to a wild 33-31 victory over the New York Giants.
Gano’s winning kick came after the Giants erased a 14-point deficit. Eli Manning hooked up with Saquon Barkley on a 15-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline the rookie made a long dive into the end zone to put the Giants in front 31-30 with 1:08 remaining. Gano’s previous career long was 59 yards. He was four for four on field goal attempts and has made 35 in a row at home dating back to 2016.
It’s the second year in a row the Giants (1-4) have been beaten by a monster field goal. In the third game last season, Jake Elliott of the Eagles kicked a 61-yarder for a 27-24 win.
Odell Beckham Jr had a big game as a receiver and passer. Beckham had eight catches for 131 yards and a touchdown and also threw a 57-yarder to Barkley for New York’s first touchdown.
Baltimore Ravens 9-12 Cleveland Browns
Rookie Greg Joseph’s 37-yard field goal a knuckleball that barely cleared the crossbar with two seconds left in overtime gave the Cleveland Browns a 12-9 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
After Baker Mayfield drove the Browns (2-2-1) into position, Joseph, who was signed after Week 2 following Zane Gonzalez’s release, lined his kick through the uprights to give Cleveland their first AFC North win in 19 tries. As Browns fans celebrated just the team’s second win in two seasons, Joseph was mobbed by his teammates following Cleveland’s third OT game in five weeks.
The Ravens (3-2) had plenty of chances, but Joe Flacco threw a costly interception in the first half and the Browns blocked one of Justin Tucker’s field goal tries. Mayfield passed for 342 yards and threw a 19-yard TD pass in his first start at home. He completed a key third-down pass for 39 yards to Derrick Willies on Cleveland’s winning drive.
Jacksonville Jaguars 14-30 Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs’ beleaguered defence forced Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles into five turnovers, including a pick-six by defensive tackle Chris Jones, and Kansas City merely had to supplement with the NFL’s highest-scoring offense in a 30-14 win over the Jaguars.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 313 yards and ran for a touchdown, though he also threw his first two picks of the season, and Kareem Hunt added 87 yards and a touchdown on the ground as the Chiefs (5-0) marched all over the league’s top-ranked defense at soggy Arrowhead Stadium.
Tyreek Hill, who was frequently matched up with the Jaguars’ Jalen Ramsey in an entertaining one-on-one affair, had four catches for 61 yards in a game that grew testy on both sides. Jones was ejected in the second half after he dropped an elbow on a Jaguars lineman while both were on the ground following a point-after attempt. Pass rusher Dee Ford joined him in the locker room later in the half when he was whistled for his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Hunt was flagged for head-butting linebacker Telvin Smith Jr earlier in the game.
Denver Broncos 16-34 New York Jets
Isaiah Crowell ran for a franchise-record 219 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown, and Sam Darnold threw two TD passes to Robby Anderson, including a 76-yarder, to help the big-play New York Jets snap a three-game losing streak with a 34-16 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Darnold also had a TD toss to Terrelle Pryor that sealed the game late in the fourth quarter for the Jets (2-3). The rookie quarterback finished 10 of 22 for 198 yards and the three scores with an interception to help New York to its first win since the season opener. Crowell needed just 15 carries to break the team record of 210 yards rushing set by Thomas Jones in 2009 against Buffalo. New York finished with 323 yards rushing and 512 overall yards.
Atlanta Falcons 17-41 Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown connected on two second-half touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled away from the Atlanta Falcons for a 41-17 victory.
Roethlisberger finished 19 of 29 for 250 yards and three scores in all, including a nine-yard strike to Brown in the third quarter and a 47-yard dart to the All-Pro wide receiver early in the fourth as Pittsburgh (2-2-1) put together their most complete performance of the season. Brown caught six passes for 101 yards. His two touchdowns gave him 64 in his career, moving him past Hall of Famer John Stallworth and into second place on the franchise’s all-time TD reception list.
James Conner ran for 110 yards and two scores and added 75 yards receiving for Pittsburgh, which improved to 7-0-1 all-time against the Falcons (1-4) at home.
Miami Dolphins 17-27 Cincinnati Bengals
Michael Johnson returned an interception for the tying score, and Sam Hubbard went 19 yards with a fumble for the clinching touchdown, rallying the Cincinnati Bengals from a 17-point deficit to a 27-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins. With Joe Mixon back from knee surgery, the defense making more game-turning plays in the fourth quarter, Cincinnati (4-1) pulled off their biggest comeback of the season and extended its best start since its 2015 playoff season. The Dolphins (3-2) had plenty of blame to go around for their second-half meltdown, helping the Bengals score those 27 consecutive points with mistakes.
Tennessee Titans 13-12 Buffalo Bills
Stephen Hauschka hit a 46-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the Buffalo Bills to a 13-12 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Buffalo’s defense forced three turnovers, and LeSean McCoy broke from a September slump with a season-best 85 yards rushing. McCoy sparked the decisive drive with a 13-yard catch on third-and-three. And backup running back Chris Ivory had a nine-yard run in getting the Bills across midfield. Rookie quarterback Josh Allen scored on a 14-yard touchdown run but was held in check as a passer. He finished 10 of 19 for 82 yards and an interception.