Chiefs score last-second victory over Vikings
Last-second field goal seals long-awaited win for Chiefs on home turf
Harrison Butker booted a 44-yard field goal as time expired Sunday, giving the Kansas City Chiefs a 26-23 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Kansas City, Mo.
Quarterback Matt Moore, making his second start in place of the injured Patrick Mahomes, passed for 275 yards, including strikes of 17 and 13 yards to Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, respectively, to put Butker in position for his game-winner.
The Chiefs (6-3) used two straight three-and-outs from their defence in the fourth quarter to first set up a 54-yard field goal with 2:30 left for a 23-23 tie and then the decisive boot. The win ended a three-game home losing streak for the Chiefs as Moore went 25-for-35 with one touchdown.
The Vikings (6-3), who had their four-game win streak snapped, went ahead 23-20 early in the fourth quarter on an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, which quarterback Kirk Cousins capped with a three-yard pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph. The strike was Cousins’s third touchdown. He went 19-for-38 for 220 yards, while the NFL’s leading rusher, Dalvin Cook, managed 71 yards on 21 carries.
Damien Williams, who gained 125 yards on just 12 carries for the Chiefs, scored on a 91-yard burst with 6:13 left in the third quarter and the extra point gave the Chiefs a 17-16 lead.
The burst was a response to a touchdown by the Vikings barely three minutes into the quarter. After Mike Hughes caused a fumble on the second-half kickoff, Cousins found Ameer Abdullah from 16 yards out. The ensuing extra point was missed, leaving Minnesota up 16-10.
The Chiefs struck first on a 40-yard deep ball that Hill chased down with 8:21 left in the first quarter.
That catch began a string of nine straight completions by Moore, who also drove Kansas City to a 24-yard field goal by Butker with 4:34 remaining in the first half.
Although the Vikings went three-and-out four times in the half, they rallied to forge a 10-10 tie at halftime on a 29-yard field goal by Dan Bailey with six seconds left.
Minnesota also scored on a fouryard strike from Cousins to Bisi Johnson with 2:50 left in the first quarter.
Christian McCaffrey scored three touchdowns, including a clinching 58-yard run in the fourth quarter, as the Carolina Panthers defeated the visiting Tennessee Titans 30-20 in Charlotte, N.C.
McCaffrey rushed for 146 yards on 24 carries to go with three receptions for 20 yards on another day with a heavy workload.
The Panthers (5-3), who played a home game for the first time in nearly a month, erased memories of a blowout loss a week earlier at undefeated San Francisco.
Quarterback Kyle Allen, who again was at the controls amid an ongoing injury saga involving Cam Newton, completed 17 of 32 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns.
Allen improved to 6-1 all-time as a starter, including 5-1 this season.
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill was 27 of 39 for 331 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown. He scored on a 10-yard run with 2:49 remaining, but his two-point conversion pass was incomplete.
With the outcome, the Carolina franchise owns a home victory against every other NFL team.
Mason Rudolph passed for 191 yards and one touchdown and Chris Boswell’s fourth field goal made the difference Sunday as the Pittsburgh Steelers edged the visiting Indianapolis Colts 26-24.
Boswell’s deciding kick, a 26-yarder, came with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter. Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri shanked a 43-yarder with 1:11 left.
Rudolph threw a touchdown pass to Vance McDonald and Minkah Fitzpatrick returned an interception 96 yards for a touchdown for Pittsburgh (4-4), which played without starting running back James Conner (shoulder).
Brian Hoyer, who stepped in when starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett left in the second quarter because of a knee injury, passed for 168 yards with scoring passes to Jack Doyle, Zach Pascal and Chester Rogers as the Colts (5-3) played without top receiver TY Hilton (calf). The teams traded field goals in the first quarter — Vinatieri’s 25-yarder for a 3-0 Indianapolis lead after Kenny Moore intercepted Rudolph and Boswell’s tying 21-yarder.
Brissett left the game with 12:41 left in the second quarter. On an incomplete pass, Pittsburgh’s Cam Heyward knocked Indianapolis lineman Quenton Nelson into the quarterback. Hoyer completed that drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Doyle for a 10-3 lead.
Fitzpatrick stepped in front of a Hoyer pass toward the end zone for Doyle and returned the pick 96 yards for a tying touchdown with 2:21 left in the half.
Hoyer threw a 14-yard scoring pass to Pascal. Heyward blocked Vinatieri’s extra point kick, leaving it at 16-10.
The Steelers got a 51-yard field goal by Boswell as the first half expired to cut it to 16-13.
In the third quarter, Rudolph led an 11-play, 54-yard drive that concluded with his seven-yard touchdown pass to McDonald for a 20-16 lead.
Justin Houston sacked Rudolph in the end zone and knocked the ball loose. Alejandro Villanueva recovered it for the Steelers, giving Indianapolis a safety and making it 20-18.
Reuters