Steelers remain unbeaten while Canadian joins elite company
Ben Roethlisberger passed for 267 yards and two touchdowns Sunday as the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers overcame a slow start to remain unbeaten with a 27-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Pittsburgh (10-0) is the only NFL team with no losses.
Roethlisberger completed 32 of 46 attempts with touchdown passes to Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron. Diontae Johnson had 12 catches for 111 yards. Benny Snell added a touchdown run.
Pittsburgh rookie Claypool became the first wide receiver in the Super Bowl era to catch at least 10 touchdown passes in his first 10 career games.
The Canadian caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger with 7:07 remaining in the second quarter, giving his team a 10-3 lead.
Only three other first-year receivers in NFL history had double-digit touchdown grabs in their first 10 games: Green Bay's Billy Howton (1952), Chicago's Harlon Hill (1954) and Houston's Bill Groman (1960).
Claypool, 22, was a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He caught three touchdowns in the Steelers' Week 5 win against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph got some mop-up duty for the second week in a row. The Steelers have a short week with an AFC showdown against Baltimore on Thanksgiving.
For Jacksonville (1-9), rookie quarterback Jake Luton was 16 of 37 for 151 yards, with four interceptions, two each by Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds.
On the first possession of the game, the Jaguars took a 3-0 lead on Chase McLaughlin's 41-yard field goal.
TITANS CLAW WAY BACK F OR OT WIN OVER RAVENS
Derrick Henry's 29-yard touchdown run with 5:21 left in overtime capped a Tennessee Titans rally from a 21-10 third quarter deficit as they stopped the Baltimore Ravens 30-24 at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
Henry, who finished with 133 yards on 28 carries, jump-cut from left to right around a tackler and sped into the end zone for his second walk-off score of the year. It finished a 73-yard drive that started after the Ravens (6-4) went 3-andout with their overtime possession.
Baltimore forced overtime when Justin Tucker converted his third field goal of the day, a 29-yarder with 16 seconds left in regulation.
Ryan Tannehill completed 22 of 31 passes for 259 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Tennessee, which improved to 7-3. Lamar Jackson connected on 17 of 29 throws for 186 yards with a touchdown and a pick for the Ravens.
The action started before the game did, as the teams engaged in a pre-game altercation. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh took umbrage to Tennessee players gathering on the Ravens' logo at midfield.
Harbaugh, Titans coach Mike Vrabel and cornerback Malcolm Butler exchanged words.
Perhaps invigorated by pre-game jaw-jacking, Tennessee initiated scoring on Tannehill's one-yard touchdown pass to Jonnu Smith at the 8:37 mark of the first quarter. The 79-yard drive was kick-started by a 39-yard pass interference infraction on Baltimore.
The Ravens got their offence going after that, although two straight forays into the end zone ended in 30- and 27-yard field goals by Tucker. A third trip inside the Titans' 20 produced J.K. Dobbins' two-yard scoring plunge with 5:22 left in the second quarter, giving Baltimore its first lead. Stephen Gostkowski toed a 40-yard field goal in the final minute, slicing Tennessee's halftime deficit to 14-10.
But Baltimore increased the lead to 21-10 when Jackson lofted a 31yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews with 9:39 left in the third quarter. The Titans responded when Gostkowski connected on 40- and 22-yard field goals, the latter one bringing them within five points with 11:13 remaining.
TURNOVERS HELP COLTS GET PAST PACKERS I N OT
Rodrigo Blankenship kicked four field goals — including a game-ending 39-yarder with 7:10 to go in overtime — as the host Indianapolis Colts rallied to defeat the Green Bay Packers 34-31.
Packers receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling fumbled a screen pass from Aaron Rodgers on the opening possession of OT, Green Bay's fourth turnover of the game, to give the Colts the ball deep inside Packers territory.
Philip Rivers was 24 of 36 for 288 yards, three touchdowns and an interception for the Colts (7-3), who outscored the Packers 20-3 in the second half and overtime.
Rodgers was 27 of 38 for 311 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Green Bay struggled to mount a consistent rushing attack against the Colts, who outgained the Packers 420-367.
Green Bay (7-3) forced overtime on Mason Crosby's 26-yard field goal with three seconds left. Trailing 31-28 with the ball on their own six-yard line, the Packers drove 86 yards, getting 47 on a crucial 3rdand-10 connection between Rodgers and Valdes-Scantling.
Indianapolis scored 17 successive points to begin the second half, taking its lone lead of regulation time on Blankenship's 43-yard field goal with 8:56 to go on the heels of a fumbled kickoff return by Green Bay. Blankenship also drilled field goals of 37 and 32 yards while missing from 50.
The Colts' Jonathan Taylor had 22 carries for 90 yards, while Michael Pittman Jr. had three catches for 66 yards.
Davante Adams had seven receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown to lead Green Bay.
The Colts were whistled for nine offensive holding calls, including five on their final possession of regulation.