The Saints keep marching in
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints extended their winning streak to eight games with an unlikely comeback, erasing a 15-point deficit inside the final six minutes or regulation and kicking a short field goal in overtime to defeat the Washington Redskins 34-31 on Sunday.
Mark Ingram capped a 131-yard rushing performance with gains of 20 and 31 yards on back-to-back carries in overtime to set up Wil Lutz’s winning 28-yard kick.
Drew B re es passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns, going 11 of 11 for 164 yards and his only two touchdown son New Orleans’ final two possessions of regulation. His first TD went to tight end Josh Hill with 2:53 togo, and the last to Alvin Kamara with 1:05 left.
The Saints (8-2) set up their final drive by stopping Samaje Perine on third-and-1 at the two-minute warning when a first down would have allowed Washington (4-6) to run out the clock.
After K amara corralled a bobble while running between two converging defenders to score from 18 yards, he took a pitch on a misdirection play to the left side and easily reached the end zone for a 2- point conversion as the Superdome crowd — at least those who hadn’t left early — went wild.
Washington managed to get into winning field-goal range in the final minute of regulation, only to be pushed back by a fluky grounding penalty that appeared to result from Kirk Cousins’ mis communication with a receiver, followed by a sack as time expired.
The Redskins also received the ball first in overtime, but the Saints’ hobbled defence, which gave up more yards than in any game during its winning streak, rallied to force a quick punt and Ingram did the rest.
Cousins passed for 322 yards and three touchdowns.
GIANTS 12, CHIEFS 9, OT
Roger Lewis Jr. made a spectacular catch to set up the winning 23-yard yard goal by Aldrick Rosas in overtime and the Giants responded from weeks of adversity to beat the AFC West-leading Chiefs on a blustery, cold day.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Giants (2-8) and sent the Chiefs (6-4) to their fourth loss in five games.
The winning kick came two plays after Lewis was yanked to the ground on a deep pass from Eli Manning, but still caught the ball while flat on his back for a 34-yard completion on a fourthdown heave. Had he not caught it, flags flew for pass interference.
It was an unexpected was for a team that came into the game in turmoil, with questions about the future of coach Ben McAdoo and many wondering whether the Giants had quit in one-sided losses to the Rams and then the winless 49ers in the past two weeks.
Few expected them to beat the Chiefs, especially with Andy Reid’ s record coming off a bye week. He was 16-2.
The Giants not only won, they intercepted Alex Smith twice, setting up their first nine points.
With one time out, Smith drove the Chiefs 69 yards in nine plays, the big shot a 32-yard pass to tight end Travis K el ce. Harrison But ker tied the game with a 23-yard field goal — his third short one — with :01 left in regulation.
VIKINGS 24, RAMS 7
Latavius Murray rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns, Adam Thielen turned a short catch into a 65-yard score and the Vikings smothered the NF L’ s highest- scoring offence.
Case Keen um completed 27 of 38 passes for 280 yards and no turnovers against the team that benched him last season for No. 1 overall draft pick Jared Goff. He also guided the Vikings (8-2) to their sixth straight victory in a match up of division leaders.
Minnesota’ s defence started the second half by forcing four punts in a row by the Rams (7-3), whose four-game winning streak in which they scored 144 points was finished in convincing fashion. The Rams led the league entering the weekend with a third-down conversion rate of 46.7 per cent, but were just 3 for 11 against the Vikings.
The Los Angeles defence was trampled in the second half for 288 yards, and Keenum went without a sack for the sixth game this season. T hie len handed him the longest touch down pass of his career by turning a simple curl route early in the fourth quarter into a gamebreaking score after spinning past Rams cornerback Dominique Hatfield.
Injuries took two of their top three corner backs out of the game for the second half.
Thielen finished with 123 yards on six receptions, giving him 916 yards this season. The only player in Vikings history to reach 900 yards receiving by the 10-game mark was Randy Moss, who did it in 2000 and 2003.
RAVENS 23, PACKERS 0
The Ravens forced five turnovers in their third shutout of the season. Baltimore last accomplished the feat when the Ray Lewis-led defence had four shutouts for the Super Bowl-winning team in 2000.
Jimmy Smith, Eric Weddle and Mar lon Humphrey each picked off passes for Baltimore (5-5), which led the NFL in intercept ions entering the weekend. But a problematic offence couldn’t generate a touch down drive until Joe Fl ac co’ s perfect deep ball to Mike Wallace over two defenders for a 13-point lead nearly two minutes into the third quarter. Flacco threw for 183 yards, going 22 of 28 with an interception.
His lone touchdown pass was still enough of a cushion against a Packers team struggling without two-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, out with a broken collarbone.
The Packers (5-5) were last shut out on Nov. 19, 2006, when then-starter Brett Favre left with an elbow injury in the first half of a 35-0 loss to New England. Rodgers, then in his second year in the league, finished off that loss in relief.
Rodgers’ replacement this year, Brett Hundley, didn’t fare any better.
He was 21 of 36 for 239 yards. But he threw interceptions on the Packers’ first two series. On the third drive, backup running back Dev ante Mays fumbled on his first carry of the season.
LIONS 27, BEARS 24
Matthew Stafford threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns, Matt Prater kicked a 52-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining.
Detroit (6-4) took the lead after Ta rik Cohen had tied it for Chicago (3-7) with a 15-yard touchdown run. The Lions escaped with their third straight win when the Bears’ Connor Barth was wide right on a 46-yarder in the closing seconds.
Stafford completed 21 of 31 passes. Marvin Jones Jr. had four receptions for 85 yards and a TD.
DJ Hayden ran back a fumbled snap for a touchdown to give Detroit seven return TD st his season, tying a team record. And the Lions beat the Bears for the eighth time in nine games.
Chicago dropped its third straight even though Jordan Howard ran for 125 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell Trubisky faded after a strong start, throw- ing for 179 yards and a TD.
JAGUARS 19, BROWNS 7
Blake Bo rt les threw a touch down pass and Jacksonville linebacker Telvin Smith recovered a fumble for a TD with 1:14 remaining as the Jaguars won their fourth straight and moved into sole possession of first place in the AFC South.
Jacksonville’s top-ranked defence forced five turnovers, two in the final two minutes.
The Jaguars (7-3) built a 10-0 lead and turned things over to their “Sacksonville” defence. The Jaguars intercepted rookie DeShone Kizer twice, had five sacks and blanked the Browns (0-10) in the second half.
Cleveland’s last hopes ended when Yannick Ngakoue sacked Kizer and knocked the ball into the end zone, where Smith recovered. Earlier, Ngakoue and Calais Campbell combined to sack Kiz er, who fumbled as he fell and it was recovered near midfield by Dante Fowler with 1:48 left.
With the win, Jacksonville is leading its division after 10 games for the first time since 1999, when the Jags were a top the AFC Central at 9-1.
BUCS 30, DOLPHINS 20
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns, Patrick Murray kicked a 35-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining and Tampa Bay snapped a sixgame road slide by topping the penalty-prone Dolphins.
O.J. Howard and DeSean Jackson caught those scoring throws for the Buccaneers, who outscored Miami 17-0 in the second quarter.
They also stuffed three straight 1- yard-to-go runs by the Dolphins at the Tampa Bay 34 in the fourth quarter, forcing a turnover on downs on a day when Miami had more mistakes than points.
Miami (4-6) tied the game at 20 on a 61- yard pass from Matt Moore to Kenny Stills with 3 minutes left. Fitzpatrick coolly moved the Buccaneers 58 yards on the ensuing drive, and Murray delivered what essentially was the winner.
Adarius Glanton got a bonus touch down for Tampa Bay (4-6) on the final play, when the Dolphins’ lateral-filled last-ditch attempt at a kick off return turned into a Bu cs score.
Jay Cutler threw three first-half interceptions and didn’ t play in the second half because of what the Dolphins said was diagnosed as a concussion.
TEX ANS 31, CARDINALS 21
Rookie D’Onta Foreman ran for 65 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns before being carted off the field with an ankle injury to help the Houston Texans snap a three-game skid.
The Texans (4-6) went on top when Foreman scored his first career touchdown on a 3-yard run early in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals were stopped for a loss on a fourth-and-1 later in the fourth. Foreman dashed 34 yards on the next play to push the lead to 31-21 with about six minutes left.
Foreman was injured on the play, falling to the ground in the end zone. He was looked at on the field for a few minutes before he was helped to the cart and taken off the field as the crowd chanted: “Foreman, Foreman.”
Blaine Gabbert threw for 257 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in his first start of the season with Drew Stanton dealing with a sprained knee and Carson Palmer out for the season with a broken arm. But Gabbert threw interceptions on consecutive drives in the fourth quarter to seal Arizona’s fate.
The Texans won despite two turnovers by Tom Savage, who has lost six fumbles and thrown three interceptions in four starts this season. He finished 22 of 32 for 230 yards and two touchdowns in his third start since Deshaun Watson was injured.
Rookie Ricky Seals-Jones, who didn’t have a catch entering Sunday, finished with 54 yards receiving and two touch downs for the Cardinals (4-6).