Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

SUNDAY’S ROUNDUPS, SUMMARIES

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BENGALS 31, BROWNS 7

CLEVELAND — Lost for three weeks, Andy Dalton and the Bengals finally found their footing.

Dalton threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first half, and Cincinnati’s offense found the perfect opponent to work out some early season struggles as the Bengals rolled over the overmatche­d Browns.

Dalton only missed on one throw in the first half, going 17 of 18 for 215 yards as the Bengals (1-3) built a 21-0 lead. Cincinnati has won its past four games in Cleveland by a combined 121-20.

Entering as the NFL’s No. 30 ranked quarterbac­k, Dalton connected with A.J. Green, Tyler Croft and Giovani Bernard in the first half while dissecting the Browns (0-4).

Dalton finished 25 of 30 for 286 yards. His second TD to Croft in the third quarter made it 31-0.

Cleveland fell to 1-19 in two seasons under Coach Hue Jackson, who has been handed the league’s youngest roster and is trying to break in rookie quarterbac­k DeShone Kizer without many weapons. Kizer was 16 of 34 for 118 yards and 1 intercepti­on.

EAGLES 26, CHARGERS 24

CARSON, Calif. — Carson Wentz passed for 242 yards, LeGarrette Blount rushed for 136 and the Philadelph­ia Eagles won 26-24 over the winless Los Angeles Chargers.

Rookie Jake Elliott kicked four field goals for the Eagles (3-1), who had thousands of roaring fans in the Chargers’ temporary stadium while they hung on to win on the road for the second time in 10 tries.

Playing without several injured defensive regulars, the Eagles matched last year’s 3-1 start even though they blew most of an early 13-point lead. Rookie Austin Ekeler rushed for a score and Hunter Henry (Pulaski Academy, Arkansas Razorbacks) made a one-handed TD catch during the Chargers’ fourth-quarter surge.

But Blount rushed for 88 yards in the fourth quarter alone, and Philadelph­ia ran out the clock after Henry’s TD catch with 6:44 to play.

Philip Rivers passed for 347 yards and two TDs for the Chargers (0-4), who have lost nine consecutiv­e games dating to last season in San Diego.

BILLS 23, FALCONS 17

ATLANTA — Stephen Hauschka kicked a tie-breaking, 56-yard field goal with less than five minutes remaining and the Buffalo Bills made a last-minute defensive stand to beat after the Falcons lost wide receiver Julio Jones to a hip injury.

Hauschka padded the lead with a 55-yarder with about three minutes remaining.

Buffalo’s defense stopped the Falcons at the Bills 10 with less than a minute remaining when Matt Ryan couldn’t complete a fourth-down pass to Taylor Gabriel, and Atlanta became the last NFC team to lose this season.

Tre’Davious White returned a fumble 2 yards for a third-quarter touchdown as the Buffalo defense delivered again despite giving up its first passing touchdown of the season.

It was one of three turnovers by Atlanta (3-1) on a day the Bills (31) set a team record for consecutiv­e quarters without a turnover. Ryan threw two intercepti­ons, giving him five in his past two games.

BUCCANEERS 25, GIANTS 23

TAMPA, Fla. — Jameis Winston threw for 332 and three touchdowns without an intercepti­on, and Nick Folk kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to give the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a victory over the winless New York Giants.

Folk redeemed himself after missing two field goals and an extra point earlier in the day, booting the winner after Winston answered Eli Manning’s second TD pass with an impressive drive that began at his 25.

The Giants (0-4) lost on a last-second field goal for the second consecutiv­e week. They took a 23-22 lead on Rhett Ellison’s 2-yard TD reception with 3:16 remaining. Manning threw to Odell Beckham Jr. in the rear of the end zone for a two-point conversion that was disallowed because the receiver had stepped out of bounds before making the catch.

Winston threw TD passes of 6 yards to Mike Evans and 58 yards to O.J. Howard in building an early 13-0 lead. His 14-yard scoring pass to Cameron Brate put the Bucs up 22-17 midway through the fourth quarter.

STEELERS 26, RAVENS 9

BALTIMORE — Le’Veon Bell rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and the Steelers beat the Ravens in a duel for first place in the AFC North.

Though held to a touchdown over the final 30 minutes, Pittsburgh (3-1) mounted enough of an attack before halftime to earn its first victory in Baltimore since 2012.

Ben Roethlisbe­rger went 18 for 30 for 216 yards and a touchdown. Bell carried the ball 35 times to help the Steelers amass 381 yards in offense.

The Ravens (2-2) looked every bit like the 32nd-ranked offense in the NFL. Baltimore trailed 19-0 at halftime, generated only 154 yards through three quarters and stumbled through a second consecutiv­e game with only one touchdown.

Joe Flacco completed 31 of 49 passes for 235 yards, was sacked 4 times and intercepte­d 2 times.

Alex Collins (Arkansas Razorbacks) ran nine times for 82 yards but also lost a fumble in the first half.

SEAHAWKS 46, COLTS 18

SEATTLE — J.D. McKissic (Arkansas State) took the second carry of his career 30 yards for a touchdown, and Bobby Wagner scooped up Marcus Smith’s forced fumble and rumbled 21 yards for a score in a 13-second span late in the third quarter as the Seahawks routed the Indianapol­is Colts.

Justin Coleman added a 28-yard intercepti­on return for a TD in the first half, and Seattle overcame a sleepy first 30 minutes from its offense to finally put away the Colts.

Russell Wilson threw 2 touchdown passes and 2 intercepti­ons, but his most important play was a 23-yard run in the third quarter to give Seattle an 18-15 lead. Adam Vinatieri pulled the Colts even at 18-18 as the Colts capitalize­d on Wilson’s second intercepti­on. Graham dropped a catchable pass and it was intercepte­d by Malik Hooker, his third consecutiv­e game with an intercepti­on.

But Seattle answered with a 75yard drive that was capped by McKissic’s touchdown sprint. Wilson added TD passes of 6 yards to Luke Willson and 27 yards to McKissic in the fourth quarter as the Seahawks outscored Indianapol­is 36-3 in the second half.

TEXANS 57, TITANS 14

HOUSTON — Rookie Deshaun Watson shined, throwing for four touchdowns and running for another as the Houston Texans scored the most points in franchise history while walloping division rival Tennessee.

Watson became the first rookie to throw four touchdowns and run for another one since Fran Tarkenton in 1961. He also tied an NFL record for most TDs by a rookie quarterbac­k.

The Texans (2-2) outdid their previous highest point total of 45 set in a victory over the Titans (22) in 2014, and they are the first NFL team to score 50 points since the Jaguars scored 51 in December 2015.

Watson led Houston’s offense to touchdowns on three consecutiv­e possession­s for a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. It was the first time since Oct. 19, 2008, that Houston scored a touchdown on each of its first three possession­s.

The first score came on a 2-yard run by Lamar Miller. Watson then found DeAndre Hopkins on an 8-yard pass before connecting with Will Fuller on a 16-yarder.

Titans quarterbac­ks Marcus Mariota did not play in the second half because of an injured hamstring.

CARDINALS 18, 49ERS 15 (OT)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Carson Palmer threw 19 yards to Larry Fitzgerald with 32 seconds left in overtime for the game’s only touchdown as the Arizona Cardinals escaped with a victory over the winless San Francisco 49ers.

The scoring had been limited to nine field goals before Palmer directed a seven-play, 75-yard drive with 1:52 to play.

Fitzgerald, who had three catches for 13 yards before the winning grab, rose to catch the ball under tight coverage by Rashard Robinson.

Robbie Gould kicked his fifth field goal, a 23-yarder with 2:24 left in overtime, to put the 49ers ahead 15-12.

Phil Dawson kicked four field goals for the Cardinals (2-2), whose two victories both have come in overtime.

The 49ers (0-4), losing to the Cardinals for the fifth time in a row, won the coin toss to start the overtime. They used up 7:36 of the extra session, which was shortened from 15 to 10 minutes this season.

JETS 23, JAGUARS 20 (OT)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 41yard field goal with 28 seconds left in overtime, lifting the New York Jets over the Jacksonvil­le Jaguars.

Bilal Powell rushed for a career-high 163 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown, and rookie Elijah McGuire had a 69-yard score and finished with 93 yards rushing as the Jets (2-2) ran all over the Jaguars (2-2).

But New York blew a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead because of some big mistakes.

It appeared the Jets were heading for a victory-sealing drive after a 41-yard pass from Josh McCown to Robby Anderson got the Jets to the Jaguars 14. But McCown tossed a backward pass to Powell and the ball bounced off the running back’s shoulder pad — ruled a fumble — and Myles Jack recovered and went 81 yards for a touchdown to cut the Jaguars’ deficit to one score, 2017, with 10:20 left in the fourth quarter.

With 3:19 left in regulation and New York still leading by three, A.J. Bouye intercepte­d McCown after Powell slipped right in front of the cornerback. Jason Myers tied the game with a 22-yard field goal with 46 seconds remainng.

LIONS 14, VIKINGS 7

MINNEAPOLI­S — Anthony Zettel led Detroit’s defense with 2 sacks, 4 hurries and 1 fumble recovery, as the Lions forced three turnovers while holding Minnesota scoreless in the second half.

The Lions turned two fumbles lost by the Vikings in the third quarter into 11 points, taking the lead on Ameer Abdullah’s 1-yard touchdown run five plays after rookie Dalvin Cook fumbled at the Minnesota 29.

The Vikings (2-2) lost more than just possession when Cook limped off with an injury to his left knee and did not return.

Tahir Whitehead recovered that fumble for the Lions, plus one by Adam Thielen with 1:43 left at the Detroit 45 that ended the lastchance drive for the Vikings.

Detroit (3-1) leads the NFL in turnover margin at plus-9.

Abdullah came close to ending a four-year stretch by the Lions without a 100-yard rusher, finishing with 94 yards on 20 carries before leaving the game with an undisclose­d injury.

Matthew Stafford was sacked six times for 55 yards, but he hung on to the ball each time and completed 19 of 31 passes for 209 yards.

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