AROUND THE NFL
■ Titans 45, Colts 26: Derrick Henry battered the NFL’s second-stingiest defense for 140 yards and three TDs in the first half, finished with 178 yards and led the Titans to the crucial victory. It gave the Titans (8-3) sole possession of the AFC South lead, a split in the twogame season series with the Colts and a tiebreaking edge based on current division records of the teams. Henry also padded his lead as he chases a second straight rushing crown. He has three straight 100-yard games and eight consecutive road games with 100 or more yards, tying former Titans RB Chris Johnson for the secondlongest streak since the 1970 merger. Only Hall of Famer Barry Sanders (10 in 1996-97) had a longer streak.
■ Falcons 43, Raiders 6: Deion Jones returned an INT 67 yards for a TD and Matt Ryan threw a pair of short scoring passes to power the host Falcons at home. The Raiders (6-5) lost their second in a row. QB Derek Carr had lost three fumbles in addition to the pick-six. ■ Giants 19, Bengals 17: The Giants lost starting QB Daniel Jones to a hamstring injury in the second half but generated enough offense on the road to earn the victory. Graham Gano returned from the COVID-19 list to kick FGs as the Giants (4-7) moved into a tie with Washington for first place in the woeful NFC East.
■ Bills 27, Chargers 17: Tre’Davious White’s fourth-quarter INT set up Tyler Bass’ 43-yard FG, helping the Bills hold on. Josh Allen threw for a TD and ran for another score and WR Cole Beasley completed a TD pass in the home win.
■ Browns 27, Jaguars 25: Baker Mayfield tossed a pair of TDs, ending a three-game drought without a passing score and leading the Browns to the road victory. Nick Chubb ran for 144 yards and a TD for the Browns, who improved to 8-3 for the first time since 1994. The Jags set a single-season franchise record by losing its 10th consecutive game.
■ Dolphins 20, Jets 3: Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two TD passes while starting in place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa and the visiting Dolphins kept the Jets winless.
■ Patriots 20, Cardinals 17: Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard FG as time expired to cap the Patriots’ comeback at home. James White rushed for two TDs in the win. The Pats picked off Cardinals QB Kyler Murray and held him without a TD pass for the first time this season.
■ Vikings 28, Panthers 27: Chad Beebe caught a 10-yard TD pass with 46 seconds left, and then the Panthers’ Joey Slye missed a 54-yard FG try that preserved the Vikings’ win. There were 38 points scored in a second half that started with Panthers rookie Jeremy Chinn turning fumble recoveries into TDreturns on consecutive plays from scrimmage.
■ Saints 31, Broncos 3: QB Taysom Hill ran for a pair of TDs to help the Saints cruise to the road win. It was the Saints’ second straight victory with Hill playing for the injured Drew Brees. The Broncos had the real QB issues. They started Kendall Hinton, a rookie WR from their practice squad and former Wake Forest QB, because the league disqualified three of their QBs after they were found to not have won masks Wednesday, the day before another QB, Jeff Driskel, tested positive for the coronavirus. Hinton completed just one pass.
■ 49ers 23, Rams 20: Robbie Gould made a 42-yard FG as time expired, and the 49ers snapped their three-game losing streak and handed the Rams their first home loss of 2020.