Saints hand Rams first loss of season
The Los Angeles Rams’ undefeated run is over.
Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes and Michael Thomas had 12 receptions for 211 yards as the Saints beat the previously unbeaten Rams, 45-35, yesterday in New Orleans.
New Orleans (7-1) raced out to a 35-14 lead late in the second quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, the Rams (8-1) rallied to tie it with 21 straight points.
The Saints, though, made enough plays on both sides of the ball to pull away again for the victory.
Chiefs 37, Browns 21 — Patrick Mahomes passed for 375 yards, threw three touchdown passes — two to Travis Kelce — and continued the best start by an NFL quarterback in 68 years as visiting Kansas City rolled past Cleveland.
Cleveland native Kareem Hunt had two scoring runs and one receiving for the Chiefs (8-1), who came in averaging 36.3 points with an offense overloaded with weapons for Mahomes.
The 23-year-old used all of them in winning his first pro matchup against Baker Mayfield and the Browns (2-6-1). Steelers 23, Ravens 16 — Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes, ran for a score and put up an unexpected left-footed punt to help visiting Pittsburgh beat Baltimore.
James Conner rushed for 107 yards and caught a touchdown pass for the Steelers (5-2-1), who have won four straight since falling to the Ravens (4-5) at home on Sept. 30. Chargers 25, Seahawks 17 — Philip Rivers made his 200th consecutive start and Los Angeles survived a late rally by Russell Wilson in Seattle for its fifth straight win.
Rivers threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns for the Chargers (6-2).
Seattle had won 4-of-5 following an 0-2 start. Texans 19, Broncos 17 — Brandon McManus missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired, leaving Demaryius Thomas a winner in his homecoming as the host Houston beat Denver.
The Texans (6-3) won their sixth straight and the Broncos (3-6) lost for the sixth time in seven games. Thomas, the former Bronco, finished with three receptions for 61 yards.
Dolphins 13, Jets 6 — Rookie linebacker Jerome Baker intercepted Sam Darnold and scored the only touchdown on a 25-yard return with 11 minutes left, and a resilient defense helped Miami (5-4) beat New York (3-6) in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Darnold threw four interceptions and took four sacks, and the Jets went 2-for-15 on third and fourth down. Falcons 38, Redskins 14 — Julio Jones ended his 12game touchdown drought, Matt Ryan threw for 350 yards and four scores and Atlanta (4-4) extended its winning streak to three games with a blowout of Washington (5-3) in Landover, Md.
Jones caught seven passes for 121 yards with the biggest
coming on a 35-yard screen pass with just under four minutes left that sealed the victory. It resulted in his first touchdown catch since Nov. 26, 2017.
Bears 41, Bills 9 — Jordan Howard scored two touchdowns and the Chicago’s defense had two others in a rout of Buffalo in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Eddie Jackson scored on a 65-yard fumble return and Leonard Floyd returned a tipped pass 19 yards for another score in the second quarter for the Bears (5-3).
Chicago held the Bills (2-7) to 264 yards offense despite missing star linebacker Khalil Mack (ankle) for the second straight game. Panthers 42, Buccaneers 28 — Cam Newton completed 19-of-25 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns, Christian McCaffrey racked up 157 yards from scrimmage and scored twice and the Carolina (6-2) held off Tampa Bay (3-5) for its 10th straight home win.
Newton threw scoring passes of 19 yards to Curtis Samuel and 17 yards to Greg Olsen, the seventh straight game he has thrown for at least two touchdowns.
Vikings 24, Lions 9 — In Minneapolis, Danielle Hunter had 3.5 of Minnesota’s franchise-record 10 sacks and a fourth-quarter fumble return for a touchdown, making for a miserable afternoon for Matthew Stafford and the Lions.
The Vikings (5-3-1) limited the Lions (3-5) to 214 total yards.