Fournette’s 4 TDs rally Bucs past Colts
Tom Brady came to Indianapolis in a new uniform.
He followed the same old script — turning mistakes into points and leading his team on another decisive last-minute scoring drive.
This time, Leonard Fournette broke the tie with a 28-yard scoring run with 20 seconds left to give Tampa Bay a critical 38-31 come-from-behind win for Brady’s first win over the Colts since joining the Buccaneers.
“Not a lot of love lost, I think,” Brady said, referring to the rivalry he’s had with the Colts. “It was good to win.”
For Brady, it seemed as if nothing changed. He improved to 16-4 all time against the Colts, leading the Bucs (8-3) to a second straight victory while relying on his supporting cast to do most of the heavy lifting.
Fournette carried 17 times for 100 yards and three scores and caught Brady’s only TD pass of the game, a careerhigh four touchdowns. Ronald Jones II gave the Bucs their first lead, 28-24 on a 1-yard TD run late in the third quarter and Rob Gronkowski caught seven passes for a season-best 123 yards.
Yet when Brady got the ball with 3:29 left and the score tied at 31, he again proved to be the maestro that makes Colts fans cringe.
The difference Sunday was turnovers. Indy (6-6) had five and Brady made them pay every time except for the interception on the game’s final play.
Bengals 41, Steelers 10: Joe Mixon rushed for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns, Joe Burrow scrambled for a score and passed for another one and the Bengals swept the season series for the first time since 2009.
Mixon, coming off a rugged 123-yard, two-TD performance in a win over Las Vegas last week, pounded away for 117 yards in the first half. He helped the Bengals cruise to a third straight win over their AFC North rival after losing 11 straight in the series.
Cincinnati scored on its first four drives, and former Steeler Mike Hilton returned an interception of Ben Roethlisberger for a 24-yard touchdown late in the first half to push the Cincinnati lead to 31-3 at the intermission.
Dolphins 33, Panthers 10: Jaylen Waddle had nine catches for a season-best 137 yards and a touchdown, and the Dolphins forced Cam Newton into one of the worst statistical days of his career.
Myles Gaskin had two short rushing scores for Miami, the sixth team in NFL history to immediately follow a 1-7 start with four consecutive wins. Duke Riley blocked a punt that led to a score for Miami.
The quarterback matchup was totally onesided. Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa completed 27 of 31 passes for 230 yards and a score. Newton was pulled in the fourth quarter after completing just 5 of 21 passes for the Panthers, who lost for the seventh time in their past nine games.
Falcons 21, Jaguars 14: Cordarrelle Patterson scored twice in his return from an ankle injury, and the Falcons found the end zone and the win column for the first time in three weeks.
The Falcons managed just a field goal in their previous two games, lopsided losses to Dallas and New England in which they turned over the ball a combined seven times and failed to score a touchdown in consecutive games for the first time since 1987.
They put an emphasis on playing “smarter football” against Jacksonville, and it paid off. It
surely helped that the Jaguars made all the early mistakes.
Trevor Lawrence threw an interception on Jacksonville’s second series. James Robinson fumbled on the team’s next drive.
Patterson found a gaping hope up the middle for a 12-yard TD run. Patterson also had a 7-yard score on the game’s opening possession. He finished with 108 yards rushing and 27 more receiving.
Broncos 28, Chargers 13: Rookie Patrick Surtain II picked off Justin Herbert twice, returning the second one 70 yards for a touchdown and sparking the Broncos to victory.
Surtain’s first interception came in the end zone on a pass intended for tight end Jared Cook early in the fourth quarter. The Broncos converted that takeaway into a TD when Teddy Bridgewater hit Eric Saubert from 9 yards to make it 21-7.
His second one came off the hands of Austin Ekeler, who watched helplessly as Surtain cradled his second interception and sprinted down the Broncos’ jubilant sideline to push the lead to 28-7.
Packers 36, Rams 28: Aaron Rodgers withstood pain from a toe injury, threw two touchdown passes and also ran for a score in the Packers’ win.
The Rams outscored Green Bay 11-0 in the fourth quarter, but their comeback attempt ended when Adrian Amos recovered an onside kick with 17 seconds left.
Rodgers went 28 of 45 for 307 yards as the Packers bounced back from a 34-31 loss at Minnesota. The reigning MVP threw touchdown passes of 7 yards to Randall Cobb and 5 yards to A.J. Dillon. Rodgers, who didn’t practice all week, says he has a fracture of his pinky toe.
49ers 34, Vikings 26: Deebo Samuel ran for two touchdowns before leaving with an injury and Elijah Mitchell ran for 133 yards and a score, leading San Francisc over Minnesota.
The matchup between two .500 teams fighting for wild-card spots was a highly entertaining one with six scores in the third quarter alone, including a 99-yard kickoff return score by Minnesota’s Kene Nwangwu.
But the 49ers made just enough plays, including a fourth-down stop near the goal line midway through the fourth quarter to win their third straight following a stretch of five losses in six games.