Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Steelers survive Titans rally aftermissed FG
Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes to Diontae Johnson, and the Pittsburgh Steelers remained perfect by holding off Tennessee for a 27- 24 victory Sunday in a game originally postponed when the Titans came down with the NFL’s first COVID- 19 outbreak of the season.
In amatchup of the AFC’s two remaining undefeated teams, the Titans rallied from 17 down. They failed to complete the comeback when Stephen Gostkowski, who made a 51- yarder earlier, missed from 45 yards wide right with 14 seconds left. That sent the Steelers running around the field in celebration and the Titans ( 5- 1) stunned.
The Steelers improved to 6- 0 for their best start since 1978, when Pittsburgh won its first seven on the way to the Super Bowl. This was just the fifth time undefeated teams had met in Week 7 or later, and the winner of the previous four all made the Super Bowl.
Benny Snell Jr. added a 1- yard TD run and Ray- Ray McCloud set up a touchdown with a 57- yard punt return.
Pittsburgh outgained Tennessee 362- 292 and held the NFL’s second- best scoring offense under 31 points for the first time since the opening week of the season. LIONS 23, FALCONS 22 » Detroit let Atlanta score a touchdown. It worked — and the Falcons found another stunning way to lose.
Matthew Stafford connected with T. J. Hockenson on an 11- yard touchdown pass as time expired andMatt Prater booted a 48yard extra point to give Detroit the improbable victory. The Lions ( 3- 3) won their second in a row — their first winning streak since early in the 2019 season.
Trailing 16- 14, the Falcons ( 1- 6) were positioned to run down the clock and kick a chip- shot field goal for the win when they picked up a first down at the Lions 10 with just over a minute remaining.
Detroit had used up all its timeouts on the drive, so there was no further way to stop the clock. Knowing their only chance was to allow a quick TD, the Lions made no attempt to stop Todd Gurley after he took a handoff from Matt Ryan. BUCCANEERS45, RAIDERS20 » TomBrady threwfour touchdown passes to move past Drew Brees for the most in NFL history and ran for another to leadTampaBay past Las Vegas.
Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski in the second quarter and on a perfectly placed 33- yarder to Scotty Miller later in the first half. He then helped seal the game with the throw to Chris Godwin that put the Bucs ( 5- 2) up 31- 20 midway through the fourth quarter.
Brady added a fourth to rookie Tyler Johnson with 3: 08 to play to give him 559 in his career, passing Brees for the most ever. Brees threw two earlier in the day for New Orleans. BROWNS 37, BENGALS 34 » Baker Mayfield overcame a
terrible start to throw for five touchdowns, including a 24- yard go- ahead score to Donovan Peoples- Jones with 15 seconds left, and Cleveland outdueled Cincinnati.
Nursing sore ribs, Mayfield started 0 for 5 — including an interception on his first attempt of the game. He then completed 22 of his next 23 passes. The last was the leaping grab by PeopleJones to win it for the Browns ( 5- 2). SAINTS 27, PANTHERS 24 » Drew Brees passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns without two top receivers and rushed for another score to lead New Orleans past Carolina.
The Panthers had driven across midfield in the final minutes when Marcus Davenport’s sack of Teddy Bridgewater led coach Matt Rhule to sendout kicker Joey Slye for a 65- yard field goal on fourth- and- 19. The kick fell just short of the crossbar and the Saints ( 4- 2) ran out the final 1: 55 to send the Panthers ( 3- 4) to their second straight loss. CHIEFS 43, BRONCOS 16 » Kansas City didn’t need the usual heroics from Patrick Mahomes to rout Denver for its 10th straight win over its AFC West rival.
The Chiefs ( 6- 1) found other ways to dominate Denver ( 2- 4) on a snowy afternoon that began with a temperature of 14 degrees at kickoff. 49ERS 33, PATRIOTS 6 » Jeff Wilson Jr. rushed for a careerhigh three touchdowns and 112 yards before leaving with an ankle injury and San Francisco dominated New England.
Jimmy Garoppolo finished 20 of 25 for 277 yards withtwo interceptions inhis first game against his former team. San Francisco ( 43) has followed back- to- back losses with two wins and is 3- 0 on the road.
CHARGERS 39, JAGUARS 29 » Justin Herbert got his first NFL win, throwing for 347 yards and three touchdowns aswell as running for a score as Los Angeles beat Jacksonville to snap a four- game skid.
Herbert, the sixth overall pick in April’s draft, completed 27 of 43 passes. He also rushed for 66 yards, a single- game high for a Chargers QB. PACKERS 35, TEXANS 20 » Aaron Rodgers threw for 283 yards and four touchdowns Green Bay rebounded from its first loss, beating Houston.
Rodgers played a nearflawless game and tied his season high for TD passes. The performance came after he threw two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, with no TDs in a 38- 10 loss to Tampa Bay last week. BILLS 18, JETS 10 » Josh Allen and the Bills were held out of the end zone for the first time this season, but Tyler Bass tied a franchise record with six field goals and Buffalo ended a two- game skid by beatingwinlessNewYork.
Itwas the third game in 13 days for the Bills ( 5- 2), who lost to Tennessee and Kansas City before theiruglywin against the league- worst Jets ( 0- 7).