Thomas wins homecoming as Texans edge Broncos
DENVER >> Brandon McManus missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired, leaving Demaryius Thomas a winner in his homecoming as the Houston Texans escaped Denver with a 19-17 win over the Broncos Sunday.
The Texans (6-3) won their sixth straight, and the Broncos (3-6) lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Thomas finished with three receptions for 61 yards, but two of them were back-to-back for 31 and 18 yards on the Texans’ opening touchdown drive. CHARGERS 25, SEAHAWKS
17>> Philip Rivers made his
200th consecutive start and kept Los Angeles surging at the midpoint of the season, surviving a late rally by Seattle’s Russell Wilson.
Rivers threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, Melvin Gordon added 113 yards rushing and the Chargers won their fifth straight. STEELERS 23, RAVENS 16 >> James Conner rushed for
107 yards and caught a TD pass for the Steelers (5-2-1), who have won four straight since falling to the Ravens at home Sept. 30.
Roethlisberger went 28 for 47 for 270 yards. His
1-yard run put Pittsburgh up 20-6 in the third quarter, and the 36-year-old showed his grit by missing only one play after being flattened during a sprint from the pocket with just over 13 minutes left. 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 Kansas City’s impossible-to-handle offense kept rolling with a win over the Browns, who played their first game since coach Hue Jackson’s firing. VIKINGS 24, LIONS 9 >> Danielle Hunter had 3½ 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.
Hunter, the fourth-year defensive end, also was credited with nine tackles and four quarterback hits as the Vikings (5-3-1) limited the Lions to 214 total 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 the Dolphins beat the Jets.
Darnold threw four interceptions and took four sacks, and the Jets went 2 for 13 on third down. BEARS 41, BILLS 9 >> Jordan Howard scored two touchdowns and the Bears’ defense had two others in a win over the Bills in what proved to be another comedy of errors for Buffalo and its anemic offense.
Eddie Jackson scored on a 65-yard fumble return and Leonard Floyd returned a tipped pass 19 yards for another score some 3 ½ minutes apart in the second quarter. Howard, set up by Tarik Cohen’s
38-yard punt return , then scored on an 18-yard scamper to cap a run in which the Bears scored four touchdowns over a span of 12 minutes, 20 seconds in the second quarter.
FALCONS 38, REDSKINS 14 >> Julio Jones ended his 12game touchdown drought, Matt Ryan threw for 350 yards and four scores and the Atlanta Falcons flexed their offensive muscles with a blowout of the Redskins that extended their winning streak to three games.
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. After Jones twisted away from newest Washington defender Ha Ha ClintonDix and into the end zone, a swarm of teammates rushed over from the sideline to celebrate Jones’ first touchdown catch since Nov.
26, 2017.
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 Panthers built an early lead and held on to beat the Buccaneers for their 10th straight home win.