Interceptions help visiting Jags beat Steelers
Jacksonville’s Telvin Smith and Barry Church returned a pair of Ben Roethlisberger’s interceptions for touchdowns as the visiting Jaguars stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-9 on Sunday.
Jacksonville (3-2) beat the Steelers (3-2) for the first time in adecadeby relying heavily on theNFL’s top-ranked pass defense. The Jaguars picked Roethlisberger off five times in all and sacked him twice. Rookie Leonard Fournette ran for 181 yards and two TDs for the Jaguars, who are over .500 after five games for the first time since 2010 and have already matched their victory total from2016.
Roethlisberger completed 33 of 55 for 312 yards and his career-high five interceptions, the most by a Pittsburgh QB since Mark Malone threw five against Cleveland in 1987. Steelers WR An t o n i o B rown caught 10 passes for 157 yards. Brown was also the intended receiver on a pair of third-quarter passes the Jaguars turned into points.
The Steelers led 9-7when Roethlisberger looked left for Brown. Jacksonville defensive lineman Abry Jones tipped it into the hands of Smith, whochugged28 yards to put Jacksonville in front with 6:38 left in the period.
TheJaguars defense struck again on Pittsburgh’s next series. Roethlisberger tried to hit Brown down the sideline. Jalen Ramsey deflected it and Church came down with it. A 51-yard sprint later and Jacksonville had turned a two-point deficit into an 11-point lead without taking an offensive snap.
Panthers 27, Lions 24: Cam Newton threw three TDs to help Carolina build a lead big enough to hold off Detroit for a road win.
The Panthers (4-1) scored 24 straight points after trailing 10-3 in the second quarter. Detroit rallied, but could not stop Newton on his last drive to get the ball back.
Newton was 26 of 33 for a season-high 335 yards. On perhaps the game’s key play, he converted a third-and-19 from the Carolina 24 with a sharp, 17-yard pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 2:00 left while clinging to a threepoint lead.
Newton threw a 6-yard TD pass to rookie Christian McCaffreytopullthePanthers into a 10-10 tie early in the secondquarter and a 10-yard pass to Devin Funchess for a tiebreaking score in the first half. Detroit (3-2) struggled to move the ball until late.
Eagles 34, Cardinals 7: CarsonWentz threwa careerbest four touchdown passes and the Eagles continued their impressive start with a home win over the Cardinals. The Eagles (4-1) have won three straight games. Arizona fell to 2-3.
Dolphins 16, Titans 10: Jay Cutler finally silenced the boobirds with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass, and Miami overcame another dismal offensive showing to beat visiting Tennessee.
The crowd was chanting for backup quarterbackMatt Moore, but Dolphins coach Adam Gase stuck with Cutler, who capped a 58-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry for the tiebreaking score. The Titans played without quarterbackMarcusMariota, whowas inactive because of a hamstring injury. Matt Casselwent 21 for 32 for 141 yards and was sacked six times.
The Dolphins improved to 2-2while the Titans fell to 2-3.
Chargers 27, Giants 22: Philip Rivers threwa 10-yard TD pass to Melvin Gordon with 2:58 to play and Los Angeles rallied to win a game between two teams that started the season 0-4.
The touchdown passwas Rivers’ third of the game and came four plays after Odell Beckham Jr. hurt an ankle andbecome the fourth Giants receiver knocked out of the game.
Rivers also hitGordonona 6-yardTDpass in the second quarter and had a 25-yarder toHunterHenry in the third as the Chargersendeda ninegame losing streak.
Colts 26, 49ers 23, OT: After Indianapolis blew a 14-point lead in the final eight minutes of regulation and survived an interception in scoring position during overtime, MarlonMack’s 35-yard run set up Adam Vinatieri for a 51-yard field goal that beat San Francisco. Vinatieri madefourfield goals tomove into second on the NFL’s career list, one ahead of Gary Anderson (538). Mack and Jacoby Brissett each scored onTDruns for theColts (2-3). San Francisco (0-5) is one of three teams that still has not won this season.