Saints rally to beat Redskins in OT
The New Orleans Saints extended their winning streak to eight games with an unlikely comeback, erasing a 15-point deficit inside the final six minutes or regulation and kicking a short field goal in overtime to defeat the Washington Redskins 34-31 on Sunday.
Mark Ingram capped a 131-yard rushing performance with gains of 20 and 31 yards on back-toback carries in overtime to set up Wil Lutz’s winning 28-yard kick.
Drew Brees passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns, going 11 of 11 for 164 yards and his only two touchdowns on New Orleans’ final two possessions of regulation. His first TD went to tight end Josh Hill with 2:53 to go and the last to Alvin Kamara with 1:05 left.
The Saints (8-2) set up their final drive with by stopping Samaje Perine on third-and-1 at the two-minute warning when a first down would have allowed Washington (4-6) to run out the clock.
After Kamara had corralled a bobble while running between two converging defenders to score from 18 yards out, he took a pitch to the left side and easily reached the end zone for a 2-point conversion as the Superdome crowd — at least the remnants that hadn’t left early — went wild.
Washington managed to get into winning field-goal range in the final minute of regulation, only to be pushed back by a fluky grounding penalty that appeared to result from Kirk Cousins’ miscommunication with a receiver, followed by a sack as time expired.
The Redskins gained 456 yards — their second-most this season — against a Saints defense that had not allowed more 347 yards in any game during New Orleans’ winning streak.
Vikings 24, Rams 7: Latavius Murray rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns, Adam Thielen turned a short catch into a 65-yard score and the Vikings smothered the NFL’s highest-scoring offense.
Case Keenum completed 27 of 38 passes for 280 yards and no turnovers against the team that benched him last season for No. 1 overall draft pick Jared Goff. He also guided the Vikings (8-2) to their sixth straight victory in a matchup of division leaders.
Los Angeles (7-3) was trampled in the second half for 288 yards, and Keenum went without a sack for the sixth game this season.
Bucs 30, Dolphins 20: Patrick Murray kicked a 35-yard field goal with four seconds remaining and the Bucs snapped a sixgame road slide by topping the penalty-prone Dolphins.
O.J. Howard and DeSean Jackson caught those scoring throws for the Buccaneers, who outscored Miami 17-0 in the second quarter.
They also stuffed three straight 1-yard-to-go runs by the Dolphins at the Tampa Bay 34 in the fourth quarter, forcing a turnover on downs on a day where Miami had more mistakes than points.
Miami (5-5) tied the game at 20-20 on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Matt Moore to Kenny Stills with 3 minutes left. Fitzpatrick coolly moved the Buccaneers 58 yards on the ensuing drive, and Murray delivered what essentially was the winner.
Moore had replaced Jay Cutler, who is in the concussion protocol.
Lions 27, Bears 24: Matthew Stafford threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns, Matt Prater kicked a 52-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining and the Lions (6-4) held their breath as Connor Barth missed a 46-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left for the Bears (3-7).
Prater booted the winner after Stafford led a 42-yard drive to the 34. Chicago dropped its third straight even though Jordan Howard ran for 125 yards and a touchdown. Mitchell Trubisky faded after a strong start, throwing for 179 yards and a TD.
Texans 31, Cardinals 21: Rookie D’Onta Foreman ran for 65 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns before being carted off the field with an ankle injury as the Texans (4-6) snapped a three-game losing streak.
Blaine Gabbert threw for 257 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in his first start of the season for Arizona, with Drew Stanton (sprained knee) and Carson Palmer (broken arm) out. Gabbert threw interceptions on consecutive drives in the fourth quarter to doom the Cardinals (4-6).
Giants 12, Chiefs 9 (OT): Roger Lewis Jr. made a spectacular catch to set up the winning 23-yard yard goal by Aldrick Rosas in overtime.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Giants (2-8) and sent the Chiefs (6-4) to their fourth loss in five games.
The Giants scored the only touchdown to open the scoring, but missed the extra point. Six field goals ensued, and Aldras provided the margin of victory with 1:54 on the clock.