Garrett leads surging Browns pastCowboys
Baker Mayfield and Myles Garrett each had a homecoming gift waiting when Cleveland visited Dallas in their home state Sunday.
For Mayfield, it was a porous Cowboys pass defense that was poor against the run as well. For Garrett, it was an undrafted rookie right tackle who was overmatched against the star defensive end.
Mayfield threw for two touchdowns, one of which was set up when Garrett had a strip sack for the third straight game, and the Browns held on for a 4938 victory over the Cowboys to improve to 3-1 for the first time since 2001.
Jarvis Landry had his first career touchdown pass in the receiver’s 100th career game, a 37-yard toss to Odell Beckham Jr. in Beckham’s first multi-TD game with the Browns.
Beckham finished with his first threescore game in nearly five years, capped by a 50-yard run on a reverse after the Cowboys had cut a 41-14 deficit to three points with less than four minutes remaining. He had five catches for 81 yards and two scores.
The Browns added an inadvertent 2-point conversion after Beckham’s third TD when a blocked PAT was touched by the Cowboys and recovered in the end zone by Cleveland.
The Browns ran for 307 yards and three touchdowns despite losing lead back Nick Chubb to a knee injury in the first quarter.
Dak Prescott had his first 500-yard game, finishing with 502 yards passing, and became the first NFL player to throw for at least 450 yards in three consecutive games.
Buccaneers 38, Chargers 31: Tom Brady threw for 369 yards and five touchdowns, all to different receivers, helping the Tampa Bay rally from a 17-point deficit to beat Los Angeles.
Brady shrugged off throwing an early interception returned for a touchdown and the Bucs (3-1) won their third straight to stay in first place in the NFC South.
Mike Evans, Scotty Miller, O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate and rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn caught scoring passes from Brady, who threw four of them after falling behind 24-7 in the second quarter.
Ravens 31, Washington 17: Lamar Jackson ran for a 50-yard touchdown and threw for two scores in a bounce-back performance by the reigning NFL MVP and Baltimore, which took control early and beatWashington.
Coming off a humbling loss to Kansas City on Monday night, the Ravens (3-1) built a 21-10 halftime lead before opening the third quarter with a drive that ended with Mark Andrews’ second touchdown catch.
Jackson’s numbers weren’t big, but he managed the Baltimore offense as required while completing 14 of 21 passes for 193 yards. His 50-yard TD dash in the second quarter was the longest of his career, topping a 47-yarder last year against Cincinnati.
Saints 35, Lions 29: Drew Brees threw two touchdown passes to Tre’Quan Smith 2:19 apart in the second quarter, helping short-handed New Orleans overcome a 14-point deficit and beat Detroit.
New Orleans started the game without six injured starters after a short night of rest. The Saints had a player test falsely positive for the coronavirus Saturday, according to a person familiar with the situation, leading to another round of tests for players and staff overnight in the Motor City.
The Saints sealed the win with Brees converting a third-and-5 from his 27 with a 19-yard pass to Smith and Alvin Kamara running for 5 yards on third-and-3 from midfield.
Bengals 33, Jaguars 25: Joe Mixon ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns and caught Joe Burrow’s pass for another score as Cincinnati rolled
up 505 yards to beat Jacksonville.
The Bengals (1-2-1) worked around their recent offensive line problems and Mixon broke through with his first big game of the season, which opened up the field for Burrow to hit some big passes. The Heisman Trophy-winning rookie was sharp again, throwing for 300 yards and the touchdown to Mixon.
The Jags added a field goal with 8 seconds left, but the ensuing onside kick was unsuccessful.
Seahawks 31, Dolphins 23: RussellWilson threw for 360 yards and two touchdowns as Seattle beat Miami.
The Seahawks (4-0) have scored 30 or more points in four consecutive games for the first time since 2015.
Seattle forced Miami to settle for five field goals before the Dolphins finally reached the end zone in the final minutes.
Wilson, who went 24 for 34, tied Peyton Manning’s record of 15 touchdown passes in the first four games of a season. Manning did it 2013.
Vikings 31, Texans 23: Dalvin Cook ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns and Minnesota withstood a late rally from winless Houston.
The Texans cut the lead to 8 when Deshaun Watson connected with Kenny Stills on a 24-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-10 with about six minutes remaining.
Houston’s defense got a stop andWill Fuller made an acrobatic one-handed catch on fourth down for what was initially ruled a touchdown with about a minute left. But after a review it was determined that the ball hit the ground before Fuller gained control, and Minnesota (1-3) ran out the clock from there.
Panthers 31, Cardinals 21: Teddy Bridgewater threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score, and Carolina beat Arizona.
The Panthers scored touchdowns on their first four trips inside the Cardinals’ 20-yard line to build a 28-7 lead one week after settling for five short field goals in a 21-16 victory over the Chargers.
Mike Davis, filling in for the injured Christian McCaffrey, had 111 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. Reggie Bonnafon and Ian Thomas caught short TD tosses from Bridgewater and Robby Anderson had eight catches for 99 yards.
Indianapolis 19, Chicago 11: Philip Rivers threw a touchdown pass on Indianapolis’ first possession, and the Colts shut down Nick Foles and Chicago Sunday.
After Rivers connected with Mo Alie-Cox on a 13-yard score, the NFL’s top-ranked defense took over from there. The Colts (3-1) kept the Bears (3-1) out of the end zone until Allen Robinson caught a 16-yard pass with 1:35 remaining. Indianapolis recovered the onside kick and came away with its third straight win, their best streak since beating Kansas City, Houston and Denver last October.
Julian Blackmon intercepted Nick Foles at the Indianapolis 7 early in the fourth quarter with the Colts leading by 13. And Rodrigo Blankenship kicked four field goals.