Lions, Steelers slog to 16-16 tie in a comedy of errors
Playing without star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who entered the COVID-19 protocol on Saturday night, the Steelers slotted their way to a 16-16 tie with the Detroit Lions on Sunday in an ugly nearly four-hour marathon that produced more comedy than highlights.
Mason Rudolph completed 30 of 50 passes for 242 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but struggled with consistency while making a spot start. Najee Harris ran for 105 yards and at times appeared to be Pittsburgh’s only legitimate offensive weapon as the Steelers (5-3-1) saw their four-game win streak halted in the dank mist at rainy Heinz Field.
De’Andre Swift ran for a career-high 130 yards for the Lions (0-8-1), who relied heavily on the run to avoid a ninth straight loss with quarterback Jared Goff rendered almost completely ineffective. Goff connected on 14 of 25 passes for just 114 yards.
The Steelers had one last chance as time wound down. But tight end Pat Freiermuth fumbled near the Detroit sideline with 9 seconds left.
Washington 29, Buccaneers 19: Tom Brady threw two interceptions in the first quarter as part of an implosion by the reigning Super Bowl champions, contributing to the Football Team upsetting the Buccaneers while losing former Ohio State star Chase Young to a potentially serious right knee injury.
Tampa Bay (6-3) lost a second straight game on either side of its bye week and was dealt an extra blow in the last minute when nose tackle Vita Vea was carted off with an injury on the final play of a 19-play, 80-yard drive over 10:26 that sealed the victory for Washington (3-6).
Cowboys 43, Falcons 3: Ezekiel Elliott ran for two touchdowns, and Nahshon Wright recovered a blocked punt for a score to lead host Dallas.
Plenty of things that went wrong for the Cowboys in the blowout loss to Denver that ended a six-game winning streak a week ago went right to help the NFC East leaders get back on track.
Dallas (7-2) looked much more like the NFL’s No. 1 offense with Dak Prescott throwing two TD passes to CeeDee Lamb and Elliott finishing two drives kept alive by fourth-down conversions, all before halftime1.
Prescott was 24 of 31 for 296 yards with a fourth-down rushing TD before sitting in the fourth quarter, while Ryan finished with a 21.4 rating, going 9 of 21 for 117 yards.
Bills 45, Jets 17: Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes, Buffalo ran for four scores and the Bills’ top-ranked defense intercepted Mike White four times.
It was an impressive showing for the visiting Bills (6-3), who rebounded from an embarrassing 9-6 loss at Jacksonville last week by thoroughly dominating the lowly Jets (2-7).
Allen was 21 of 28 for 366 yards with TD passes to Matt Breida and Stefon Diggs.
Titans 23, Saints 21: Ryan Tannehill ran and threw for touchdowns as Tennessee held off visiting New Orleans for an NFL-best sixth straight victory.
The Titans (8-2) are the second team in NFL history to win five straight over playoff teams from the season before, joining the 2003 Philadelphia Eagles. Tennessee improved to 7-0 overall against 2020 playoff teams this season.
The Saints (5-4) dropped their second straight since losing QB Jameis Winston to a season-ending ACL injury.
Colts 23, Jaguars 17: Jonathan Taylor rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown, Indianapolis returned a blocked punt for a score.
Indy (5-5) has won four of five to reach .500 for the first time this season.
The visiting Jaguars (2-7) have lost 12 consecutive road games and nine straight against AFC South foes.
Taylor has scored in seven straight games and posted at least 100 yards from scrimmage in each of those. He’s the fourth player during the Super Bowl era to achieve both feats and he’s tied with two-time defending NFL rushing champ Derrick Henry for the league lead with 937 yards.