Dolphins halt Allen, beat Bills
MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. — The Miami Dolphins’ defense stopped Josh Allen and the Bills at the goal line late, then held again after punter Thomas Morstead bizarrely kicked the ball off a teammate and out of bounds for a safety in a 21-19 win over Buffalo on Sunday.
Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins improved to 3-0 in an AFC East thriller that ended with Allen and the Bills attempting to spike the ball near midfield, the clock just running out on their chance to try a long-distance, go-ahead field goal.
Tagovailoa briefly left the game in the second quarter, returning after halftime despite appearing to be disoriented by a head injury.
Miami took the lead with about 10 minutes left in the game, scoring a touchdown to go up 21-17. It was the Bills’ first deficit of the season.
Allen drove Buffalo down the field with a 17-play, eight-minute drive. Miami’s defense held, though, nearly intercepting a pass and forcing a turnover on downs from the 2-yard line.
Tagovailoa and the Dolphins went three-and-out, leaving little room for Morstead to try punting out of the end zone. His kick hit blocker Trent Sherfield in the backside and caromed out of bounds, a play immediately dubbed the “butt punt” on social media.
Ravens 37, Patriots 26: Lamar Jackson threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead the Ravens.
New England’s Mac Jones suffered a leg injury with less than two minutes to play, hopping off the field and heading straight to the locker room. He completed 22 of 32 passes for 321 yards but threw three interceptions.
Eagles 24, Commanders 8: DeVonta Smith caught eight passes from Jalen Hurts for a career-high 169 yards and a touchdown, Carson Wentz flopped in his first game against the team that drafted him and the Eagles routed the Commanders.
His 156 yards were the most by an Eagles player in a half since Kevin Curtis in 2007.
Vikings 28, Lions 24: Kirk Cousins connected with a wide-open K.J. Osborn for the go-ahead, 28-yard touchdown with 45 seconds remaining for the the Vikings.
Osborn blew by former Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes on a corner route to snag the in-stride pass and cruise across the goal line to give Minnesota (2-1) the lead for the first time.
Colts 20, Chiefs 17: Matt Ryan threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jelani Woods with 24 seconds left Sunday to give the Colts a comeback victory.
Ryan earned his first win with the Colts in their home opener by hooking up with Woods for both Indianapolis touchdowns, one week after they were shut out at Jacksonville.
Panthers 22, Saints 14: Laviska Shenault caught a 67-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield, Marquis Haynes returned a fumble 44 yards for a touchdown and the Panthers snapped a nine-game losing streak.
Mayfield threw for 170 yards and Christian McCaffrey ran for 108 for the Panthers (1-2).
Titans 24, Raiders 22:
Ryan Tannehill threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score as the Titans notched their first victory this season.
Derrick Henry also ran for 85 yards and a touchdown. Henry also added 58 yards more receiving as the Titans (1-2) avoided their worst start since 2009 when they lost the first six games that season.
The Raiders (0-3) are off to their worst start since 2018.
Bears 23, Texans 20:
Roquan Smith set up Cairo Santos’ game-ending field goal when he intercepted Davis Mills deep in Houston territory, and the Bears beat former coach Lovie Smith.
Khalil Herbert ran for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago.