Clayborn’s sack attack lifts Falcons over Cowboys
ATLANTA — Defensive end Adrian Clayborn set an Atlanta record with six sacks, Matt Ryan threw a pair of short touchdown passes, and the Falcons on Sunday romped to a 27-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, who looked anemic offensively in their first game without suspended running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Ryan hooked up with Justin Hardy on a 3-yard pass for Atlanta’s first offensive touchdown in the third quarter this season. Early in the fourth, Ryan put the game away for the Falcons (5-4) by tossing one to Austin Hooper for a 1-yard score.
While Dallas (5-4) sure missed Elliott, who finally began serving a six-game suspension for allegations of domestic abuse after three legal reprieves, it really noticed the absence of left tackle Tyron Smith. He sat out the game with back and groin injuries, leaving third-year player Chaz Green to protect Dak Prescott’s blind side.
It didn’t go well for the Cowboys. Beating Green time after time, Clayborn forced two fumbles, recovered one of them and surpassed the team record of five sacks.
Even more impressively, Clayborn’s performance matched the second-most sacks in NFL history.
PATRIOTS 41, BRONCOS 16
Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes, and New England matched its AFC record with its 12th consecutive road victory.
These teams have represented the AFC in the last four Super Bowls, and Denver (3-6) was hoping a visit from its rival would help shake it from its funk.
Instead, the Broncos fizzled. They saw their losing streak reach five games — their longest skid in seven seasons — and they lost back-to-back games to the Patriots (7-2) in Denver for the first time since 1966.
Avoiding Von Miller all night and throwing for 266 yards on 25-of-34 passing, Brady improved to 8-9 against the Broncos, the only team against which he has a losing record.
49ERS 31, GIANTS 21
C.J. Beathard threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third score to lead San Francisco to its first win of the season at Santa Clara, Calif.
Beathard connected on an 83-yard TD to Marquise Goodwin and a 47-yarder to Garrett Celek in the second quarter as the 49ers (1-9) took advantage of another listless effort by New York (1-8) to win for the first time under coach Kyle Shanahan.
SAINTS 47, BILLS 10
Mark Ingram scored a career-best three touchdowns as New Orleans won its seventh consecutive game by plowing through a porous Buffalo defense at Orchard Park, N.Y.
Alvin Kamara also had a 3-yard touchdown rushing as the Saints blew the game open by scoring five times on their first six possessions, not including a one-play series to close the first half. Ingram finished with 131 yards rushing. He scored twice from 3 yards and again on a 1-yard plunge.
TITANS 24, BENGALS 20
Marcus Mariota tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to DeMarco Murray with 36 seconds left as Tennessee rallied to win at Nashville for its fourth consecutive victory.
It’s the longest winning streak for the Titans (6-3) since taking five in a row in 2009, and it is their best start to a season since 2008 when the Titans last reached the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
Murray ran for two touchdowns and Mariota finished with 264 yards passing.
STEELERS 20, COLTS 17
Ben Roethlisberger’s 32-yard completion to Antonio Brown with 35 seconds remaining set up a 33-yard field goal from Chris Boswell as time expired in Pittsburgh’s victory at Indianapolis.
The Steelers (7-2) have won four consecutive games and five in a row in the series.
Roethlisberger was 19of-31 passing for 236 yards with one interception.
VIKINGS 38 WASHINGTON 30
Case Keenum threw touchdowns to four receivers to build a big lead as NFC North-leading Minnesota won at Landover, Md., for its fifth consecutive victory.
With Teddy Bridgewater active for the first time since January 2016 after a devastating knee injury, Keenum was 21-of29 passing for 304 yards and TD passes to Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, David Morgan and Jarius Wright. Thielen had eight catches for a season-high 166 yards.
Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins had three TDs — two rushing and one passing — and was 26-of-45 for 327 yards with an interception.
PACKERS 23, BEARS 16
Brett Hundley threw for 212 yards and a touchdown, and Nick Perry had three sacks as Green Bay won at Chicago to snap a three-game losing streak.
Hundley, starting his third game for an injured Aaron Rodgers, threw a 17-yard touchdown to Davante Adams to make it 23-13 with 5:29 to play, and the Packers (5-4) hung on to beat the Bears (3-6) for the eighth time in nine games.
It was the first victory for a Green Bay QB not named Rodgers or Brett Favre since 1989.
JAGUARS 20, CHARGERS 17
Josh Lambo kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining in overtime to lift Jacksonville to victory over visiting Los Angeles.
Lambo’s kick got tipped at the line of scrimmage but cleared the crossbar.
The game ended up in overtime after a wacky final two minutes of regulation that included a fumble, two interceptions, a taunting penalty and a costly flag for roughing the passer.
LIONS 38, BROWNS 24
Matthew Stafford lofted a 29-yard, tie-breaking touchdown to Eric Ebron early in the fourth quarter as Detroit beat winless Cleveland at Allen Park, Mich.
The Lions (5-4) rallied from first- and second-half deficits to earn consecutive victories for the first time since winning the first two games this season. The Browns, who fell to 0-9 on the season, led 10-0 early in the game for their first double-digit lead of the season and were up 24-17 in the third after Deshone Kizer led two consecutive touchdown drives.
BUCCANEERS 15, JETS 10
Ryan Fitzpatrick led two long scoring drives, and Tampa Bay limited visiting New York to less than 200 yards of offense until late in the fourth quarter to snap a five-game losing streak.
Fitzpatrick, facing the team for which he played the past two seasons, completed 17 of 34 passes for 187 yards and was intercepted once.
Josh McCown, also facing one of his former teams, was 23-of-39 for 263 yards, one touchdown and one interception.