New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Depleted Eagles’ comeback falls just short
The Ravens got the stop they needed against a depleted Eagles offense that staged an impressive comeback.
L.J. Fort and Matthew Judon tackled Carson Wentz on a 2-point conversion attempt with 1:55 remaining and Baltimore held on for a 30-28 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday.
“These are the type of games that build championship chemistry,” said Calais Campbell, who had three sacks.
“In the moment, when it really mattered, them going for 2, we showed up and made the play when it counted.”
Lamar Jackson threw a touchdown pass, ran for 108 yards and one score and sent the Ravens (5-1) to their third straight win.
“It’s a win that we’re very, very happy to have,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I’m proud of our guys for winning the fight at the end. We’re not going to be happy with certain things. We have to execute better on both sides. We can’t give up big plays. We’ve got to get them stopped.”
The Eagles cut it to 30-22 when Wentz danced and heaved an 18-yard TD pass to Travis Fulgham into triple coverage on fourth-and-9. He hit J.J. Arcega-Whiteside on the 2-point conversion.
Philadelphia’s defense forced a punt and got the ball with a chance to tie. A 49-yard pass interference penalty on Marcus Peters against Fulgham put the ball at the Ravens 22. Wentz scored a few plays later, but couldn’t get in the end zone to tie it on the conversion.
Pittsburgh 38, Cleveland 7: James Conner ran for 101 yards and a touchdown and the Steelers battered the Browns on Sunday to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1978. Ben Roethlisberger added 162 yards passing and a score.
Pittsburgh emphatically ended Cleveland’s four-game winning streak and extended the Browns’ skid at Heinz Field to 17 and counting.
The Browns (4-2) were unable to get anything going against a defense that sacked aching Baker Mayfield four times, picked him off twice and chased him late in the third quarter with the game out of reach. The NFL’s top rushing offense managed 75 yards on the ground — 113 below its season average.
Tennessee 42, Houston 36 OT:
Derrick Henry took a direct snap and ran 5 yards for a touchdown 3:30 into overtime and the Titans remained undefeated.
The Titans (5-0) overcame two turnovers, Stephen Gostkowski having a field goal blocked and missing another, and the defense giving up 335 yards passing and four touchdown passes to DeshaunWatson.
Watson’s final TD pass put Houston (1-5) up 36-29 with 1:50 left, but a 2-point conversion attempt failed.
Ryan Tannehill, who had three of his 19 career game-winning drives to start this season, drove the Titans 76 yards before finding A.J. Brown on a 6-yard TD pass with 4 seconds left. Gostkowski made the extra point.
Chicago 23, Carolina 16: Nick Foles threw for one touchdown and ran for another, Chicago’s defense forced three turnovers and sacked Teddy Bridgewater four times.
Foles finished with 198 yards passing and a touchdown and David Montgomery added 58 yards on the ground as the Bears (5-1) opened the season 3-0 on the road for the first time since 2006, when they reached the Super Bowl.
Indianapolis 31, Cincinnati 27: After trailing 21-0, Philip Rivers rallied the Colts with three touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score on the first play of the fourth quarter. It equaled the largest comeback in the franchise’s regularseason history. None of the previous four came at home, and the last time Indianapolis (4-2) achieved the feat came in 2003 at Tampa Bay. Only a 28-point comeback in the 2013 playoffs against Kansas City was a larger margin.
Rivers was sensational. He wound up 29 of 44 with 371 yards, one interception, and threw the go-ahead 14-yard score to Jack Doyle. Rodrigo Sanchez added a 40-yard field goal and Julian Blackmon picked off Joe Burrow with 39 seconds left to seal it.
Atlanta 40, Minnesota 21: Julio Jones returned from injury to catch two of Matt Ryan’s four touchdown passes, as the Falcons got their first victory of the season — one week after the firing of head coach Dan Quinn.
Kirk Cousins threw three interceptions in the first half for the first time in his career, and the Falcons (1-5) turned those picks into 17 points to build a 20-0 lead at the break.
The depleted Vikings (1-5) surrendered 40-plus points for the second time this year after going five straight seasons without any such games.
Detroit 34, Jacksonville 16: Rookie D’Andre Swift ran for a career-high 116 yards and two touchdowns, and Matthew Stafford got an elusive TD pass against the only team he hadn’t thrown one against in 12 NFL seasons.
Detroit (2-3) made this one look easy, somewhat surprising considering the Lions had lost six straight in which they led by double digits. They’ve already done it three times this season, collapsing in losses to Chicago, Green Bay and New Orleans.
Tampa Bay 38, Green Bay 10: Tom Brady outplayed Aaron Rodgers in a rare meeting between the Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers erased an early double-digit deficit to rout the previously unbeaten Green Bay Packers 38-10 on Sunday.
It was the 43-year-old Brady’s first signature victory since signing with the Bucs (4-2) after a historic 20-year run with the New England Patriots, which included nine NFL title game appearances and six championships.
He got his favorite target from his days with the Patriots into the mix, throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski for a 28-10 halftime lead. It was Gronkowski’s first TD since December 2018 and the 79th for the quarterback/ tight end tandem — tied for fourth on the all-time list with Miami’s Dan Marino and Mark Clayton.