’BOYS WEAK MINUS ZEKE
Dallas allows 8 sacks & does little on offense without Elliott
ATLANTA — Adrian Clayborn set an Atlanta record with six sacks, Matt Ryan threw a pair of short touchdown passes and the Falcons romped to a 27-7 victory Sunday 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 the Cowboys (5-4) sure missed Elliott, who finally began serving a sixgame suspension for allegations of domestic abuse after three legal reprieves, they really noticed the absence of left tackle Tyron Smith. He sat out the game with back and groin injuries, leaving thirdyear player Chaz Green to protect Dak Prescott’s blind side. It didn’t go well for Dallas. Beating Green time after time, Clayborn forced two fumbles , recovered one of them and surpassed the team record of five sacks, held by Chuck Smith and Hall of Famer Claude Humphrey. “We couldn’t slow them down,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “They put heat on the quarterback all day long.”
The Cowboys allowed eight sacks on the day, the most since Troy Aikman, who happened to be calling the game for Fox, was dropped for 11 sacks by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1991.
SAINTS IN 7TH HEAVEN
Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara are so in sync, the New Orleans Saints running back duo is now finishing sentences for one another.
“Listen, it’s fun whenever we’re scoring at will,” Ingram said, before sounding like Oprah on a giveaway episode following a 47-10 win over the host Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
“Drew (Brees) got a touchdown. AK (Kamara) got a touchdown. Trey (Edmunds) got a touchdown. Man, that’s what we work for, so everybody eats.”
That’s when Kamara interjected by noting to Ingram, “You don’t want to say you got three touchdowns,” before the two broke into a fit of laughter.
Ingram had 131 yards rushing and scored three times, and the Saints won their seventh straight in producing one of the most prolific running performances in franchise history. The six touchdowns rushing set a franchise record, and New Orleans’ 298 yards rushing were the third highest in team history.
NOT A BURFICT DAY
Vontaze Burfict pleaded his case to Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis. Then the linebacker, who has been among the NFL’s most suspended and penalized players, finally headed to the locker room.
Burfict talked with some fans, raised both arms over his head and even jumped to high-five a fan at the tunnel.
Another week, another Cincinnati player ejected. This time in a game where the
Bengals scratched three defensive starters before kickoff with Burfict’s ejection for pushing an official’s arm making it four. Add two turnovers and 12 penalties for 84 yards, and the Bengals lost 24-20 to the host Tennessee Titans on Sunday in a loss they can blame on a lack of discipline.
MAKING HIS CASE TO STICK
When Case Keenum sat down at his locker, Teddy Bridgewater flashed a smile and said he was talking trash about his fellow Vikings quarterback.
Bridgewater had nothing but glowing reviews of Keenum, who has led Minnesota on a five-game winning streak to sit atop the NFC North at 7-2. But now that Bridgewater is healthy and active 14 1/2 months after a career-threatening knee injury, coach Mike Zimmer has a decision to make at the QB position.
He’s not ready to reveal anything just yet.
“I’ve got a plan, and we’ll just see how it goes,” Zimmer said after a 38-30 win over the host Redskins. “Sometimes plans change but we’ll see how it goes. We’ll sit down this week and we’ll visit about it and kind of go from there.”
LAMBO LEAP
Josh Lambo made a 30-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining in overtime, giving the host Jacksonville Jaguars a 20-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Adrian Phillips tipped Lambo’s kick at the line of scrimmage, but it still cleared the crossbar. The former Chargers kicker ran the other way and took a soccer slide near midfield before getting mobbed by teammates.
BEN & STEELERS SURVIVE
Ben Roethlisberger’s old game plan still works.
Pittsburgh’s quarterback kept taking shots, and eventually the Steelers’ playmakers broke through.
Roethlisberger threw two second-half touchdown passes to erase a 14-point deficit and then hooked up with Antonio Brown on a 32-yard completion with 35 seconds left to set up Chris Boswell’s 33yard field goal as time expired for a 20-17 victory at Indianapolis.
NOTHING NEW FOR BROWNS
Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson had two goals in his post-game news conference at Ford Field.
He wasn’t going to let rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer take any of the blame for Cleveland’s 38-24 loss to the Detroit Lions, and he wasn’t going to talk about moral victories.
“We lost the game,” Jackson said. “I came here to turn this franchise around. I didn’t come here for us to play better or to compliment anyone for working hard.
“I came here to win, and we’re 0-9.”
RAMS KEEP ROLLING
Robert Woods caught two of Jared Goff’s three touchdown passes during a dominant third quarter, and the surging Los Angeles Rams returned after a month away from home for their fourth straight victory, 33-7 over depleted Houston.
After struggling to a 9-7 lead during a quiet first half for the NFL’s highest-scoring team, the Rams (7-2) ran away with a series of big throws by Goff, who passed for a career-high 355 yards. —AP