Saints answer call in Rams’ first loss
Michael Thomas caught a 72yard touchdown and celebrated with a cellphone in a throwback to another famous play, and the streaking Saints handed the Rams their first loss of the season 45-35.
Drew Brees passed for 346 yards and four touchdowns in the Saints’ seventh straight win, and Thomas finished with a club-record 211 yards receiving. But what happened after their last connection of the day stole the show.
Thomas’ long score came on a pivotal third-down play with about four minutes to go, when he caught Brees’ long throw virtually in stride and ran straight to the goalpost, where he got out an old-school flip phone — reminiscent of Joe Horn’s Sunday night touchdown celebration in 2003.
Like Horn, Thomas was penalized, but the Rams never threatened after that. Chiefs 37, Browns 21: Patrick Mahomes passed for 375 yards and threw three touchdown passes — two to Travis Kelce. Mahomes, who made just one start as a rookie, has 29 touchdown passes and 3,185 yards, the most by a QB through 10 games since 1950. Steelers 23, Ravens 16: Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes, ran for a score and put up an unexpected left-footed punt as the Steelers won their fourth straight.
Vikings 24, Lions 9: Danielle Hunter had 31⁄2 of the Vikings’ franchiserecord 10 sacks and a fourthquarter fumble return for a touchdown. Hunter also was credited with nine tackles and four quarterback hits.
Chargers 25, Seahawks 17: Philip Rivers made his 200th consecutive start and threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, while Melvin Gordon ran for 113 yards as the Chargers won their fifth straight.
Bears 41, Bills 9: Jordan Howard
scored two touchdowns and the Bears’ defense had two others. Eddie Jackson scored on a 65-yard fumble return and Leonard Floyd returned a tipped pass 19 yards for another score 31⁄2 minutes apart in the second quarter.
Falcons 38, Redskins 14: Julio Jones ended his 12-game touchdown drought, Matt Ryan threw for 350 yards and four scores and the Falcons extended their winning streak to three games.
Texans 19, Broncos 17: Brandon McManus missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired, and the Texans won their sixth straight as the Broncos lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Patriots 31, Packers 17: Tom Brady threw for 294 yards with a touchdown and James White ran for two scores to spark the home team to victory. Aaron Rodgers completed 24 of 43 passes and two touchdowns in his second career matchup with Brady. It was 17-all late in the third quarter when Aaron Jones fumbled for Green Bay. New England receiver Julian Edelman hit White on a 37-yard catch-andrun to set up White’s second score, a 1-yard run. On the Patriots’ next possession, Brady connected with Josh Gordon for a 55-yard TD. Gordon caught four passes for 115 yards, the 12th 100-yard receiving game of his career.