Allen, Buffalo avert catasrophe
QB saves the day after Bills squander huge lead to Rams
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen completed a 3yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Kroft with 15 seconds remaining, and Buffalo survived to beat Los Angeles 35-32 on Sunday after squandering a 25point lead.
The Rams (2-1) were poised to match the thirdlargest comeback in NFL regular season history after Jared Goff led the team to touchdowns on four straight drives, capped by Darrell Henderson's 1-yard run with 4:30 remaining.
Allen responded by marching the Bills (3-0) on an 11-play, 75-yard drive, which was extended by a pass interference penalty against Darious Williams on fourth-and-7 from the Rams 12. Williams interfered with intended receiver Gabriel Davis at the 3.
One play later, Allen rolled to his left and lobbed a pass over a Rams defender. Kroft made a leaping catch and secured the ball before tumbling to the ground, his second TD of the game.
Allen finished with four touchdown passes and scored on a 1-yard run. The third-year starter, however, contributed to the Rams' comeback bid, with an interception and a lost fumble leading to Los Angeles touchdown drives.
Bengals 23, Eagles 23: Joe Burrow tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Tee Higgins in regulation and Carson Wentz dove into the end zone for the tying score in the final minute as Cincinnati and Philadelphia played to a tie.
Philadelphia's Jake Elliott lined up for a 59-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in overtime, but a false start on Matt Pryor forced the Eagles to punt it away and play for the tie.
Both teams are 0-2-1. Facing an 0-3 start for the first time since 1999, Wentz drove the Eagles 75 yards in the final three minutes. He barreled 9 yards on thirdand-6 to the Bengals 19 and then ran in from 7 with a head-first dive into the end zone. Elliott's extra point tied it with 21 seconds left.
Neither team could do anything in overtime.
Titans 31, Vikings 30: Stephen Gostkowski made his career-high sixth field goal of game, a 55-yarder with 1:48 left that lifted undefeated Tennessee past Minnesota.
Derrick Henry rushed for 119 yards and two thirdquarter touchdowns for the Titans, who improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2008 after trailing for most of the game. Ryan Tannehill passed for 321 yards, guiding the Titans on a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter or overtime for the sixth time in 16 games since becoming the starter.
The Titans are 12-4 behind Tannehill, including the playoffs, and they're 15-0 when Henry hits the 100-yard mark.
Dalvin Cook rushed for a career-high 181 yards and a score for the Vikings, who are 0-3 for the first time since 2013.
49ers 36, Giants 9: Nick Mullens threw for 343 yards and a touchdown to lead San Francisco to its second win at MetLife Stadium in as many weeks, this time over the error-prone and winless New York Giants.
Jerick McKinnon, Brandon Aiyuk and Jeff Wilson scored on runs on a nearly flawless day for the Niners (2-1), who stayed in West Virginia to prep for the game. Robbie Gould added three field goals for San Francisco, which last week beat the Jets 31-13 and denied Giants coach Joe Judge a chance for his first win this week.
Steelers 28, Texans 21: James Conner ran for 109 yards and the go-ahead touchdown midway through the fourth quarter as Pittsburgh rallied past Houston.
The Steelers improved to 3-0 for the first time in a decade by putting the clamps on the Texans (0-3) in the second half. Houston managed just 51 yards and two first downs after halftime as an early 11-point lead vanished.
Houston started with the same mark in 2018 and rallied to win the AFC South.
Patriots 36, Raiders 20: Bill Belichick became the third coach in NFL history to reach 275 regular-season victories and Rex Burkhead scored three touchdowns to lead New England past Las Vegas.
Belichick joined George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328) as the only coaches to reach the milestone.
Sony Michel finished with nine carries for 117 yards. Burkhead had two rushing scores and an 11yard TD reception.
Cam Newton was 17 of 28 passing for 162 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Shilique Calhoun had two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for a score.
Browns 34, Washington Football Team 20: Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes, Nick Chubb ran for two more and Cleveland beat the Washington Football Team to move over .500 for the first time since 2014.
Washington lost rookie defensive end Chase Young to a groin injury.
With their second straight win under first-year coach Kevin Stefanski, the Browns are 2-1 for the first time since 2011. It's also the first time they've had a winning record since Week 14 in 2014.
Colts 36, Jets 7: Xavier Rhodes and T.J. Carrie each returned an interception for a touchdown, Indianapolis recorded its second safety in as many weeks and Rivers added his 400th career TD pass as the Colts routed the New York Jets. It's the first time since October 1970 the Colts returned two INTs for scores in one game. The last time it happened also came against the Jets.
Phillip Rivers was 17 of 21 with 217 yards and played his first turnover-free game since joining Indy (2-1). He became the sixth player in league history to throw 400 career TD passes and the sixth to top 60,000 yards. He also passed Hall of Famer Dan Marino for fifth all-time in completions and broke a tie with Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton for eighth in league history with his 125th career win.
Seahawks 38, Cowboys 31: DK Metcalf made up for a huge first-half blunder by catching a 29-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson with 1:47 remaining, and the Seattle Seahawks held off the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Wilson threw five touchdown passes, setting a record for most scoring passes in the first three games of a season with 14. Patrick Mahomes threw for 13 TDs in his MVP season of 2018. Wilson became the first QB to have at least four TD passes in each of the first three games.
It was Metcalf who found redemption in the closing minutes.
Metcalf appeared to have a walk-in touchdown after hauling in a deep pass from Wilson late in the first quarter. But he was careless with the ball in the final few steps before the goal line, and Dallas cornerback Trevon Diggs came up from behind and knocked the ball free. It went out of the end zone for a touchback.
Instead of a touchdown and 16-3 lead for Seattle, it was a 62-yard reception and a forgettable moment.
Metcalf was mostly quiet after his mistake as Tyler Lockett became the favorite target for Wilson. But when Seattle needed a big play late, Wilson floated a pass into the end zone and allowed Metcalf to run underneath it for the deciding touchdown.
Buccaneers 28, Broncos 10: Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes and Shaq Barrett celebrated his homecoming with a pair of sacks, one for a safety, in Tampa Bay's victory over the winless Denver Broncos on Sunday.
With his first road win for the Bucs (2-1), Brady evened his career record against the Broncos at 9-9 with just his fifth win in a dozen trips to Denver.
Before Sunday, the Broncos were the only team in the NFL with a winning record against the six-time Super Bowl champion.
This also marked the first time since in almost a decade — Nov. 14-21, 2010 — that the Buccaneers won back-to-back games by 14 or more points.
Panthers 21, Chargers 16: Carolina's defense forced three Los Angeles turnovers, Joey Slye kicked five field goals and the Panthers beat the Chargers on Sunday, giving coach Matt Rhule his first NFL victory.
The Panthers had not recorded a sack and allowed 65 points in their first two games but looked like a different unit. They sacked Justin Herbert twice and converted three turnovers into 12 points.
Teddy Bridgewater was 22 of 28 for 235 yards and a touchdown in his first win with Carolina (1-2).
Lions 26, Cardinals 23: Matt Prater made a 39-yard field goal as time expired, Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes and the Detroit Lions snapped an 11-game losing streak dating to last season by beating the Arizona Cardinals.
The Lions looked like they would take the lead with about two minutes left when Stafford completed a spectacular deep pass to Marvin Hall at the 1-yard line, but the play was called back when offensive lineman Halapoulivaati Vaitai was flagged for holding.
In the end, it didn't matter. Stafford calmly led the Lions downfield, Prater connected on his fourth field goal of the afternoon and the Lions finally got to celebrate a victory.
It was Prater's 15th gamewinning kick with less than 2 minutes to play in the fourth quarter or in overtime.