Taylor’s 5 TDS lift Colts to win over Bills
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Jonathan Taylor set a franchise record by scoring five times and took over the NFL lead in both yards rushing and touchdowns in the Indianapolis Colts’ 41-15 rout of the unraveling Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Taylor scored three times in the first half, including a 23-yard catch, en route to becoming the NFL’S first player with five touchdowns in in one game since New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara had six touchdowns rushing in a 52-33 win over Minnesota last Christmas Day.
The Bills (6-4), who have dropped three of five, ceded their lead atop the AFC East, falling a halfgame behind — guess who? — New England, which Buffalo will play twice over the next five weeks.
Taylor finished with a season-high 185 yards rushing and four touchdowns and has 1,122 yards this season after beginning the day tied for the league lead with the injured Derrick Henry of Tennessee. Taylor has 14 touchdowns this season, moving ahead of Arizona’s James Conner, who has 13.
The Colts (6-5) continued their roll by improving to 5-1 in their past six games.
VIKINGS 34, PACKERS 31
Greg Joseph made a 29-yard field goal as time expired to give host Minnesota
a victory over Green Bay, finishing a classic back-and-forth with Aaron Rodgers by making sure the three-time NFL MVP didn’t get to touch the ball last.
Kirk Cousins passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns for the Vikings (5-5), who watched yet another game come down to the final play after Rodgers threw three of his four touchdown passes in the second half.
Unable to practice much at all this week because of a toe injury, after missing much of the first half of the month with COVID-19, Rodgers finished 23-for-33 for a season-high 385 yards for Green Bay (8-3).
RAVENS 16, BEARS 13
Subbing for star quarterback Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley led a winning drive capped by Devonta Freeman’s 3-yard run with 22 seconds remaining and Baltimore beat host Chicago.
Jackson was sidelined by illness for the AFC North-leading Ravens (7-3), who ruled him out 90 minutes before kickoff. The 2019 MVP was a full participant in practice Friday after being held out the previous two days. Coach John Harbaugh said Wednesday the illness was not COVID-19.
Justin Tucker kicked three field goals for the Ravens, who rebounded from a loss to Miami. The Bears (3-7) lost their fifth
straight.
WASHINGTON 27 PANTHERS 21
Taylor Heinicke threw for 206 yards and three touchdowns against the league’s top-ranked pass defense and Washington beat Carolina in Cam Newton’s return to Bank of America Stadium.
Terry Mclaurin had five catches for 103 yards and a touchdown for Washington (4-6) and former Panthers
coach Ron Rivera, who won in his return to Carolina.
Newton, making his first start since signing a oneyear contract to return to the Panthers, threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a 24-yard score. But Newton’s final two potential game-winning drives ended when the Panthers (5-6) turned the ball over on downs. Daron Payne and James Smith-williams sacked
Newton with 1:11 left to seal the game.
EAGLES 40, SAINTS 29
Jalen Hurts ran for three touchdowns, Darius Slay returned an interception for a score and Philadelphia beat visiting New Orleans. The Eagles (5-6) have won two in a row for the first time this season and rookie coach Nick Sirianni earned his first win at home in five tries.
The Saints (5-5) dropped their third straight since losing quarterback Jameis Winston to a season-ending ACL injury.
BROWNS 13, LIONS 10
Nick Chubb caught a touchdown pass and ran for 130 yards as Cleveland held on to avoid a seasonwrecking upset and keep visiting Detroit winless.
Chubb returned to Cleveland’s lineup after a one-game absence due to COVID-19. He caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield and then helped the Browns (6-5) run out the clock.
The Lions (0-9-1) saw their winless streak grow to 14 games.
49ERS 30, JAGUARS 3
Jimmy Garoppolo threw two touchdown passes for the third consecutive week and San Francisco dominated host Jacksonville for its third victory in four games.
The 49ers (5-5) scored on their first five possessions, including opening the game with a 20play field-goal drive that took more than 13 minutes, and set the tone for what would be another long day for the Jaguars (2-8).
DOLPHINS 24, JETS 17
Tua Tagovailoa threw a go-ahead 5-yard touchdown pass to Myles Gaskin early in the fourth quarter and Miami hung on to win at New York for its third straight victory.
A week after an impressive win over Baltimore, the Dolphins (4-7) overcame some penalties — and the Jets (2-8) had some sloppy plays of their own — to get their first threegame winning streak since winning five in a row in the middle of last season.
CARDINALS 23 SEAHAWKS 13
Colt Mccoy was outstanding filling in for Kyler Murray, throwing for 328 yards and two touchdowns to lead Arizona (9-2) to a win at Seattle.
The Seahawks (3-7) lost their second straight and for the fifth time in the past six games.
BENGALS 32, RAIDERS 13
Joe Mixon rushed for 123 yards and scored two touchdowns and Cincinnati won at Las Vegas.
The well-rested Bengals (6-4) came out of their bye week and snapped a twogame skid to climb back into the AFC North race, while the Raiders (5-5) lost their third straight.