Panthers’ defense, McCaffrey too much for Bucs
Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns and Carolina turned five interceptions into 17 points as the Panthers won their fourth game in a row, the latest a 3726 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday in London.
“Those guys are unbelievable,” McCaffrey said of his defense. “I felt like every single time they were on offense our defense had a chance to get a turnover or a sack. Our Dline is pretty vicious. … They did an unbelievable job all day. It’s nice when you have a defense like that.”
After starting the season with two losses with hobbled Cam Newton at quarterback, the Panthers (42) have been on a roll with Kyle Allen at quarterback thanks to McCaffrey’s big plays and an opportunistic defense that had a franchise recordtying seven takeaways, along with seven sacks.
“When one guy makes a play, guys feel like, ‘Man, I have to make a play, too,’ ” Carolina linebacker Bruce Irvin said. “It’s special when you’re fighting to get sacks out there. That’s when you know you’re a special group.”
Quarterback Jameis Winston did most of his damage for the Buccaneers (24) after the game got out of hand. He finished with 400 yards in the air, and a 10yard throw to Cameron Brate in the fourth quarter gave him 100 touchdown passes in his career.
Cardinals 34, Falcons 33: Kyler Murray threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns for host Arizona (231), which built a big lead, lost it, and then rallied again to top Atlanta (15).
The Falcons were in position to tie the score with 1:53 left after Matt Ryan hit Devonta Freeman on a 12yard touchdown pass, but Matt Bryant missed the extra point.
The Cardinals took a 3427 lead with 5:12 remaining on David Johnson’s 14yard TD catch.
Broncos 16, Titans 0: Host Denver (24) piled up seven sacks for the first time since 2015 and added three interceptions as it frustrated Tennessee (24) while winning its second in a row.
Chris Harris Jr. and Justin Simmons intercepted passes thrown by Marcus Mariota, who was sacked three times and was replaced by Ryan Tannehill after Simmons’ interception led to a 2yard touchdown run by Phillip Lindsay that made it 130.
Tannehill was sacked four times and his pass was picked off by Kareem Jackson on Tennessee’s final drive, which reached the Denver 5yard line before two penalties and a sack pushed the Titans back to the 30yard line.
Washington 17, Dolphins 16: Miami failed on a twopoint conversion try with six seconds left, allowing visiting Washington (15) to give Bill Callahan a win in his first game as interim coach.
Ryan Fitzpatrick led two touchdown drives for the Dolphins (15), including the climactic 75yard march that began with 2:02 left. After he hit DeVante Parker for an 11yard score to cut the deficit to one point, coach Brian Flores decided to go for two.
Fitzpatrick’s short pass then was dropped by running back Kenyan Drake, who had four defenders between him and the goal line.
Ravens 23, Bengals 17: Lamar Jackson passed for 236 yards and ran for 152 yards and a touchdown as host Baltimore (42) beat Cincinnati (06).
Jackson has three career 100yard rushing games, tied with Billy Kilmer for most by a quarterback in his first two seasons since 1950. Jackson’s first 100yard game came last November against Cincinnati, in his first NFL start.
“The most frustrating thing for the defense is, you got the play covered — and he just finds” space, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “Just one little crease and he’s got 30 yards on you.” Steelers 24, Chargers 17: James Conner scored two touchdowns, and Devlin Hodges won his first NFL start as visiting Pittsburgh (24) beat Los Angeles (24).
The Chargers trailed 240 after three quarters but closed within a touchdown with 1:28 remaining. Their comeback ended when the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Steelers. Vikings 38, Eagles 20: Kirk Cousins passed for 333 yards and four touchdowns, with three of the scoring throws going to Stefon Diggs, as host Minnesota (42) topped Philadelphia (33).
Diggs, who had seven catches for 167 yards, scored on firsthalf passes that covered 51 and 62 yards. He added an 11yard touchdown grab late in the third quarter. Saints 13, Jaguars 6: Teddy Bridgewater threw a 4yard touchdown pass to Jared Cook early in the fourth quarter to give New Orleans (51) the lead, and the Saints’ defense took it from there against host Jacksonville.
Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in six games, and Jacksonville (24) was limited to a seasonlow 226 yards of total offense.