Claypool posts 4 TDs, Steelers win
PITTSBURGH >> Rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool scored four touchdowns, including the clincher with 2:59 remaining, and Pittsburgh remained unbeaten with a win over Philadelphia.
Claypool, a second-round pick from Notre Dame, raced down the slot, hauled in a dart from Ben Roethlisberger and went the rest of the 35 yards to the end zone as the Steelers improved to 4- 0 for the first time since 1979.
A native of Abbottsford, British Columbia, Claypool finished with seven receptions for 110 yards and three scores and added a 2-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep. Claypool became the first Canadian-born NFL player with three receiving TDs in a game since Joe Rooney did it for the Duluth Eskimos on Oct. 23, 1927. RAMS 30, WASHINGTON 10 >> Jared Goff threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and Los Angeles improved to 4-1 by beating Washington in Alex Smith’s return almost two years since a gruesome injury put his career
in jeopardy.
Smith played his first NFL game 693 days since breaking his right tibia and fibula, entering when new Washington starting quarterback Kyle Allen injured his left arm. He was 9 of 17 for 37 yards on the same field he was carted off of on Nov. 18, 2018, before undergoing 17 surgeries to repair the injury.
TEXANS 30, JAGUARS 14 >> Deshaun Watson threw for a season-high 359 yards and three touchdowns and Houston got its first win of
the season with a victory over Jacksonville in the wake of coach Bill O’Brien’s firing.
O’Brien, who was also the general manager, was let go on Monday after the Texans fell to 0- 4 last weekend. Romeo Crennel was named interim coach and at 73 he become the oldest coach in NFL history, passing Hall of Famer George Halas, who was 72 in his last game with the Bears in 1967. PANTHERS 23, FALCONS 16 >> Teddy Bridgewater threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, Juston Burris made a huge interception in the end zone and Carolina held on for a victory over winless Atlanta, perhaps finishing off the coaching career of Atlanta’s Dan Quinn.
The Falcons dropped to 0- 5 for the first time since 1997, turning up the heat even more on their embattled coach.
RAVENS 27, BENGALS 3 >> The Baltimore Ravens sacked Joe Burrow seven times, forced the Bengals rookie into a pair of turnovers and effectively stuffed Cincinnati’s running game in a meticulous victory Sunday.
Baltimore stout defensive performance was punctuated by Patrick Queen’s 52yard fumble return in the fourth quarter. It was the first NFL touchdown for Queen, who played with Burrow last year for national champion LSU. CARDINALS 30, JETS 10 >> Arizona came to MetLife Stadium and like every other team this season found a cure-all for its woes with a game against a winless team from New York’s rotten football apple.
Kyler Murray ran for a touchdown and threw another to DeAndre Hopkins.