Eagles get season-opening victory
LANDOVER, Md. — Carson Wentz put on a magic act evading pressure, the Philadelphia Eagles' defense ratcheted up its pass rush and the result was the end of a losing streak against the Washington Redskins and a Gatorade bath for coach Doug Pederson.
Behind two touchdowns from Wentz and four sacks of Kirk Cousins, the Eagles beat the Redskins 30-17 on Sunday in a sloppy, mistake-filled season opener between the NFC East rivals.
Wentz threw for 307 yards and also had an interception returned for a touchdown but made fewer errors than Cousins, who was picked off at the goal line and fumbled twice.
Eagles receiver Nelson Agholor, the recipient of a 58-yard touchdown pass from Wentz after he avoided being sacked by Jonathan Allen and Preston Smith, called the second-year quarterback "a magician."
"I don't know how the guy does it," left tackle Jason Peters said of Wentz, who was 26 of 39. "He's just got a knack for feeling pressure coming and he rolls out of it, he gets out of it and makes a play down the field."
Cousins finished 23 of 40 for 240 yards with an interception and two fumbles, the second of which was forced by Brandon Graham and returned 20 yards for a touchdown by former Mississippi State player Fletcher Cox in the final minutes, putting the game away.
Cousins had a touchdown pass to third-down back Chris Thompson, but much of the afternoon was done in by drops and other offensive blunders.
Packers 17, Seahawks 9
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay defensive lineman Mike Daniels' strip sack of Russell Wilson deep in Seattle territory in the third quarter set up Ty Montgomery's 6-yard touchdown run on the next play to spark the Packers' win.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was 28 of 42 for 311 yards and added a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson to make it an eight-point game late in the third quarter.
Jaguars 29, Texans 7
HOUSTON — Leonard Fournette ran for 100 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut, and Jacksonville had 10 sacks and forced four turnovers to help the Jaguars to a win over the Houston Texans.
The Texans hoped to provide a boost to the area ravaged by Hurricane Harvey with a win. Instead, Tom Savage struggled behind a porous line and was benched in favor of rookie Deshaun Watson at halftime with Houston down 19-0.
Blake Bortles threw for 125 yards and a touchdown, Calais Campbell had four sacks and Dante Fowler returned a fumble 53 yards for a score as the Jaguars snapped a six-game skid against Houston.
J.J. Watt returned after missing 13 games last season after back surgery, but injured his finger in the first half and finished with just one tackle.
he Texans punted on their first four possessions, and the fifth one ended when Savage fumbled on a sack by Yannick Ngakoue and the Jaguars recovered the ball.
Fournette, the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, added his 1-yard touchdown after that.
Savage was sacked six times in the first half, playing behind a line without veteran left tackle Duane Brown, who is holding out.
Houston linebacker Brian Cushing, tight ends Ryan Griffin and C.J. Fiedorowicz and receiver Bruce Ellington all left the game with concussions. Jaguars receiver Allen Robinson injured his left knee in the first quarter and didn't return. to cut it to 20-17. Atlanta's Matt Bryant answered with a 37yard field goal, making it 23-17.
Coming off an MVP season, Ryan was 21 of 30 for 321 yards and a touchdown. Hooper had two catches for 128 yards.
Raiders 26, Titans 16
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Derek Carr threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and Carr won his third straight against Marcus Mariota and the Titans in as many years.
Amari Cooper caught a TD pass as the Raiders made the Titans pay for opening the season with an onside kick they couldn't recover. Marshawn Lynch also looked very refreshed after his year away from football. Lynch finished with 18 carries for 76 yards.
Lions 35, Cardinals 23
DETROIT — Matthew Stafford threw two of his four touchdown passes to rookie Kenny Golladay in the fourth quarter.
The Lions picked off three of Carson Palmer's passes, returning one for a score. They also knocked David Johnson out of the game after forcing him to fumble in the third quarter Sunday.
Detroit set an NFL record last year by rallying to win eight games after trailing in the final quarter and opened this season with another comeback.
The Cardinals scored the first 10 points of the game and led 17-9 late in the third quarter before giving up 26 straight points.
Ravens 20, Bengals 0
CINCINNATI — Baltimore's rebuilt defense picked off Andy Dalton four times and forced him to fumble, making it easy for Joe Flacco in his return from a back injury.
The Ravens ended a five-game losing streak in Cincinnati by pressuring Dalton into matching his career high for interceptions, three of them in the first half. The Ravens got a pair of touchdowns 24 seconds apart late in the half to take control, with Jeremy Maclin scoring on a 48-yard run-and-catch.
Bills 21, Jets 12
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Tyrod Taylor threw two touchdown passes and the new-look Bills won in Sean McDermott's debut as Buffalo's coach.
Mike Tolbert also scored on a 1-yard run , while Buffalo's defense had three interceptions, including linebacker Ramon Humber picking off Josh McCown's pass to thwart a 2-point conversion in the third quarter.
Rams 46, Colts 9
LOS ANGELES — Jared Goff passed for a career-high 306 yards and a touchdown in his first victory as an NFL starter, and the Los Angeles Rams routed the Indianapolis Colts in Sean McVay's impressive debut as the youngest head coach in modern league history.
Todd Gurley had 40 yards rushing and 56 yards receiving while the Rams roared to a 37-3 lead in the third quarter. Los Angeles snapped a six-game skid at the Coliseum with its most impressive performance since returning home from St. Louis last year.
Panthers 23, 49ers 3
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Cam Newton threw a pair of touchdown passes following San Francisco turnovers and the Carolina defense shut down Kyle Shanahan's offense in his coaching debut as the Panthers beat the 49ers.