Bengals rout Steelers
Joe Mixon rushed for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns, Joe Burrow scrambled ran for a score and passed for another one and the Bengals crushed the Steelers 41-10 on Sunday in Cincinnati, sweeping the season series for the first time since 2009.
Mixon, coming off a rugged 123-yard, two-TD performance in a win over the Raiders last week, pounded away for 117 yards in the first half and helped the Bengals cruise to a third straight win over their AFC North rival after losing 11 straight in the series.
The Steelers (5-5-1) are winless in their last three games. The Bengals (7-4), dominated by the Steelers for so many years, have stamped themselves as a legitimate playoff contender.
The Bengals scored on their first four drives, and former Steeler Mike Hilton returned a Ben Roethlisberger pass for a 24-yard touchdown late in the first half to push the hosts’ lead to 31-3 at the intermission.
The Bengals defense kept Roethlisberger from getting any real traction until it was too late. He was picked off twice and sacked three times. His 15-yard TD pass to Pat Freiermuth came late in the game.
Burrow was 20-for-24 for 190 yards, throwing a 32-yard TD pass to Tee Higgins, and scrambling and diving for an 8-yard TD to open the scoring.
Higgins had six catches for 114 yards and a TD.
Buccaneers 38, Colts 31:
Leonard Fournette capped a four-TD game with a 28-yard scoring run with 20 seconds left, giving the defending Super Bowl champs the comeback win on the road. Tom Brady led the Bucs on the eight-play, 75-yard tiebreaking drive after getting the ball back with 3:29 to go. Fournette rushed 17 times for 100 yards and three scores. He also caught Brady’s only TD pass. Patriots 36, Titans 13: Mac Jones threw two TD passes and the Patriots defense forced four turnovers en route to a sixth straight victory. Jones completed 23 of 32 passes for 310 yards. Kendrick Bourne had both of the host Patriots’ TD receptions, finishing with five catches for 61 yards. Giants 13, Eagles 7: The Giants defense intercepted Jalen Hurts three times and held the visiting Eagles to a season-low in points. Daniel Jones connected with Chris Myarick with a 1-yard score and Graham Gano kicked FGs of 35 and 39 yards in the team’s first game since the firing of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
Dolphins 33, Panthers 10:
Jaylen Waddle had nine catches for a season-best 137 yards and a TD and the host Dolphins picked off Cam Newton twice. Myles Gaskin had two short rushing scores and Tua Tagovailoa completed 27 of 31 passes for 230 yards and a score for the Dolphins, who became just the sixth team in league history to follow a 1-7 start with four consecutive victories.
Falcons 21, Jaguars 14: Cordarrelle Patterson scored twice in his return from an ankle injury, and the visiting Falcons found the end zone and the win column for the first time in three weeks.
Jets 21, Texans 14: Zach Wilson threw for 145 yards and ran for a TD in his return from injury, helping the Jets snap a threegame skid with the road win.