NFL Week 12 roundup
Titans 45, Colts 26
Derrick Henry battered the NFL's second-stingiest defense for 140 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, finished with 178 yards and led Tennessee to a crucial win over Indianapolis on Sunday.
The win gives Tennessee (8-3) sole possession of the AFC South lead, a split in the two-game season series and a tiebreaking edge based on current division records of the teams. Henry also padded his lead as he chases a second straight rushing crown. He has three straight 100-yard games and eight consecutive road games with 100 or more yards, tying former Titans running back Chris Johnson for the second-longest streak since the 1970 merger. Only Hall of Famer Barry Sanders (10 in 1996-97) had a longer streak.
Henry touched the ball on six of Tennessee's first 10 plays and capped the opening drive with a 12-yard scoring run.
After the Colts (7-4) tied the score at 7 with an 11-yard pass from Philip Rivers to Trey Burton, Ryan Tannehill hooked up with A.J. Brown on a 69-yard scoring play. When the Colts tied it again on Jacoby Brissett's 1-yard TD run, Henry went back to work. He scored on a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter, added an 11-yard TD run to make it 28-14, and was used as a decoy on Tannehill's 1-yard TD run that gave Tennessee an insurmountable 3514 halftime lead.
Chiefs 27, Buccaneers 24
Patrick Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three touchdowns to outplay Tom Brady and lead Kansas City past Tampa Bay.
Tyreek Hill scored on receptions of 75, 44 and 20 yards, backflipping into the end zone on his second TD, and finishing with 13 catches for 269 yards
— the last an 8-yard catch on third-and-7 to give Mahomes an opportunity to run out the clock. The Chiefs (10-1) won their sixth straight game and clinched their seventh 10-win season in eight years under coach Andy Reid.
The reigning Super Bowl champions improved to 6-0 on the road and have won nine straight away from home going back to last year.
Brady was 27 of 41 for 345 yards, three touchdowns and a pair of second-half interceptions in falling to 2-2 in four career meetings against Mahomes, who built an early 17-0 lead and also had the Chiefs up by 17 entering the fourth quarter.
Brady responded with TD passes of 31 and 7 yards to Mike Evans, the latter trimming Tampa Bay's deficit to 27-24 with 4:10 remaining.
The Bucs never got the ball back.
Vikings 28, Panthers 27
Chad Beebe caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left for Minnesota shortly after he muffed a punt that let Carolina pad its lead. Then Joey Slye missed a 54-yard field goal try with 1 second remaining that preserved the Vikings' victory. Kirk Cousins went 34 for 45 for 307 yards and three scores for the Vikings (5-6), hitting Justin Jefferson for his second touchdown grab with 5:38 to go and finding Beebe for the winner to punctuate a seven-play, 75-yard drive that took 65 seconds. There were 38 points scored by both teams in a dizzying second half that started with Panthers rookie Jeremy Chinn turning fumble recoveries into touchdown returns on consecutive plays from
scrimmage. Sixty-nine seconds into the third quarter, the Panthers (4-8) suddenly were up 21-10.
49ers 23, Rams 20
Robbie Gould made a 42-yard field goal as time expired and the San Francisco snapped its threegame losing streak, sweeping the season series against Los Angeles for the second straight year. Nick Mullens passed for 253 yards and led two late scoring drives in his first victory as a starter since September for the defending NFC champion Niners (5-6), who stoked their flickering playoff hopes and became the first team to beat the Rams (7-4) at new SoFi Stadium.
After a game largely dominated by defense, Gould hit a 44-yard field goal with 3:11 left before San Francisco stopped Los Angeles near midfield. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk converted a fourth-and-1 with 28 seconds to play during a 56-yard drive in the final 2:10 to set up Gould, who nailed his third field goal of the day.
Saints 31, Broncos 3
Taysom Hill's two touchdown runs led New Orleans past Denver, which was thrust into a quarterback quandary when its passers failed to wear masks as mandated by the NFL's COVID-19 protocols.
In a grind-it-out slugfest reminiscent of pro football's early days, the Saints (9-2) won their second straight game with Hill subbing for the injured Drew Brees. Hill wasn't nearly as sharp as a week earlier against the Falcons, when he completed 18 of 23 passes for 233 yards.
This time, he was 9 of 16 for 78 yards, no touchdowns, an interception and a paltry passer rating of 43.2. He also ran 10 times for 44 yards.
And that was much better than Broncos QB Kendall Hinton, a rookie receiver and former Wake Forest quarterback from their practice squad who made a shaky NFL debut by going 1 for 9 for 13 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Tight end Noah Fant's 13-yard catch was Denver's only reception.
Falcons 43, Raiders 6
Deion Jones returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown, Matt Ryan threw a pair of short scoring passes, and Atlanta Falcons thoroughly dominated Derek Carr and bumbling Las Vegas.
The Raiders (6-5) lost their second in a row and looked very much like a pretender in the AFC playoff race, producing a listless, mistake-filled performance against an Atlanta team that's playing out the season under an interim coach.
Carr had a miserable day, fumbling the ball away three times in addition to delivering the pick that the Falcons linebacker returned for his fifth career TD.
Dolphins 20, Jets 3
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes while starting in place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa and Miami kept New York winless. Tagovailoa was inactive with a left thumb injury, so Fitzpatrick stepped in against one of his many
former teams.
The veteran quarterback was 24 of 39 for 257 yards with TD throws to tight ends Mike Gesicki and Adam Shaheen, helping the Dolphins (7-4) bounce back after having a five-game winning streak end last week.
Bills 27, Chargers 17
Tre'Davious White's fourth-quarter interception set up Tyler Bass' 43-yard field goal, helping Buffalo hold off Los Angeles.
Josh Allen threw for a touchdown and ran for another score for the AFC East-leading Bills (8-3), who hung on after nearly blowing an 18-point third-quarter lead. Receiver Cole Beasley also completed a touchdown pass.
Browns 27, Jaguars 25
Baker Mayfield took advantage of his best gameday weather in a month, throwing two touchdown passes as Cleveland beat Jacksonville to remain squarely in the AFC playoff picture.
The Jaguars (1-10) fired general manager Dave Caldwell after the game, which was its 10th straight loss.
Mayfield connected with Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper for scores, ending a three-game drought without a passing TD. Mayfield nearly had two more, but he inexplicably missed wide-open Rashard Higgins in the end zone in the second quarter, then watched Harrison Bryant drop another early in the fourth.