Saints are breezing with Bridgewater
Teddy Bridgewater found Jared Cook for a 4-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and the New Orleans Saints held on to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 13-6 on Sunday and improve to 4-0 without injured starter Drew Brees.
Coming off a 300-yard, four-touchdown performance against Tampa Bay, Bridgewater was less effective against the Jaguars (2-4). But he did enough for New Orleans’ defense, which turned Minshew Mania into Minshew Mayhem.
Minshew was sacked twice, hurried often and threw his first interception as a starter. The rookie sensation completed 14 of 29 passes for 163 yards and was held without a touchdown for the first time this season. His worst outing came on the same day the team, in conjunction with the NFL, handed out 30,000 “Minshew mustaches” as fans entered the gates.
Bridgewater was 24 of 36 passing for 240 yards for the Saints (5-1). He picked up a first down on a quarterback sneak in the closing minutes to seal the victory. CARDINALS 34, FALCONS 33 >> Kyler Murray threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and the Arizona Cardinals built a big lead, lost it, and then rallied again for the win. Atlanta looked like it would tie the game with 1:53 left after Matt Ryan hit Devonta Freeman on a 12-yard touchdown pass, but 44-year-old Matt Bryant missed left on the extra point, and the Cardinals ran out the clock from there.
RAVENS 23, BENGALS 17 >> Lamar Jackson ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown, threw for 236 yards and guided Baltimore past hapless Cincinnati.
Jackson carried 19 times, including three kneeldowns, and finished tantalizingly short of Michael Vick’s single-game record of 173 yards rushing by a quarterback.
Jackson now has three career 100-yard rushing games, tied with Billy Kilmer for most by a quarterback in his first two seasons since 1950.
Regardless of where Jackson went, the Bengals (0-6) were usually a step behind. Jackson was also adept when throwing, going 21 for 33 without an interception.
PANTHERS 37, BUCCANEERS 26 >> Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns and Carolina turned five interceptions by Jameis Winston into 17 points as the Panthers beat Tampa Bay.
After starting the season with two straight losses with hobbled Cam Newton at quarterback, the Panthers (4-2) have been on a roll with Kyle Allen at quarterback thanks to McCaffrey’s big plays and an opportunistic defense that had a franchise record-tying seven takeaways on the day.
WASHINGTON 17, DOLPHINS 16 >> Rookie Terry McLaurin caught two touchdown passes and Washington stopped Miami’s two-point conversion attempt with 6 seconds left in a matchup between winless teams.
Adrian Peterson more than doubled his season rushing total with 118 yards for Bill Callahan in his first game as interim coach. Washington intercepted Josh Rosen twice and sacked him five times before he was benched at the start of the fourth quarter with the Dolphins trailing 17-3.
JETS 24, COWBOYS 22 >> Sam Darnold gave the Jets’ struggling offense a huge boost by throwing two touchdown passes in his return from mononucleosis, and New York held on to beat the Dallas Cowboys for their first win of the season. BRONCOS 16, TITANS 0>> The Broncos (2-4) had seven sacks in a game for the first time since their 2015 Super Bowl season and they picked off three passes. VIKINGS 38, EAGLES 20 >> Kirk Cousins threw to Stefon Diggs for three of his four touchdowns, racking up a season-high 333 passing yards as the Minnesota Vikings ravaged the Philadelphia Eagles secondary.