NFL ROUNDUP
RAIDERS 40, CHIEFS 32
KANSAS CITY, Mo. » Derek Carr threw for 347yards and three touchdowns, outplaying Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes along the way, and the Las Vegas Raiders nearly shut out the potent Kansas City offense in the second half to rally for a 40-32victory Sunday that ended the Chiefs’ franchise-record 13-game winning streak.
Josh Jacobs scored the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, Daniel Carlson added a field goal a few minutes later, and Mahomes was intercepted on fourth down to set up another touchdown by Jacobs that make it 40-24with 5:26left.
Mahomes led the Chiefs quickly downfield, hitting Travis Kelce for a touchdown and DarrelWilliams for the 2-point try to make it a one-possession game.
But after the Raiders (3-2) recovered the squib quick, Jacobs rumbled for a first down as the Chiefs (4-1) used up their timeouts, and Carr sneaked for a first down on fourthand-1near midfield with 2minutes left to allow Las Vegas to end its five-game skid against Kansas City.
The Chiefs had won seven in a row over their longtime rival at Arrowhead Stadium, where Carr had been especially bad in losing each of his six starts. But he was simply spectacularwith a relatively quiet 17,000fans in the building, helping to guide the Raiders to their first win in Kansas City since Oct. 28, 2012.
Mahomes spent the entire game trying to escape the Las Vegas pass rush, which manhandled the Chiefs offensive line, and finished with 340yards passing and two touchdowns along with an interception. Kelce had 108 yards receiving.
RAMS 30, WASHINGTON 10
LANDOVER, Md. » Jared Goff threw for 309yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and Los Angeles improved to 4-1by 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 693days since breaking his right tibia and fibula, entering when new Washington starting quarterback Kyle Allen injured his left arm. He was 9of 17for 37yards on the same field he was carted off of on Nov. 18, 2018, before undergoing 17surgeries to repair the injury.
TEXANS 30, JAGUARS 14
HOUSTON » DeshaunWatson threwfor a season-high 359yards 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 onMonday after the Texans fell to 0-4lastweekend. Romeo Crennel was named interim coach and at 73he become the oldest coach in NFL history, passing Hall of Famer George Halas, who was 72in his last game with the Bears in 1967.
The Texans led 23-14after a field goal with about 7½ minutes to go and got the ball backwhen Jacob Martin sacked Gardner Minshew and forced a fumble. It was recovered by Whitney Mercilus, who fumbled on the return, but the Texans pounced on the ball to keep it.
Houston (1-4) pushed the lead to 30-14when Watson found Brandin Cooks on a 28-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-4with about five minutes remaining.
PANTHERS 23, FALCONS 16
ATLANTA » Teddy Bridgewater threw for 313yards 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 0-5for the first time since 1997, turning up the heat even more on their embattled coach.
Carolina (3-2) built a 20-7halftime lead behind Bridgewater’s touchdown passes of 57yards to D.J. Moore and 3yards to Mike Davis, drawing boos that could be heard even from a sparse, socially distanced crowd of 6,656at 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta, which this season became the first teamin NFL history to squander fourth-quarter leads of at least 15 points in consecutive games, tried to turn the script in the second half. Younghoe Koo booted two field goals and the Falcons drove into position for a tying score in the fourth quarter.
But, on third-and-4from the Panthers 5, Matt Ryan badly underthrew a pass to Russell Gage in the back of the end zone, allowing Burris to make the interception with 8:49remaining.
With the Falcons clearly deflated, Carolina drove nearly the length of the field — taking 7:39off the clock — to set up Joey Slye’s third field goal of the game, a 22-yarder with 1:10remaining.
RAVENS 27, BENGALS 3
BALTIMORE » 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 52-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter. It was the first NFL touchdown for Queen, who played with Burrow last year for national champion LSU.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn’t particularly sharp, but it didn’t really matter. Jackson, the 2019NFL MVP, went 19for 37for 180yards and two touchdowns with an interception.
Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown caught touchdown passes for Baltimore, whichmatched the best start in franchise history. The previous time the Ravens (4-1) won four of their first fivewas 2012, when they ended up winning the Super Bowl.
The Bengals (1-3-1) couldn’t run the ball, either. Joe Mixon, who rushed for 151yards last week in a win over Jacksonville, was limited to 59yards on 24carries.
CARDINALS 30, JETS 10
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. » Arizona came toMetLife 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 as the Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak with a victory over the Jets, further putting coach Adam Gase’s future in jeopardy after an 0-5start.