The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Chiefs escape after Panthers FGtry fails
Kansas City, Mo. Patrick Mahomes was just goofing around during a special teams segment of practice when he dreamed up this audacious play in which he’d put himself in motion, then take the snap and look downfield for a wide receiver.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid liked it so much that he put it in the game plan.
The play, which Mahomes called “Ferrari right,” wound up going for a first-half touchdown against Carolina on Sunday, and was merely one highlight in a game full of them.
Mahomes finished with 372 yards passing and four touchdowns, most of that offense going to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, and the Chiefs survived the Panthers’ late comeback attempt for a 33-31 victory when kicker Joey Slye missed a 67-yard field-goal attempt wide right on the final play.
“The last three weeks Pat’s been messing around with it,” Reid said of the newfangled play, “so I told him, ‘We’re going to put it in.’ He looked at me like I was crazy. He’d been doing it and it looked good, so let’s try it. So we tried it.”
The win was the 230th for Reid, breaking a tie with Hall of Fame coach Curly Lambeau for fifth most in NFL history. It was the 23rd straight game the Chiefs have scored at least 23 points, breaking their own NFL record, and Mahomes beat Hall of Famer Dan Marino’s mark for fewest games to 100 career touchdown passes — Mahomes did it in 40, Marino in 44.
Baltimore 24, Indianapolis 10: Lamar Jackson turned up the tempo in the second half, and Baltimore broke the NFL record for consecutive 20point games in its win over Indianapolis.
After Gus Edwards’ 1-yard plunge gave Baltimore the lead midway through the third quarter, Jackson sealed the win with a 9-yard TD run.
The Ravens (6-2) have scored 20 or more points 31 straight times — breaking a tie with Denver, which set the mark from 2012-14.
Tennessee 24, Chicago 17: Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes, and Tennessee never trailed as it beat Chicago to snap a twogame skid.
The Titans (6-2) avoided their longest skid since Tannehill took over as starting quarterback and stayed atop the AFC South going into Thursday night’s division showdown against Indianapolis.
They got big help from an undermanned and struggling defense missing Pro Bowl linebacker Jadeveon Clowney with an injured knee.
Minnesota 34, Detroit 20: Dalvin Cook kept his brilliant season rolling by rushing for a careerhigh 206 yards and two scores on 22 carries, leading Minnesota past Detroit.
Kirk Cousins threw for three touchdowns — two to tight end Irv Smith Jr. — in his second straight turnover-free performance for the Vikings (3-5), who averaged 8.9 yards per play on the way to their first home win this season.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who didn’t practice all week due to coronavirus exposure protocols, left the game in the fourth quarter for concussion evaluation after taking a knee to the head during a sack.
Houston 27, Jacksonville 25: Deshaun Watson had touchdown passes of 57 and 77 yards, the second one appearing to come after the play clock expired, and Houston beat Jacksonville for its sixth straight win in the series.
Jacksonville (1-7) lost its seventh straight and barely avoided making NFL history. The Jaguars
would have become the first to allow at least 30 points in seven consecutive games in a single season. Instead, they will share the record with the 1968 Denver Broncos and the 1984 Minnesota Vikings.
Las Vegas 31, L.A. Chargers 26: A week after losing at Denver 31-30 when they allowed a touchdown with no time remaining, the Chargers thought they had beaten the Raiders on Justin Herbert’s 4-yard touchdown toss to Donald Parham Jr. with no time left.
But a booth review showed the tight end didn’t maintain possession as he tumbled out of bounds and the Raiders escaped with a 31-26 victory.
The Chargers fell to 2-6 with all six losses coming by seven points or fewer. They’ve lost nine in a row to AFC West opponents.
Atlanta 34, Denver 27: Matt Ryan took advantage of Denver’s thin secondary to throw three touchdown passes and the Falcons turned back Drew Lock’s bid for a second consecutive comeback to beat the Broncos 34-27 on Sunday.
Ryan completed 25 of 35 passes for 284 yards with one interception. Atlanta (3-6) improved to 3-1 under interim coach Raheem Morris — a big boost for a team that saw coach Dan Quinn fired after an 0-5 start.
Pittsburgh 24, Dallas 19: Ben Roethlisberger threw all three of his touchdown passes after shrugging off a knee injury, rallying Pittsburgh over Dallas and keeping the Steelers unbeaten.
Pittsburgh is 8-0 for the first time in the storied franchise’s history despite an upset bid from the Cowboys, who were the biggest underdogs they’ve been at home in at least 31 years.
Garrett Gilbert was the fourth different starting quarterback in five games for Dallas (2-7), throwing a touchdown pass in his first career start and bringing some life to the offense for a team that lost its fourth straight game without Dak Prescott.
Miami 34, Arizona 31: Miami rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns in his second NFL start and the Dolphins rallied in the fourth quarter for a 34-31 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Miami (5-3) has won four straight games. The Cardinals (5-3) had their three-game winning streak snapped.
The 22-year-old Tagovailoa was on the winning end of an action-packed duel with Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray, who finished with 283 yards and three touchdowns. He also had 106 yards rushing on 11 carries.