The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Goff, Williams lead Rams past Seahawks
Jared Goff passed for 302 yards, Darious Williams made two interceptions and the Los Angeles Rams took a share of the NFC West lead with a 23-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Malcolm Brown rushed for two touchdowns and Darrell Henderson had another score as the Rams (6-3) returned from their bye week and held Seattle to three points after halftime to win for the fifth time in the rivals’ past six meetings.
Russell Wilson passed for 248 yards and rushed for 60 more for the Seahawks (6-3), who have lost three of four after a 5-0 start. Wilson threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, giving him 10 combined turnovers in Seattle’s three losses.
Williams, the Rams’ rising star at cornerback opposite Jalen Ramsey, made an end zone interception in the first half and a spectacular third-down pick near midfield with 7:48 to play. Leonard Floyd sacked Wilson three times and also recovered Wilson’s fumble on a snap early in the fourth quarter in Rams territory.
Not even Wilson could crack the Rams’ defense, which has allowed just two touchdowns — none since Week 3 — and 29 total points in the second half all season long. Seattle’s injury-depleted offense managed just 119 yards after halftime, 74 on its last-gasp drive.
Alex Collins rushed for his first touchdown since 2018 for the Seahawks, who entered the game without both of their starting cornerbacks, their top two running backs and starting center Ethan Pocic.
Tampa Bay 46, Carolina 23: Tom Brady threw for 341 yards and was involved in four touchdowns, Ronald Jones had a franchise-record 98-yard touchdown run, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bounced back from a dreadful defeat with a resounding win over Carolina.
Coming off the most lopsided loss of his illustrious career — a 38-3 defeat to the Saints — Brady threw touchdown passes to Cameron Brate, Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski, then ran for another score in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Green Bay 24, Jacksonville 20: Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score as the Packers overcame numerous mistakes to rally.
Rodgers put the Packers (7-2) ahead for good with 9:11 left by throwing a 6-yard TD pass to Davante Adams, who had left with an ankle injury earlier in the second half. Rodgers also had a 5-yard touchdown run and a 78-yard scoring strike to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who caught four passes for a career-high 149 yards.
Keelan Cole scored on a franchise-record 91-yard punt return and a 12-yard reception for Jacksonville (1-8), which lost its eighth straight. Jacksonville’s James Robinson rushed for 109 yards on 23 carries.
Detroit 30, Washington 27: Matt Prater made a 59-yard field goal as time expired. Matthew Stafford threw two of his three touchdown passes in the first half and directed the winning drive with just 16 seconds left. Rookie defensive end Chase Young was called for roughing the passer, giving Detroit the ball at midfield. Stafford threw a 9-yard pass to Marvin Jones to set up the kick.
The Lions (4-5) won at home for the first time in more than a year after building a 14-point lead at halftime and going ahead 24-3 midway through the third quarter.
Cleveland 10, Houston 7: Nick Chubb returned from a stint on injured reserve and scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter — topping 100 yards rushing along with teammate Kareem Hunt.
Chubb reeled off a 59-yard run with 1:07 left and then smartly ran out of bounds at the 2-yard line instead of scoring so the Texans, who were out of timeouts, wouldn’t get the ball back. Chubb finished with 126 yards on 19 carries in nasty weather. Hunt finished with 104 yards.
Las Vegas 37, Denver 12: Josh Jacobs ran for 112 yards and two TDs and Jeff Heath had two of Las Vegas’ five takeaways to help the Raiders beat the Denver Broncos for their third straight win.
Heath intercepted Drew Lock twice in the first half, Carl Nassib and Nick Kwiatkoski got picks in the fourth quarter and Nevin Lawson forced and recovered a fumble by DaeSean Hamilton to send the Broncos (3-6) to their third loss in four games.
Miami 29, L.A. Chargers 21: Tua Tagovailoa had help from a less-heralded rookie while Justin Herbert struggled against a blitz-happy defense.
The surprising Miami Dolphins earned their fifth consecutive victory, beating the Los Angeles Chargers 29-21 Sunday.
Salvon Ahmed, making his first career start, ran for 85 yards on 21 carries and scored a 1-yard touchdown on Miami’s first play. The undrafted Ahmed filled in with two other running backs injured and sparked a ground game ranked fourth worst in the league.
Pittsburgh 36, Cincinnati 10: Ben Roethlisberger apparently doesn’t need to practice to carve up the Cincinnati Bengals.
The veteran Pittsburgh quarterback threw for a season-high 333 yards and four touchdowns despite being forced to stay away from the team facility all week due to COVID-19 protocols.
Roethlisberger completed 27 of 46 passes on a blustery afternoon at Heinz Field. Roethlisberger connected with Diontae Johnson and JuJu SmithSchuster for touchdowns in the first half and found rookie Chase Claypool twice in the second half as Pittsburgh improved to 9-0.
New Orleans 27, San Francisco 13: Drew Brees was pulled at halftime with a rib injury after passing for just 76 yards and one touchdown, but Alvin Kamara scored three times and New Orleans’ defense largely stifled San Francisco.
Brees’ injury appeared to occur when defensive tackle Kentavius Street was called for a personal foul on a sack in which he got a clean shot at the 41-year-old QB and landed on top of him.
Officials ruled Street violated the NFL’s “bodyweight rule,” which bans defenders from landing on a defenseless passer with all or most of their weight.