USA TODAY International Edition
Carr, Raiders end Chiefs’ streak
Derek Carr could be forgiven for thinking he was due for another miserable day at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Raiders’ quarterback had never won in six tries in Kansas City, his passer rating so low in his personal house of horrors that he probably deserved to be benched. When Carr threw an early interception Sunday that helped the Chiefs take a big lead, well, it seemed as if history was repeating itself.
“I’ve had a lot of sad walks up that ramp,” Carr said later, “but you know what? Not today.”
The often- criticized quarterback steadied his shaky team, outplayed Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and led the Raiders to a 40- 32 victory. Carr finished with 347 yards and three touchdowns passing. Perhaps fittingly, he executed the quarterback sneak on 4thand- 1 that clinched the win.
“I think we’re back a little bit,” Carr said with a smile, “but we have to win football games against these guys to make it a rivalry. We haven’t done that in a long time.”
The game, tied 24- 24 after three quarters, could have gone either way. But with the high- powered Kansas City offense sputtering, the Raiders got the go- ahead touchdown from Josh Jacobs, a field goal from Daniel Carlson and an interception of Mahomes on fourth down to set up Jacobs’ second TD and establish breathing room.
Mahomes quickly answered, hitting Travis Kelce for a TD and Darrel Williams for the two- point try. But the Raiders ( 3- 2) recovered a squib quick, Jacobs rumbled for a first down as the Chiefs ( 4- 1) burned timeouts, and Carr sneaked for the crucial first down.
Mahomes spent the entire game trying to escape the Las Vegas pass rush, which manhandled his offensive line. He finished with 340 yards passing and two touchdowns along with an interception. Kelce had 108 yards receiving.
Rams 30, Washington 10: Jared Goff threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a TD, and visiting LA improved to 4- 1. Alex Smith played his first NFL game 693 days since breaking his right tibia and fibula, entering when new Washington starting quarterback Kyle Allen injured his left arm. Smith was 9 of 17 for 37 yards on the same field he was carted off of on Nov. 18, 2018, before having 17 surgeries.
Ravens 27, Bengals 3: Baltimore ( 4- 1) sacked Joe Burrow seven times, forced the Bengals’ rookie into two turnovers and effectively stuffed Cincinnati’s running game. The stout defensive performance was punctuated by Patrick Queen’s 52- yard fumble return in the fourth quarter. It was the first NFL TD for Queen, who played with Burrow last year for national champion LSU. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the 2019 NFL MVP, went 19 for 37 for 180 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. The Bengals fell to 1- 3- 1.
Browns 32, Colts 23: Baker Mayfield passed for a season- high 247 yards and two touchdowns against the NFL’s No. 1 defense, Myles Garrett forced a crucial safety in the fourth quarter and Cleveland held on for a win as the Browns improved to 4- 1 for the first time since 1994. Mayfield appeared to hurt his right hand in the fourth quarter. Indianapolis’ defense came in allowing the fewest passing yards, points and led the NFL in interceptions. The Colts fell to 3- 2.
Dolphins 43, 49ers 17: Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 350 yards and three TDs and Miami ( 2- 3) sent defending NFC champion San Francisco ( 2- 3) to its third home loss in a row to open the season. Fitzpatrick connected on a 3yard TD pass to Adam Shaheen on the Dolphins’ opening drive of the game and didn’t let up, quieting talk for at least another week that rookie Tua Tagovailoa should take over as starter.
Cardinals 30, Jets 10: Arizona came to MetLife 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 TD and threw for another to DeAndre Hopkins as the Cardinals snapped a two- game losing streak, further putting Jets coach Adam Gase’s future in jeopardy after a 0- 5 start. Murray had a 2- yard TD run and hit Hopkins on a 37- yard strike on a day the Cardinals ( 3- 2) had 496 yards in total offense. Chase Edmonds scored on 29- yard run, Kenyan Drake tallied from a yard out and Zane Gonzalez kicked a 47- yard field goal. Arizona scored TDs on drives of 96, 89, 75 and 70 yards.
Texans 30, Jaguars 14: Deshaun Watson threw for a season- high 359 yards and three TDs and Houston got its first win of the season in the wake of coach Bill O’Brien’s firing. O’Brien, who was also the general manager, was let go last Monday after the Texans fell to 0- 4. Romeo Crennel was named interim coach and at 73 become the oldest in NFL history, passing Hall of Famer George Halas, who was 72 in his last game with the Bears in 1967.
Panthers 23, Falcons 16: Teddy Bridgewater threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, Juston Burris made a huge interception in the end zone and Carolina held on over winless Atlanta, perhaps finishing off the coaching career of Dan Quinn. The Falcons dropped to 0- 5 for the first time since 1997. Visiting Carolina ( 3- 2) built a 20- 7 halftime lead behind Bridgewater’s TD passes of 57 yards to D. J. Moore and 3 yards to Mike Davis, drawing boos that could be heard even from a sparse, socially distanced crowd of 6,656 at 75,000- seat Mercedes- Benz Stadium.