Saints, Brees edge Panthers
NEW ORLEANS – Drew Brees passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns without two top receivers and rushed for another score to lead the host Saints past the Panthers 27-24.
The Panthers had driven across midfield in the final minutes when Marcus Davenport’s sack of Teddy Bridgewater led coach Matt Rhule to send out kicker Joey Slye for a 65-yard field goal on 4thand-19. The kick fell just short of the crossbar and the Saints (4-2) ran out the final 1:55 to send the Panthers (3-4) to their second straight loss.
Brees completed 29 of 36 passes to eight targets despite not having receivers Michael Thomas (hamstring) and Emmanuel Sanders (COVID-19) in the lineup. His decision-making and accuracy also helped New Orleans convert 12 of 14 third downs.
On their only two third-down failures, Wil Lutz came through with field goals of 41 and 43 yards.
Alvin Kamara gained 148 yards from scrimmage, with 83 on 14 rushes.
That was just enough to overcome a strong showing by Bridgewater in his first game against the Saints since serving as Brees’ backup in New Orleans the past two seasons.
Bridgewater was 23 of 28 for 254 yards and two TDs, including a 74-yarder to DJ Moore, who also had a 7-yard catch-and run around right end for a TD.
Chiefs 43, Broncos 16: Kansas City didn’t need the usual heroics from Patrick Mahomes to rout Denver for its 10th straight win over its AFC West rival. The Chiefs (6-1) found other ways to dominate Denver (2-4) on a snowy afternoon that began with a temperature of 14 degrees at kickoff. Kansas City took a 24-9 halftime lead even though Mahomes completed just one pass in the second quarter, a 5-yarder, and had just 99 yards through the air in the first half. In the first half, the Chiefs scored TDs on Byron Pringle’s 102-yard kickoff return and Daniel Sorensen’s 50-yard interception return to go with Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 11-yard run in which he broke five tackles.
49ers 33, Patriots 6: Jeff Wilson Jr. rushed for a career-high three touchdowns and 112 yards before leaving with an ankle injury and San Francisco dominated in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Jimmy Garoppolo finished 20 of 25 for 277 yards with two interceptions in his first game against his former team. San Francisco (4-3) has followed back-toback losses with two wins and is 3-0 on the road. The Patriots’ 27-point loss was their largest at home under Bill Belichick. New England fell to 2-4.
Chargers 39, Jaguars 29: Justin Herbert got his first NFL win, throwing for 347 yards and three TDs as well as running for a score as Los Angeles (2-4) beat Jacksonville (1-6) to end a fourgame skid. Herbert, the sixth overall pick, completed 27 of 43 passes. He also rushed for 66 yards, a single-game high for a Chargers quarterback. He joined Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow as the only rookie quarterbacks in NFL history with 300 yards, at least three passing TDs, and one rushing in a game.
Lions 23, Falcons 22: Detroit let Atlanta score a touchdown. It worked – and the Falcons found another stunning way to lose. Matthew Stafford connected with T.J. Hockenson on an 11-yard touchdown pass as time expired and Matt Prater booted a 48-yard extra point to give Detroit the improbable victory. The Lions (3-3) won their second in a row, their first winning streak since early in the 2019 season. Trailing 16-14, the Falcons (1-6) were positioned to run down the clock and kick a chip-shot field goal for the win when they picked up a first down at the Lions’ 10 with just over a minute remaining. Detroit had used up all of its timeouts on the drive, so there was no further way to stop the clock. Knowing their only chance was to allow a quick TD, the Lions made no attempt to stop Todd Gurley after he took a handoff from Matt Ryan. Gurley realized what the Lions were doing – but too late. He started to fall but landed on the goal line with 1:04 left. The Falcons converted a two-point conversion to make it 22-16, but the Lions had a chance against a team that had already become the first in NFL history to lose two straight games when leading by at least 15 points in the fourth quarter. Stafford drove his team 75 yards in eight plays. Detroit spiked the ball with 2 seconds to go, setting up the final play. Stafford was pressured in the pocket, rolled to his left and spotted Hockenson breaking free across the end zone.
Browns 37, Bengals 34: Baker Mayfield overcame a terrible start to throw for five touchdowns, including a 24yard go-ahead score to Donovan Peoples-Jones with 15 seconds left, and Cleveland outdueled Cincinnati (1-5-1). Nursing sore ribs, Mayfield started 0
for-5, including an interception on his first attempt of the game. He then completed 22 of his next 23 passes. The last was the leaping grab by People-Jones to win it for the Browns (5-2). Cincinnati rookie Joe Burrow played another terrific game, but again it wasn’t enough. He hit 35 of 47 passes for a season-high 406 yards and three touchdowns, including a 3-yard scoring pass to Giovani Bernard on 4thand-1 to give the Bengals a 34-31 lead with 1:06 left.
Packers 35, Texans 20: Aaron Rodgers threw for 283 yards and four TDs as Green Bay rebounded from its first loss, beating host Houston. Rodgers played a near-flawless game and tied his season high for TD passes. The performance came after he threw two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, with no TDs in a 38-10 loss to Tampa Bay last week. Despite being without leading rusher Aaron Jones and left tackle David Bakhtiari, Green Bay (5-1) had no trouble handling the woeful Texans (1-6). The Packers built a 21-0 lead by halftime. Green Bay’s strong day on offense was aided by a career-high 196 yards receiving by Davante Adams, who had touchdown receptions of 3 and 45 yards.
Bills 18, Jets 10: Josh Allen and the Bills were held out of the end zone for the first time this season, but Tyler Bass tied a franchise record with six field goals and Buffalo ended a twogame skid by beating winless New York in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was the third game in 13 days for the Bills (5-2), who lost to Tennessee and Kansas City before their ugly win against the league-worst Jets (0-7).