Saints beat Panthers with last-second field goal
New Orleans holds off Panthers in home triumph
Wil Lutz kicked a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give the host New Orleans Saints a 34-31 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
Drew Brees passed for 311 yards and three touchdowns and drove the Saints (9-2) 65 yards in less than two minutes to set up Lutz’s kick.
Michael Thomas, the NFL’S leading receiver, caught 10 of Brees’s passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. He reached 100 pass receptions for the third consecutive season on a first-quarter catch. He later surpassed 1,200 receiving yards for the season, making him the fifth player in NFL history to reach that total and 100 catches in three consecutive seasons.
New Orleans took possession after Joey Slye was wide right on a 28-yard field goal attempt. Slye also missed two extra points and the Panthers, 5-6 after losing for the fourth time in five games, missed a two-point conversion.
Kyle Allen virtually matched Brees by completing 23 of 36 for 256 yards and three touchdowns. D.J. Moore caught six passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
Christian Mccaffrey caught nine passes for 69 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown.
The Saints extended their 17-15 halftime lead when Brees threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jared Cook on New Orleans’ first possession of the third quarter.
Slye kicked a 52-yard field goal for Carolina before Brees threw a three-yard touchdown to Thomas.
Mccaffrey ran four yards for a touchdown that cut the Saints lead to 31-24 at the end of the third quarter.
Allen threw a two-yard, fourthdown touchdown pass to Moore to tie the score with 9:23 remaining.
Rashaad Penny rushed for a career-high 129 yards and a touchdown as the Seattle Seahawks beat the host Philadelphia Eagles 17-9 on a windy afternoon.
Seattle’s defence, without Allpro defensive end Jadeveon Clowney because of a hip injury, forced five turnovers — four by Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz (two interceptions, two fumbles).
The Eagles’ offence struggled with four starters sidelined by injury — running back Jordan Howard (shoulder), wide receivers Alshon Jeffery (ankle) and Nelson Agholor (knee) and All-pro right tackle Lane Johnson (concussion).
Philadelphia’s only touchdown came on a two-yard pass from Wentz to tight end Zack Ertz with 22 seconds remaining. Wentz completed 33 of 45 passes for 256 yards for the Eagles (5-6), who suffered their second loss in a row. Miles Sanders rushed for 63 yards on 12 carries and Ertz caught 12 passes for 91 yards.
Russell Wilson was 13-of-25 for 200 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks (9-2), who remained unbeaten in six road games this season.
Sam Darnold threw two short touchdown passes and ran for a third score Sunday afternoon as the New York Jets extended their winning streak to three games with a 34-3 shellacking of the visiting Oakland Raiders.
Brian Poole returned a Derek Carr interception 15 yards for the final points of the game for the Jets (4-7), who had beaten the New York Giants and Washington Redskins in their previous two games.
Carr was benched late in the third quarter after having thrown for just 127 yards for the Raiders (6-5), who needed a win to tie idle Kansas City (7-4) atop the AFC West.
Jameis Winston shrugged off two first quarter interceptions to throw for 313 yards and three touchdowns as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dumped the Falcons 35-22 in Atlanta.
Chris Godwin enjoyed a monster game for Tampa Bay (4-7), catching seven passes for 184 yards and two scores. The Bucs’ defence, last in the league against the pass, applied the clinching blow when Ndamukong Suh recovered a fumble and rumbled six yards for a touchdown with 3:06 left in the game.
Matt Ryan went 23-of-46 for 271 yards with an interception for the Falcons (3-8), who fell into last place in the NFC South.