BROWNS OVERRUN COWBOYS’ DEFENCE
Beckham Jr. scores three times as Cleveland improves to 3-1
Odell Beckham, Jr. caught two touchdown passes and ran for a third that helped stave off a furious Dallas Cowboys comeback in the fourth quarter Sunday as the Cleveland Browns held on for a 4938 win at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
In upping its record to 3-1 with its third straight victory, Cleveland ran roughshod over Dallas' leaky defence, piling up 307 rushing yards despite losing leading rusher Nick Chubb (knee) in the first half.
Beckham accounted for 50 of those yards on the play that kept the Browns from blowing a 41-14 fourth quarter lead. With 3: 25 remaining, Beckham went right on a reverse, skirted a tackle attempt and used some nice downfield blocking to race into the end zone after Dallas had closed to within 41-38.
Dak Prescott finished with a monstrous stat line, thanks to the late rally. The Cowboys quarterback completed 41 of 58 passes for 502 yards and four touchdowns. His only mistake was an interception by Denzel Ward at the Cleveland four-yard-line with 1:36 left in the game that sealed the outcome.
Dallas (1-3) led 14-7 after a quarter before the Browns completely owned the middle two quarters.
Running at will against a team that has allowed a whopping 126 points in the last three games, Cleveland rattled off 34 straight points.
Kareem Hunt collected a pair of touchdowns in that span on runs of two and 14 yards, while quarterback Baker Mayfield added four- and one- yard scoring strikes to Beckham and Austin Hooper, respectively.
Given a dominant running game, Mayfield didn't have to be spectacular, just efficient. He fulfilled that role, hitting on 19 of 30 attempts for 165 yards with the short touchdown passes and no interceptions.
The Browns' most spectacular passing play came from a receiver. Jarvis Landry initiated scoring on a 37-yard strike off a reverse to Beckham, zinging a perfect pass over tight coverage less than three minutes into the game.
Brady throws five touchdowns to lift Bucs
Tom Brady passed for 369 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 38- 31 win against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.
Five receivers caught touchdowns for the Buccaneers (3-1), led by Mike Evans with seven catches for 122 yards.
Ronald Jones Jr. rushed for 111 yards on 20 carries to lead the Tampa Bay rushing attack, which lost two backup running backs to injury during the game.
Justin Herbert completed 20 of 25 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns for the Chargers (1-3). He was intercepted once.
Brady hit rookie running back Ke'shawn Vaughn for a nine- yard touchdown to give Tampa Bay a 3531 lead with 11:05 left.
Ryan Succop added a 26- yard field goal with 2: 44 remaining before Carlton Davis sealed the win with an interception.
Brady led the Buccaneers back from a 17- point deficit after they gave up 24 unanswered points in the first half.
Tampa Bay scored on its first drive of the second half on a 28- yard touchdown reception by O. J. Howard to cut the lead to 2421.
Following a missed field goal by Los Angeles, Brady hit Scott Miller for a 19-yard touchdown to give the Buccaneers a 28-24 lead.
Herbert answered back with a 72- yard touchdown pass to Jalen Guyton and the Chargers moved back in front 31-28 with 12 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Chargers scored 24 unanswered points to take a 24-7 lead, but a costly turnover just before halftime allowed Tampa Bay to cut the deficit to 10 at the break on a six- yard touchdown catch by Evans, who has a touchdown in five straight games, a franchise record.
Herbert threw first- half touchdown passes to rookies Tyron Johnson and Donald Parham Jr.
According to Elias, Parham and Johnson are the third teammates to score a touchdown on their first NFL receptions in the past 40 years.
The Chargers lost leading rusher Austin Ekeler to a hamstring injury late in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Buccaneers tight end O. J. Howard is believed to have suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, head coach Bruce Arians announced after the game.
Howard had three receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown before he left the game in the second half. The 25- year- old Howard is in his fourth season with Tampa Bay, which selected him in the first round ( No. 19 overall) out of Alabama in 2017. He has 105 receptions for 1,602 yards and 14 touchdowns with the Bucs.
The absence of Howard could increase the importance of Rob Gronkowski in the Tampa Bay passing game. Gronkowski had one catch for 29 yards on Sunday, giving him nine receptions for 88 yards on the season.