Brees, Saints stay hot, tame Bengals
Drew Brees threw three touchdown passes in the first half, moving ahead of Brett Favre for second place on the career list, and the New Orleans Saints rolled to their eighth straight victory, 51-14, against the Bengals yesterday in Cincinnati.
Brees led the Saints to touchdowns on all five firsthalf possessions with a nearly perfect performance — only two incompletions. His 17-yard TD to Michael Thomas with 2 seconds left in the half gave him 509 career touchdown passes, one more than Favre.
Up next: Peyton Manning’s record 539.
Brees had his way with the Bengals’ historically bad defense, even diving over the pile to score a 1-yard touchdown. Cincinnati became the first team in the Super Bowl era to give up 500 yards in three consecutive games; New Orleans finished with 509.
The Bengals matched the most lopsided defeat in franchise history.
Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara recognized Dez Bryant by crossing their arms after scoring touchdowns. The former Cowboys receiver signed with the Saints on Wednesday but tore an Achilles tendon in his second practice. Rams 36, Seahawks 31 — Brandin Cooks rushed for a 9-yard touchdown with 5:49 to play on the first snap after Dante Fowler forced and recovered a fumble by Russell Wilson, and host Los Angeles bounced back from its first loss of the season by beating Seattle.
Jared Goff passed for 318 yards and two TDs, and Todd Gurley rushed for 120 yards and a score as the Rams (9-1) swept the season series with their division rivals.. Chiefs 26, Cardinals 14 — Sensational rookie Patrick Mahomes threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns, outplaying counterpart Josh Rosen in a matchup of two of the NFL’s bright young quarterbacks, and host Kansas City held off Arizona.
Mahomes threw both TD passes to Tyreek Hill, the second giving the Chiefs’ first-year starter 31 for the season. That broke the franchise record set by Len Dawson in 1964 — with plenty of games to go. Cowboys 27, Eagles 20 — Ezekiel Elliott had 151 yards rushing and his go-ahead 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter helped Dallas win in Philadelphia.
The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles fell to 4-5 with their third straight loss at home while the Cowboys improved to 4-5.
Dak Prescott had 270 yards passing for Dallas. Browns 28, Falcons 16 — Baker Mayfield threw a season-high three touchdown passes and rookie Nick Chubb streaked 92 yards for a TD as host Cleveland ended a four-game losing streak by upsetting Atlanta.
The Browns (3-6-1) played their most complete game this season under interim coach Gregg Williams. Packers 31, Dolphins 12 — Aaron Jones ran for career highs of 145 yards and two scores, Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams connected for two touchdown passes and host Green Bay had no trouble with Miami.
Bills 41, Jets 10 — Matt Barkley stunningly sparked a bumbling offense with two touchdown passes, including one to offensive tackle Dion Dawkins, LeSean McCoy broke out of a season-long slump with 113 yards rushing and a pair of TD runs and Buffalo embarrassed New York in East Rutherford, N.J.
Bears 34, Lions 22 — Mitchell Trubisky threw for 355 yards and three touchdowns, and NFC Northleading Chicago beat visiting Detroit to snap a 10game losing streak against division opponents.
The Bears had dropped 9-of-10 against Detroit and earned their first victory against a division opponent since Oct. 31, 2016. Redskins 16, Buccaneers 3 — Alex Smith threw for 178 yards and one touchdown to lead Washington to a win in Tampa, Fla.
Dustin Hopkins kicked three field goals for the Redskins (6-3), who forced four turnovers. Colts 29, Jaguars 26 — Andrew Luck threw three TD passes in the first half and host Indianapolis forced a late turnover to preserve a win against Jacksonville.
Indy (4-5) has won three straight. Tight end Eric Ebron had a career-high three TDs, one on a 2-yard run, all in the first half. Chargers 20, Raiders 6 — Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes, Melvin Gordon gained 165 total yards and visiting Los Angeles won its sixth straight, shutting down Oakland.