Cousins, Vikings rally past Broncos
The Minnesota Vikings erased a 20-0 halftime deficit with touchdowns on each of their four drives in the second half, fending off the Denver Broncos by forcing three straight incomplete passes in the end zone over the final 10 seconds to preserve a 27-23 victory on Sunday.
This was the first time in five years — a span of 100 games including the playoffs — that an NFL team won after trailing by 20 or more points after two quarters.
Kirk Cousins went 29 for 35 for 319 yards and three scores for the Vikings (8-3), overcoming a system-wide failure in the first half that included a lost fumble of his during a sack that led to one of three field goals by Brandon McManus for the Broncos (3-7).
Cousins hit Stefon Diggs for a 54-yard touchdown pass that brought the crowd noise to a deafening level and cut the lead to 23-20. McManus went wide right from 41 yards on his fourth attempt, and Cousins found Kyle Rudolph wide open for a 32-yard score on the next possession with 6:10 left.
Ravens 41, Texans 7 — Lamar Jackson threw four touchdown passes, ran for 86 yards and helped Baltimore roll to its sixth straight victory, over Houston.
The game was billed as a matchup between first-place AFC teams and two of the best double-threat quarterbacks in the NFL.
Jackson and the Baltimore defense made it a one-sided affair, and the Ravens (8-2) are riding their longest winning streak since a sevengame run in 2000, their first Super Bowl season.
After throwing three touchdown passes to put
Baltimore up 21-0 in the third quarter, Jackson followed with his most impressive play of the day: a 39yard run in which he broke six tackles, weaving through the Houston secondary as if playing keep-away with the football.
Saints 34, Buccaneers 17 — Drew Brees threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns to lead New Orleans over Tampa Bay.
The NFC South leaders (8-2) rebounded from a 26-9 loss to struggling Atlanta, with NFL receptions leader Michael Thomas becoming the first player in league history with 90-plus catches in the first 10 games of a season and Brees tossing TD passes of 16 yards to Thomas, 3 yards to Jared Cook and 6 yards to Ted Ginn Jr. after being held out of the end zone by the Falcons.
Colts 33, Jaguars 13 — Jacoby Brissett threw one touchdown pass, ran for another score and used an impressive ground game to get Indianapolis back on track with a victory over Jacksonville.
The Colts (6-4) ended a two-game losing streak and pulled back into a tie with Houston for the AFC South lead.
Jacksonville (4-6) has lost four of six, this one coming despite the return of starting quarterback Nick Foles. He had missed the previous eight games with a broken left collarbone.
Bills 37, Dolphins 20 — Josh Allen tied a career high with three touchdown passes and ran for another score to help the Buffalo complete a season sweep of Miami.
Allen’s TD tosses covered 40 and 9 yards to John Brown, and 23 yards to Dawson Knox. Allen also scored on an 8-yard run, and he had a 36-yard run to set up a field goal.
Miami couldn’t keep up against Buffalo’s smothering defense. The Bills totaled a season-high seven sacks and allowed only 23 yards rushing.
The victory gave the Bills (7-3) their best 10-game record since 1999, but they won for only the second time in the past four games.
Falcons 29, Panthers 3 — Atlanta intercepted Kyle
Allen four times and sacked him five times, Kenjon Barner returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown and the Falcons defeated Carolina for their second straight lopsided win against an NFC South foe.
The Falcons (3-7) had only two interceptions all season — and none since Week 2 against the Eagles — but intercepted Allen three times in the first half to build a 20-0 lead.
Matt Ryan improved to 7-1 in his past eight starts against the Panthers, throwing for 311 yards including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley.
Jets 34, Redskins 17 — Sam Darnold more than made up for an ill-timed interception by throwing for 293 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, and New York routed rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins and Washington for its second consecutive victory.
Darnold was 19 of 30 passing and tossed touchdowns to Daniel Brown, Robby Anderson, Ryan Griffin and former Redskins receiver Jamison Crowder. Despite getting picked off deep in his own territory by Jon Bostic, the 2018 third overall pick bounced back and now has 11 TDs and 10 INTs this season.
49ers 36, Cardinals 26 — Jimmy Garoppolo threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Wilson Jr. with 31 seconds left for his fourth TD pass of the game and the San Francisco 49ers rallied for a victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Garoppolo connected with Wilson over the middle for the go-ahead score one play after the Niners (9-1) narrowly converted on a third-and-3 pass that went to replay review.
Instead of being ruled short and having to decide whether to kick a tying field goal or go for it on fourth down, San Francisco had a new set of downs and took advantage on Wilson’s first career touchdown catch.
Raiders 17, Bengals 10 —Derek Carr passed for 292 yards and a touchdown, Josh Jacobs had his fourth 100yard game in the last six weeks, and the Oakland Raiders beat the winless Cincinnati Bengals.
Maxx Crosby had a team rookie-record four sacks as the Raiders harassed Bengals rookie quarterback Ryan Finley and shut down Cincinnati’s offense after Joe Mixon had given it a lift in the first half.