Mayfield pulls off miracle comeback
LOS ANGELES — Four days after Tom Brady rallied Tampa Bay from a 16-3 deficit with three minutes left to stun New Orleans 17-16, Baker Mayfield led the Los Angeles Rams to a 17-16 win over the Las Vegas Raiders after trailing 16-3 with 3:19 to play.
Mayfield needed 19 more seconds, but his feat Thursday night might have been more impressive. The Rams claimed him off waivers from the Carolina Panthers only two days earlier, and Mayfield began studying the playbook on his flight to Los Angeles.
Mayfield found Van Jefferson in the back corner of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left to cap a 98-yard drive, and Matt Gay’s extra point sealed the shocking victory.
“It’s a pretty damn good story,” Mayfield said. “I’ll be honest with you. It’s pretty special.”
The former No. 1 pick came off the bench after the first series and went 22 of 35 for 230 yards, snapping the defending Super Bowl champions’ six-game losing streak in dramatic fashion.
Los Angeles trailed 16-3 after Daniel Carlson’s third field goal with 12:20 to play, but Mayfield engineered a 75-yard drive capped by Cam Akers’ 1-yard TD run with 3:19 left.
After Las Vegas’ AJ Cole dropped a 64-yard punt at the Rams 2 with 1:45 to go, Mayfield led the Rams downfield with no timeouts — helped by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Raiders’ Jerry Tillery for knocking the ball out of his hands after a play.
The drive included a contested 32-yard reception by Ben Skowronek, who finished with seven catches for 89 yards.
Josh Jacobs rushed for 99 yards and the only touchdown for the Raiders (5-8), whose threegame winning streak ended in humiliating fashion. Less than four weeks after Las Vegas lost in former ESPN analyst Jeff Saturday’s NFL coaching debut with Indianapolis, the Raiders lost to a quarterback who joined his new team less than 48 hours before the game.
Barkley appears on injury report
New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (neck) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Barkley was a limited participant in practice Thursday and Friday, but he’s still expected to play this week.