49ers beat Vikings 34-26 for 3rd straight win
SANTA CLARA — Deebo Samuel ran for two touchdowns before leaving with an injury and Elijah Mitchell ran for 133 yards and a score, leading the San Francisco 49ers to a 34-26 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
The matchup between two .500 teams fighting for wild-card spots was a highly entertaining one with six scores in the third quarter alone, including a 99-yard kickoff return score by Minnesota’s Kene Nwangwu.
But the 49ers made just enough plays, including a fourth-down stop near the goal line midway through the fourth quarter to win their third straight following a stretch of five losses in six games.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 230 yards and a TD, but the Niners once again did more of their work on the ground with Samuel’s two scores making him the first receiver since the merger to run for five TDs in a season. Samuel had six carries for 66 yards and also caught one pass for 15 yards before leaving with a groin injury.
San Francisco finished with 208 yards rushing on 39 carries.
Kirk Cousins threw for 238 yards and two TDs to Adam Thielen for the Vikings.
BRONCOS 28, CHARGERS 13
DENVER — Rookie Patrick Surtain II picked off Justin Herbert twice, returning the second one 70 yards for a touchdown. The Broncos’ big win sets up a showdown for the AFC West lead next weekend in Kansas City, where the game between Denver and the Chiefs already was flexed to Sunday night.
Surtain’s first interception came in the end zone on a pass intended for tight end Jared Cook early in the fourth quarter. The Broncos converted that takeaway into a touchdown when Teddy Bridgewater hit tight end Eric Saubert from 9 yards to make it 21-7.
His second one came off the hands of Austin Ekeler, who watched helplessly as Surtain cradled his second interception and sprinted down the Broncos’ jubilant sideline to push Denver’s lead to 28-7.
BUCCANEERS 38, COLTS 31
INDIANAPOLIS — Leonard Fournette capped a four-touchdown game with a 28-yard scoring run with 20 seconds left giving Tampa Bay a come-from-behind victory at Indianapolis.
Tom Brady led the Buccaneers on the eight-play, 75-yard tiebreaking drive after getting the ball back with 3:29 to go. Fournette rushed 17 times for 100 yards and three scores. He also caught Brady’s only touchdown pass.
Indy had a chance to force overtime when Isaiah Rodgers returned the kickoff 71 yards to the Bucs 32-yard line with 10 seconds left. But Carson Wentz’s first pass to Jack Doyle fell incomplete and former Colts cornerback Pierre Desir picked off Wentz near the goal line as time expired.
BENGALS 41, STEELERS 10
CINCINNATI — Joe Mixon rushed for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns, Joe Burrow scrambled for a score and passed for another one and the Bengals swept the season series for the first time since 2009.
Mixon, coming off a rugged 123-yard, two-TD performance in a win over Las Vegas last week, pounded away for 117 yards in the first half. He helped the Bengals cruise to a third straight win over their AFC North rival after losing 11 straight in the series.
PATRIOTS 36, TITANS 13
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Mac Jones threw two touchdown passes, New England’s defense forced four turnovers and the Patriots earned their sixth straight win.
Jones completed 23 of 32 passes for 310 yards. Kendrick Bourne had both of the Patriots’ TD receptions, finishing with five catches for 61 yards.
The Titans stayed close early, but couldn’t survive a bevy of errors that included three fumbles by their running backs and an interception by Ryan Tannehill. He finished 11 of 21 for 93 yards and a touchdown.
GIANTS 13, EAGLES 7
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Giants’ defense rose up to intercept Jalen Hurts three times and held Philadelphia to a season-low in points in beating the error-prone Eagles.
Daniel Jones hit Philadelphia native Chris Myarick with a 1-yard score and Graham Gano kicked field goals of 35 and 39 yards as the Giants somewhat responded to the firing of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett by ending the Eagles’ two-game winning streak.
DOLPHINS 33, PANTHERS 10
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla — Jaylen Waddle had nine catches for a season-best 137 yards and a touchdown, and the Dolphins forced Cam Newton into one of the worst statistical days of his career.
Myles Gaskin had two short rushing scores for Miami, the sixth team in NFL history to immediately follow a 1-7 start with four consecutive wins. Duke Riley blocked a punt that led to a score for Miami.
Jaelan Phillips had three of the Dolphins’ five sacks, and Nik Needham, Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland had interceptions for Miami.
FALCONS 21, JAGUARS 14
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cordarrelle Patterson scored twice in his return from an ankle injury, and the Falcons found the end zone and the win column for the first time in three weeks.
The Falcons managed just a field goal in their previous two games, lopsided losses to Dallas and New England in which they turned over the ball a combined seven times and failed to score a touchdown in consecutive games for the first time since 1987.
They put an emphasis on playing “smarter football” against Jacksonville, and it paid off. It surely helped that the Jaguars made all the early mistakes.
JETS 21, TEXANS 14
HOUSTON — Zach Wilson threw for 145 yards and ran for a touchdown in his return from a sprained right knee, helping the Jets snap a three-game skid.
Wilson, the No. 2 overall draft pick in April who missed the last four games, was rusty early and threw an interception, but put the Jets on top with a 4-yard scamper in the third quarter.
RAVENS 16, BROWNS 10
BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson provided one brilliant highlight during an otherwise subpar performance and his 13-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews in the third quarter was enough to lift Baltimore to a victory over Cleveland.
Jackson threw a career-high four interceptions in this mistake-filled game, but the only touchdown for Baltimore was memorable. Dogged by Cleveland’s pass rush all night, Jackson scrambled all the way back to about the 35-yard line before lofting a pass over the middle to a remarkably open Andrews in the end zone.
That made it 13-3, and the Ravens held on to take over the top spot in the AFC standings.