Cowboys pull even with Eagles
Dak Prescott threw for two touchdowns, Brandon Aubrey made four field goals to start his career a record 30 for 30, and the Cowboys pulled even in the NFC East with their 15th consecutive home victory, 33-13 over the Eagles Sunday night.
The Cowboys (10-3) weren't deterred by Jalen Carter's 42-yard fumble return for a touchdown, winning their fifth consecutive game since a loss at Philadelphia that gave the Eagles a two-game division lead.
The Eagles (10-3) lost three fumbles and didn't score an offensive touchdown as quarterback Jalen Hurts, who had the first fumble, lost consecutive games for the first time since October 2021.
While the Cowboys currently hold the tiebreaker with an extra NFC East victory, the Eagles would take the division title on subsequent tiebreakers if they win their remaining four games.
Aubrey became the first kicker with two of at least 59 yards in the same game, connecting from 60 yards late in the first quarter. His 59-yarder in the third allowed Aubrey to surpass Greg Zuerlein and Harrison Butker, who each had a pair from at least 58 yards.
The 28-year-old rookie added a 45-yarder in the fourth and another from 50 in the final two minutes, extending his NFL record for perfection to start a career.
Bears 28, Lions 13 — Justin Fields threw for a touchdown and ran for another, and the Bears played their most impressive game of the season, beating the NFC Northleading Lions, 28-13, in Chicago. Receiver DJ Moore had his first career rushing touchdown and caught a scoring pass to help Chicago (5-8) win for the third time in four games. The Bears scored 15 points in a span of about seven minutes to break open a game that was tied at 13-all late in the third quarter. They got the payback they were seeking after giving up 17 points over the final 2:59 in a 31-26 loss at Detroit three weeks earlier. Detroit’s Jared Goff threw two interceptions, lost a fumbled snap, and was sacked four times. The Lions (9-4), who looked like a Super Bowl threat not long ago, have lost two of three. Fields completed 19 of 33 passes for 223 yards. He also ran for 58 yards, giving him 2,021 in his career and joining Bobby Douglass (2,470) as the only Bears quarterbacks with 2,000 yards rushing.
Bengals 34, Colts 14 — Jake Browning threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in his second straight outstanding performance for Cincinnati (7-6), which continues to hang in playoff contention without Joe Burrow. Browning followed up a 354yard outing last Monday by completing 18 of 24 passes for 275 yards with an interception against Indianapolis (7-6), which had its four-game win streak snapped. Gardner Minshew threw for 240 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Colts, whose first four second-half possessions ended with two punts, a pick thrown by Minshew, and a failed fourth-down attempt. The Bengals broke a 14-all tie with an 11yard TD grab by Tanner Hudson and a 1-yard keeper by Browning. 49ers 28, Seahawks 16 — In Santa Clara, Calif., Deebo Samuel scored on a catch and a run and San Francisco (10-3) won its 11th straight division game to reach the brink of back-to-back NFC West titles for the first time since 2011-12. Drew Lock threw two TD passes in his first start since the end of the 2021 season in place of an injured Geno Smith, but couldn’t keep up with the high-powered 49ers. Christian McCaffrey had a 72-yard run on the first play from scrimmage for San Francisco to set up a short TD run by Jordan Mason. Brock Purdy and Samuel took over from there after Purdy (19 for 27 for a career-high 368 yards with two TDs) threw an early interception. Seattle (6-7) has lost four straight games for the first time in 14 seasons under Pete Carroll.
Browns 31, Jaguars 27 — Joe Flacco threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns in his home debut for Cleveland (8-5), which survived a late rally by Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville (8-5), which lost for the first time in seven road games. The 38-year-old Flacco, who regularly beat the Browns while with Baltimore, went 26 of 45 and improved to 10-2 as a starter in Cleveland. Lawrence played despite spraining his right ankle Monday night. He was 28 of 50 and threw a season-high three interceptions, but brought the Jaguars back in the fourth quarter. His third TD pass went to Evan Engram with 1:33 left, but Cleveland’s Myles Garrett sacked Lawrence on the 2-point conversion and the Browns recovered an onside kick to close it out. Broncos 24, Chargers 7 — In Inglewood, Calif., Russell Wilson threw two TD passes and Denver (7-6) made it six wins in seven games as Los Angeles (5-8) lost quarterback Justin Herbert to a broken finger in the first half. Wilson completed 21 of 33 for 224 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown to Courtland Sutton in the third quarter. It was the Broncos’ first road victory against an AFC West foe since beating the Chargers in 2019. Easton Stick completed 13 of 24 passes for 179 yards in Herbert’s place. He had played two NFL snaps in five seasons with Los Angeles before replacing Herbert with 1:52 remaining in the second quarter.
Vikings 3, Raiders 0 — Minnesota and Las Vegas played the lowestscoring NFL game since 2007, with Greg Joseph’s 36-yard field goal with 1:57 left a winner. The Vikings (7-6) had just 230 total yards, and the host Raiders (5-8) — losers of three in a row — were limited to 201 yards and nine first downs. Nick Mullens relieved a struggling Joshua Dobbs at quarterback and led the Vikings on their lone scoring drive. His 22yard completion to Jordan Addison to the Raiders 20 set up Joseph’s kick. Ivan Pace intercepted Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell on the next drive. Minnesota lost wide receiver Justin Jefferson, the 2022 AP Offensive Player of the Year, in the second quarter to a chest injury. Las Vegas lost running back Josh Jacobs to a knee injury in the fourth quarter.
Buccaneers 29, Falcons 25 — Baker Mayfield threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cade Otton with 31 seconds remaining, capping a wild fourth quarter that pushed Tampa Bay (6-7) into first place in the NFC South via tiebreakers. Host Atlanta (6-7) rallied for a 25-22 lead with a pair of TDs in the final period, including Desmond Ridder’s 6-yard scoring run with 3:23 remaining. But Mayfield, who passed for just 144 yards, guided a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive that included a key 32-yard completion to Chris Godwin. Atlanta got one last chance at winning it from the Tampa Bay 31, but Drake London was smothered 3 yards shy of the end zone after hauling in Ridder’s pass down the middle. Younghoe Koo, who had made all but one field goal attempt this year, missed from 50 and 52 yards.
Saints 28, Panthers 6 — Derek Carr returned from a recent concussion and upper body injuries to throw fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Chris Olave and Jimmy Graham, and New Orleans (6-7) pulled even with Atlanta and Tampa Bay atop the feeble NFC South. NFL-worst Carolina (1-12) outgained the hosts, 303-207, but helped with a couple of poorly executed plays on special teams. Johnny Hekker’s punt attempt in the second quarter was smothered by Saints linebacker Nephi Sewell, and D’Marco Jackson scooped up the fumble and returned it 8 yards for a touchdown. While the Saints snapped a threegame skid, frustrated fans in the Superdome didn’t hesitate to boo the offense. Carr had just 37 yards passing through three-plus quarters, and finished just 18 for 26 for 119 yards.