Brady leads Patriots past Rodgers’ Packers
Tom Brady threw for 294 yards and a touchdown, and James White ran for two scores to lead the New England Patriots to a 31-17 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.
It was the sixth straight victory for the Patriots (72).
Rodgers completed 24 of 43 passes and two touchdowns in his second career matchup with Brady.
It was 17-all late in the third quarter when Aaron Jones fumbled for Green Bay (3-4-1).
New England receiver Julian Edelman hit White on a 37-yard catch-andrun to set up White’s second score, a 1-yard run. On the Patriots next possession, Brady connected with Josh Gordon for a 55yard TD.
PANTHERS 42, BUCCANEERS 28 >> Cam Newton completed 19 of 25 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns, Christian McCaffrey racked up 157 yards from scrimmage and scored twice and the Panthers built an early lead and held on to beat the Buccaneers for their 10th straight home win.
McCaffrey had 17 carries for 79 yards and five catches for 78 yards and turned in the play of the game when he leaped over a defender after a reception in the flat and kept going, turning it into a 32-yard gain.
The Panthers (6-2) scored touchdowns on five straight possessions during the first half to build a commanding 35-7 lead before the Buccaneers battled back to within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, who finished with 243 yards passing and four touchdowns.
CHIEFS 37, BROWNS 21 >> Patrick Mahomes passed for 375 yards, threw three touchdown passes — two to Travis Kelce — and continued the best start by an NFL quarterback in 68 years as Kansas City’s impossible-to-handle offense kept rolling with a win over the Browns, who played their first game since coach Hue Jackson’s firing.
Kareem Hunt had two scoring runs and one receiving for the Chiefs (81), who came in averaging 36.3 points per game with an offense overloaded with weapons for Mahomes.
The 23-year-old used all of them in winning his first pro matchup against Baker Mayfield and the Browns (2-6-1). Mahomes and Mayfield didn’t match their epic college meeting in 2016, when they combined for more than 1,700 yards in offense. But the Chiefs put on another impressive offensive show with 499 total yards, averaging 8.6 per snap.
BEARS 41, BILLS 9 >> Jordan Howard scored two touchdowns and the Bears’ defense had two others in a win over the Bills in what proved to be another comedy of errors for Buffalo and its anemic offense.
The Bears won their second in a row and improved to 5-3 to match their best start to a season through eight games since 2013. Chicago also matched its win total from last year. Chicago’s defense forced four takeaways, and limited the Bills to 264 yards offense despite missing star linebacker Khalil Mack, who missed his second straight game with an injury to his right ankle.
The Bills continued their bumbling ways in dropping to 2-7.
TEXANS 19, BRONCOS 17 >> Brandon McManus missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired, leaving Demaryius Thomas a winner in his homecoming and Houston escaped Denver with a win. The Texans (6-3) won their sixth straight and the Broncos (3-6) lost for the sixth time in seven games. STEELERS 23, RAVENS 16 >> James Conner rushed for 107 yards and caught a TD pass for the Steelers (5-2-1), who have won four straight since falling to the Ravens at home on Sept. 30.
Roethlisberger went 28 for 47 for 270 yards. His 1-yard run put Pittsburgh up 20-6 in the third quarter, and the 36-year-old showed his grit by missing only one play after being flattened during a sprint from the pocket with just over 13 minutes left. VIKINGS 24, LIONS 9 >> Danielle Hunter had 3½ of Minnesota’s franchise-record 10 sacks and a fourthquarter fumble return for a touchdown, making for a miserable afternoon for Matthew Stafford and the Lions. The Vikings (5-3-1) limited the Lions to 214 total yards.
DOLPHINS 13, JETS 6 >> Rookie linebacker Jerome Baker intercepted Sam Darnold and scored the only touchdown on a 25-yard return with 11 minutes left, and a resilient defense helped the hobbled Dolphins (5-4) endure another wave of injuries.
Darnold threw four interceptions and took four sacks, and the Jets went 2 for 13 on third down. The Jets (3-6) lost their third in a row and have scored 33 points during the skid. FALCONS 38, WASHINGTON 14 >> Julio Jones ended his 12game touchdown drought, Matt Ryan threw for 350 yards and four scores and Atlanta extended its winning streak to three games.
Jones caught seven passes for 121 yards with the biggest coming on a 35-yard screen pass with just under four minutes left that sealed the victory. Ryan completed 26 of his 38 passes against NFC East-leading Washington (5-3).