Browns off to best start in 26 years
Baker Mayfield passed for a seasonhigh 247 yards and two TDs against the NFL’s No. 1 defense, Myles Garrett forced a crucial safety in the fourth quarter and the Cleveland Browns held on for a 32-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Cleveland improved to 4-1 for the first time since 1994.
Mayfield made sure the Browns kept the momentum going in their first game without Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb, who sprained his knee last week. Mayfield, though, appeared to hurt his right hand in the fourth quarter.
Cheered on by 12,000 fans inside FirstEnergy Stadium, Mayfield threw TD passes to Kareem Hunt and Rashard Higgins in the first half while rolling up 228 yards passing. The Colts’ defense came in allowing the fewest passing yards, points and led the NFL in interceptions. The Colts fell to 3-2 on the season.
The Browns seemed to be in total control when safety Ronnie Harrison picked off Philip Rivers and returned it 47 yards for a TD in the third quarter to give Cleveland a 27-10 lead.
But Colts returner Isaiah Rodgers brought back the ensuing kickoff 101 yards for a TD — the longest play in the league this season. Then the Browns turned to their defense and a huge run by backup running back D’Ernest Johnson to finish the job.
TEXANS 30, JAGUARS 14 >> Deshaun Watson threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns and Houston got its first win of the season in the wake of coach Bill O’Brien’s firing.
O’Brien, who was also the general manager, was let go on Monday after the Texans fell to 0- 4 last weekend. Romeo Crennel was named interim coach and at 73 he become the oldest coach in NFL history, passing Hall of Famer George Halas, who was 72 in his last game with the Bears in 1967. PANTHERS 23, FALCONS 16 >> Teddy Bridgewater threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, Juston Burris made a huge interception in the end zone, and Carolina held on for a victory over winless Atlanta, finishing off coach Dan Quinn’s time with the Falcons.
Quinn was fired in his sixth season as the Falcons coach. The Falcons also fired general manager Thomas Dimitroff. The Falcons dropped to 0-5 for the first time since 1997.
Carolina (3-2) built a 20-7 halftime lead behind Bridgewater’s TD passes of 57 yards to D. J. Moore and 3 yards to Mike Davis, drawing boos that could be heard even from a sparse, socially distanced crowd of 6,656 at 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium. RAVENS 27, BENGALS 3 >> Baltimore sacked Joe Burrow seven times, forced the rookie into a pair of turnovers and stuffed Cincinnati’s running game in a meticulous victory.
The Ravens’ stout defensive performance was punctuated by Patrick Queen’s 52-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter. It was the first NFL touchdown for Queen, who played with Burrow last year at LSU.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson went 19 for 37 for 180 yards and two TDs. CARDINALS 30, JETS 10 >> Kyler Murray ran for a touchdown and threw another to DeAndre Hopkins as Arizona snapped a two-game losing streak and kept New York winless.
Murray had a 2-yard TD run and hit Hopkins on a 37-yard strike on a day the Cardinals (3-2) had 496 yards in total offense.