Miami, Detroit are 9-3
Dolphins rout Commanders; Lions beat Saints
LANDOVER, Md. — Tyreek Hill wasn't surprised to see just one defender covering him. After catching a 78-yard touchdown pass, he was plenty thankful.
“I just appreciate it,” he said. “Thanks for not respecting me, I guess.”
Hill had two touchdowns among his five catches for 157 yards, and he and the Miami Dolphins routed the Washington Commanders 45-15 Sunday to pad their lead atop the AFC East and get to 9-3 for the first time since 2001.
A year after losing five in a row once the calendar flipped to December, Tua Tagovailoa and Co. are determined to avoid another late-season swoon. This was a good start.
“Everyone is locked in,” said Tagovailoa, who was 18 of 24 for 280 yards and the TD passes of 78 and 60 yards to Hill. “Everyone knows that we can do something special this year, and no one on our team is trying to miss that opportunity.”
De'Von Achane ran for two touchdowns in his return after missing five of the past six games with a knee injury. Raheem Mostert also had a rushing TD for Miami's league-leading offense that put up 406 yards.
Tagovailoa was also turnover-free after giving the ball away four times over the past two games.
“To be that aggressive while having that burden of frustration was exactly what you hope for from your starting quarterback,” coach Mike McDaniel said.
In extending their winning streak to three, the Dolphins even got scoring from their defense, thanks to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel's 33-yard pick-6 of Sam Howell late in the first quarter. They also sacked Howell three times in the first game without Jaelan Phillips, who's out for the season after tearing his right Achilles tendon in Miami's last game at the New York Jets.
“I don't think they wanted anything to do with letting Jaelan down,” McDaniel said. "I think they did enough to make Jaelan smile"."
Washington (4-9) had no answer for Hill in the first game with coach Ron Rivera calling the defensive plays following his decision to fire coordinator Jack Del Rio. Hill, the NFL's leading receiver who also has the most TD catches with 12, remains on track to break Calvin Johnson's record for the most yards receiving in a season and become the first to reach 2,000.
“I believe I am having my best season,” Hill said. “Even if I didn't have the numbers, I feel like I'm doing a good job being in the right spot for the quarterback, I'm doing a great job blocking and just understanding this whole offense.”
Howell, who ran for two touchdowns while going 12 of 23 for 127 yards, is on pace for a more dubious record: the most sacks taken in a season. He's up to 58 — David Carr set the record with 76 in 2002 — leads the league in interceptions with 14 and has had one returned for a TD in three consecutive games.
The Commanders lost a fourth game in a row and have been outscored 90-25 over the past two. They've lost nine of 11 since opening the season with back-to-back victories.
"We can't do the things we did and expect to win," Rivera said. “We didn't really give ourselves a chance.”
Miami was so convincingly ahead that McDaniel pulled Tagovailoa, Hill and many of the offensive skill players early in the fourth quarter. Backup Mike White led a touchdown drive in garbage time.
“It's a beautiful thing,” Hill said of being 9-3. “But the way that this league is, if you somehow get complacent, if you start feeling yourself, it can catch up with you fast.”
After Hill's first TD catch, he and several Dolphins players celebrated by sitting in the end zone and pretending they were on a roller coaster. The pantomiming even included offensive lineman Robert Hunt strapping his teammates in and making sure their seatbelts were fastened correctly.
Hill credited Hunt, Jaylen Waddle and River Cracraft for coming up with the idea Friday.
“That was 10 out of 10," Tagovailoa said. “I loved it.
Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy could be seen yelling at Howell on the sideline after the QB's pick-6 that looked like a screen pass right to Van Ginkel. Howell talked glowingly about Bieniemy's growth as a play-caller this season, and the two have worked closely together since offseason workouts.
McDaniel won his first game back at FedEx Field as a head coach. McDaniel spent three seasons as a Washington assistant from 2011-13 under Mike Shanahan.
Lions 33, Saints 28: Sam LaPorta had career highs of nine catches for 140 yards, including an early touchdown and a crucial first-down snag in the final minutes, and visiting Detroit defeated reeling New Orleans to post their best record through 12 games since 1962.
The Saints lost quarterback Derek Carr in the fourth quarter to back, shoulder and head injuries. Carr was hurt on a penalized hit by Bruce Irvin, who drove the weight of his body into the quarterback.
Jared Goff passed for 213 yards and two TDs for the Lions (9-3), who raced to a threetouchdown lead and then held off a valiant comeback bid by the Saints. New Orleans (5-7) fell one game behind first-place Atlanta in the league's weakest division, the NFC South.
After falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter, the Saints pulled as close as 24-21 late in the third. The Saints also had the ball at midfield with a chance to take the lead in the final three minutes, but turned the ball over on downs when Jameis Winston threw behind Chris Olave.
Detroit was able to run out the clock from there, thanks to first-down catches by LaPorta and Josh Reynolds.
The Saints turned the ball over twice and both were costly.
Carr was intercepted on the Saints' first offensive play of the game. He also lost a fumble in the fourth quarter when left guard James Hurst inadvertently knocked the ball from Carr's hands as the quarterback gathered the snap on the New Orleans 25 and turned as if to hand off. The Lions converted both takeaways into touchdowns.
Tracy Walker recovered Carr's fumble, setting up Jameson Williams' 19-yard touchdown run on a reverse to make it 33-21.
The Saints got back within one score with 7:30 to go when Alvin Kamara, who had 109 yards and two TDs from scrimmage, scored his 53rd career TD rushing to set a new franchise mark.
The Lions roared out of the gate, tying a franchise record with 21 first-quarter points.
David Montgomery's short run made it 7-0, capping a drive highlighted by Jahmyr Gibbs' 32-yard run to the New Orleans 2.
Next came Lions defensive back Brian Branch's interception on a pass tipped by tight end Juwan Johnson, setting up Goff's 13-yard scoring pass to LaPorta.
Goff's 29-yard completion to LaPorta set up his 25-yard scoring strike to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who also passed Calvin Johnson for most yards receiving by a Lion in his first three seasons.
Long-suffering Lions fans traveled en masse for a chance to see their team post its best record through 12 games in six decades. Detroit started 10-2 in 1962.
The “Honolulu blue” of the Lions' color scheme was prevalent across the Superdome stands and there were moments when chants of “Lets go Lions!” reverberated throughout the stadium.
Detroit, which hasn't made the playoffs since the 2016 season, has a comfortable lead in the NFC North.
Texans 22, Broncos 17: Nico Collins had a career-high 191 yards receiving and a fourthquarter touchdown, and Jimmie Ward intercepted Denver's Russell Wilson in the end zone with 9 seconds left to left to help host Houston hold on.
Ward leapt in front of intended receiver Lucas Krull to secure the fourth victory in five games for Houston (7-5) and snap a five-game winning streak for Denver (6-6).
Wilson was intercepted a season-high three times, all of them after halftime. Derek Stingley Jr. had the first two picks for the Texans. The Broncos had forced 15 turnovers in their winning streak but did not have a takeaway Sunday.
Houston rookie C.J. Stroud threw for 274 yards to end a streak of four straight games with at least 300 yards passing. Star rookie receiver Tank Dell injured his ankle in the first half and was carted off the field.
Texans rookie defensive end Will Anderson Jr., the third overall pick in the draft, had the best game of his young career. The former Alabama star had two sacks, four quarterback hits, deflected one of the balls that Stingley intercepted and deflected a punt.
Colts 31, Titans 28 (OT):
Gardner Minshew threw a 4yard touchdown pass to Michael Pittman with 2:31 left in overtime and visiting Indianapolis won its fourth in a row pace in the playoff race in the AFC.
The Colts (7-5) had to score a touchdown after Nick Folk made a 46-yard field goal with 4:19 left in overtime to put Tennessee up. Indianapolis came in holding the seventh and last spot in the AFC.
Tennessee (4-8) lost its first true home game this season and has yet to win consecutive games overall.
The Titans not only blew a 17-7 lead, but Folk missed his first extra point this season with 5:26 left in regulation that could have put Tennessee up 26-25. Backup quarterback Ryan Tannehill had to fill in with Ryan Stonehouse knocked out of the game early in the fourth quarter with an injured left leg.
Special teams helped the Colts score 10 points off Nick Cross' blocked punt that Grant Stuard returned 18 yards for a TD late in the third quarter. Then Tony Brown forced a fumble on Stonehouse's next punt attempt