The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
San Francisco rumbles past reeling Rams
Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 243 yards and ran for a touchdown, and the San Francisco 49ers remained unbeaten with a dominant defensive performance in a 20-7 victory over the struggling Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
George Kittle had eight catches for 103 yards for the Niners (5-0), who held Los Angeles’ once-unstoppable offense to 165 yards in coach Kyle Shanahan’s first victory over Rams coach Sean McVay in a game in which both of these NFC West rivals were playing their starters.
These longtime coaching colleagues’ teams are going in opposite directions after this one-sided showdown. San Francisco used its possession offense and a sturdy defense to stay alongside New England as the NFL’s only unbeaten teams, while the Rams (3-3) are on their first three-game losing streak of McVay’s 2½-year tenure.
Tevin Coleman rushed for an early touchdown for San Francisco, while Garoppolo was mostly effective despite two turnovers. The Niners didn’t score a touchdown in the final 27 minutes, but they’re off to their fourth 5-0 start in franchise history, and their first since 1990.
With Todd Gurley sitting out to rest his bruised thigh, Los Angeles couldn’t move the ball in its least productive performance of McVay’s tenure. Robert Woods rushed for a touchdown on the opening drive for the Rams, who then managed 48 net yards on their next eight drives combined.
San Francisco won a defense-dominated game by thoroughly throttling the defending NFC champions’ once-impressive passing game. Jared Goff went 13 of 24 for a career-low 78 yards while failing to get comfortable behind a porous offensive line, and the Rams didn’t manage a completion longer than 12 yards while going 0 for 9 on third down.
The Niners’ offense wasn’t significantly better during a first half in which both teams turned the ball over at the opponents’ 1, but San Francisco capitalized on Rams rookie Darrell Henderson’s fumble on the opening snap of the second half for a short go-ahead TD drive capped by Garoppolo’s sneak.
Seahawks 32, Browns 28: Chris Carson scored on a 1-yard TD run with 3:30 left, Russell Wilson threw two TD passes and ran for one and Seattle rallied past mistakeprone Cleveland, improving to 3-0 on the road for the first time in 39 years. The Seahawks gave up touchdowns on Cleveland’s first three possessions before storming back.
Redskins 17, Dolphins 16: Rookie Terry McLaurin caught two touchdown passes and Washington stopped Miami’s two-point conversion attempt with 6 seconds left in a matchup between winless teams. Washington intercepted Josh Rosen twice and sacked him five times before he was benched with the Dolphins trailing 17-3.
Saints 13, Jaguars 6: Teddy Bridgewater found Jared Cook for a 4-yard TD early in the fourth, and New Orleans held on and improved to 4-0 without injured starter Drew Brees. Coming off a 300-yard, four-touchdown performance against Tampa, Bridgewater was less effective vs. the Jaguars. But he did enough for New Orleans’ defense.
Ravens 23, Bengals 17: Lamar Jackson ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown, threw for 236 yards and guided Baltimore past hapless Cincinnati. Jackson carried 19 times, including three kneel-downs, and finished tantalizingly short of Michael Vick’s singlegame record of 173 yards rushing by a quarterback.
Cardinals 34, Falcons 33: Kyler Murray threw for 340 yards and three TDs and Arizona built a big lead, lost it, and then rallied again. Atlanta looked like it would tie the game with 1:53 left after Matt Ryan hit Devonta Freeman on a 12-yard TD pass, but Matt Bryant missed left on the extra point, and the Cardinals ran out the clock from there.
Broncos 16, Titans 0: Denver’s swarming defense sent Marcus Mariota to the bench and Tennessee to its fourth loss in five games. The Broncos had seven sacks in a game for the first time since their 2015 Super Bowl season and they picked off three passes.The first half featured more flags (10) and punts (11) than points (six).
Panthers 37, Buccaneers 26: In London, Christian McCaffrey scored two TDs and Carolina turned five interceptions by Jameis Winston into 17 points in their fourth straight victory. After starting the season with two straight losses with hobbled Cam Newton at QB, the Panthers have won four straight with Kyle Allen at quarterback.
Texans 31, Chiefs 24: Deshaun Watson threw for 280 yards and a touchdown while running for two more, outdueling Kansas City counterpart Patrick Mahomes in a matchup of former first-round picks and leading Houston over Kansas City on Sunday. Tyreek Hill returned for the first time since Week 1, to catch five passes for 80 yards.
Vikings 38, Eagles 20: Kirk Cousins threw to Stefon Diggs for three of his four TDs, racking up 333 passing yards as Minnesota ravaged Philly’s secondary. Diggs scored on plays that covered 51 and 62 yards, becoming the first player since Randy Moss in 2000 to post two TD receptions of 50-plus yards in one game for the Vikings.