Saints 33, Seahawks 27

Teddy Bridgewater wanted to stay composed. He wanted to remain calm and in control while taking over for the next several weeks with the New Orleans Saints' leader, Drew Brees, sidelined with injury.

But emotions can often be tricky to control. And in the moments before making his first meaningful start since the 2015 playoffs, they all hit Bridgewater.

"I was thinking about the process from the time I was injured up until now and just thinking about all the ones who believed in me and just being back on this stage," Bridgewater said.

Three years removed from a knee injury that nearly ended his career, Bridgewater was an unexpected winner Sunday. He threw two touchdown passes in his first start with Brees out, watched his teammates add TDs on defense and special teams and help lead the Saints to a win over the Seattle Seahawks.

The narrative entering the week centered on whether the Super Bowl hopes of the Saints (2-1) were lost with Brees out following surgery to repair a ligament near his right thumb. The week ended with Bridgewater throwing his hat into the stands as he ran off the field following his first win as a starting quarterback since Jan. 3, 2016, the final week of the 2015 season.

"I said all week Teddy is a leader," Saints running back Alvin Kamara said. "He had composure. He had poise and we got it done."

Bridgewater had started Week 17 last season, but that was a meaningless game. The Saints had their playoff seed wrapped up. Sunday had significance and Bridgewater relished his opportunity.

"You never want to take the game for granted," Bridgewater said. "I think last year what happened, we had the playoff spot locked up. To come into a game like today that has more meaning was one of those games where your emotions are high because the game has meaning, and you haven't experienced this in a long time."

Bridgewater threw a 29-yard touchdown to Kamara late in the first half on a screen pass where the talented running back bounced off several tacklers on his way to the end zone. He added a 1-yard TD toss to Michael Thomas on fourth-and-goal on the first possession of the second half, a drive kept alive by an illegal formation penalty against Seattle on a missed field goal attempt.

But the key for New Orleans was a pair of first-half touchdowns with Bridgewater standing on the sideline.

Deonte Harris took a punt back 53 yards for a score in the first quarter, and Vonn Bell picked up Chris Carson's third lost fumble in three games and returned it 33 yards for a TD in the second quarter.

The two non-offensive touchdowns for New Orleans, plus Seattle's numerous miscues took pressure off Bridgewater. He didn't need to win the game. He simply needed to avoid his own errors, which he did. He got the ball in the hands of his playmakers, Kamara mostly, and didn't take unnecessary risks. Bridgewater completed 19 of 27 passes for 177 yards.

Kamara had nine catches for 92 yards and added another 69 yards rushing.

"He's like a human joystick," Bridgewater said. "You get him the ball he's spinning, he's juking, he's bouncing off of guys."

The Saints took advantage of Seattle's sloppiness and handed the Seahawks (2-1) their first home loss in the month of September under Pete Carroll. Seattle had been 15-0 at home in September since 2010. The first loss will sting after Seattle gave gifts to the Saints all day, whether it was turnovers, untimely penalties, terrible tackling or costly clock management. It was an equation of errors by Seattle that was too much to overcome.

"Just had a really hard time getting out of our own way," Carroll said.

Payton won for the first time in his career without Brees as his quarterback. It was a limited sample size of just three previous games and a stat Payton joked as being "silly" afterward.

"That sells papers. I got it," Payton cracked.

Russell Wilson threw an 8-yard TD to Tyler Lockett in the first half and ran for a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter. His 2-yard TD run early in the fourth pulled Seattle within 27-14. New Orleans went three-and-out on its next drive, but Seattle couldn't convert on fourth-and-1 deep in its own end and Kamara scored on a 1-yard plunge for the capper. Wilson also missed Lockett on a fourth-down throw in the end zone in the third quarter.

Wilson was 32 of 50 for 406 yards and added a 4-yard TD to Will Dissly on the final play of the game.

Bridgewater was helped by Seattle's pass rush being unable to create consistent pressure. The debut of Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah playing together on the defensive line yielded minimal results. Seattle had zero sacks, only two quarterback hits. While Bridgewater got rid of the ball quickly, he was comfortable in the pocket.

Seattle missed a chance to trim the deficit at the end of the first half because of poor clock management. Seattle took possession with 29 seconds left and two timeouts. The Seahawks chose not to use a timeout after a 9-yard completion to Dissly. Wilson took the next snap with 10 seconds left and after scrambling hit DK Metcalf for 54 yards to the Saints 16. Seattle attempted to call timeout, but officials said it came after the clock hit zero.

49ers 24, Steelers 20

Jimmy Garoppolo threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis with 1:15 remaining and the 49ers overcame five turnovers for their first 3-0 start in 21 years.

The Niners gave the ball away four times in the first half and then lost a fumble again in the fourth quarter, but still managed to pull out the victory and spoil Mason Rudolph's first career start in place of the injured Ben Roethlisberger for the Steelers (0-3).

Rudolph threw two long touchdown passes in the second half, connecting on a 76-yarder to JuJu Smith-Schuster and a 39-yarder to Diontae Johnson that gave the Steelers a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Niners answered the first strike with a 75-yard touchdown drive capped by a 4-yard run by Jeff Wilson Jr., and appeared poised to do the same when they drove inside the 10 following the second score. But on third down from the 7, a shotgun snap hit receiver Richie James Jr. as he went in motion and T.J. Watt recovered the fumble for Pittsburgh on San Francisco's third red-zone turnover of the game.

The Steelers then gave it right back when James Conner was stripped by Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner recovered at the 24. After a third-down holding penalty on Mark Barron extended the drive, Garoppolo found Pettis for the go-ahead score.

Bills 21, Bengals 17

Frank Gore scored on a 1-yard run with 1:50 remaining in rallying the Bills. Tight end Dawson Knox set up the score by bowling over two Bengals for a 49-yard gain. And cornerback Tre'Davious White sealed the win by intercepting Andy Dalton's tipped pass on third-and-5 from Buffalo's 28 with 12 seconds remaining.

The Bills squandered a 14-0 lead and were forced to rally back after the Bengals scored 17 points to take the lead on three consecutive possessions.

Buffalo improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2011 and only third time in 26 years. The Bengals fell to 0-3.

Frank Gore also scored on a 1-yard run and finished 76 yards rushing.

Bills starter Josh Allen finished 23 of 36 for 243 yards with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Knox and a costly interception, which set up the Bengals' first touchdown. Allen was nearly picked off two more times and almost lost a fumble before being ruled he was out of bounds.

Buffalo's defense came to the rescue after appearing winded on a hot afternoon with temperatures in the 80s. The Bills forced four turnovers, with White finishing with two interceptions.

Colts 27, Falcons 24

Jacoby Brissett threw two touchdown passes in the first half and Marlon Mack scored on a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter. Indianapolis (2-1) has won two straight overall and seven in a row at home.

The Falcons (1-2) rallied from a 20-3 halftime deficit to get within three on Matt Ryan's 10-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones with 4:11 to play. But the Falcons opted to kick deep and never got the ball back.

Brissett closed it out with an 11-yard pass to Jack Doyle on third-and-4. He finished 28 of 37 with 310 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. T.Y. Hilton caught eight passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in the first half but missed the second half after aggravating a quad injury that slowed him in practice this week.

Ryan was 29 of 34 with 340 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He passed John Elway for ninth on the league's career completion list and broke a tie with Elway for No. 11 on the career TD passes list. Ryan now has 4,143 completions and 303 touchdown passes.

Packers 27, Broncos 16

Aaron Rodgers threw for 235 yards and a touchdown, Aaron Jones tied a career high by running for two scores and Preston Smith matched a career high with three sacks. Green Bay got to Joe Flacco six times and forced three turnovers to lead the Packers (3-0) to the win despite being dominated in time of possession 35:34-24:26.

Rodgers found Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 40-yard strike on the opening drive and finished 17 of 29. Jones' touchdown runs came from 1 yard and 7 yards.

Flacco was 20 of 29 for 213 yards with an interception and no touchdowns. For the third straight game, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and Denver's defense failed to get a sack or force a turnover. The Broncos (0-3) fell to 0-6-1 on the road against the Packers.

Panthers 38, Cardinals 20

Kyle Allen threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns in place of the injured Cam Newton, and Christian McCaffrey ran for a 76-yard touchdown.

The 23-year-old Allen was outstanding in his second career start, making several big throws — even when there was tight coverage. He was 19 of 26, including two touchdowns to Greg Olsen and one each to Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore.

McCaffrey had 24 carries for 153 yards, including the 76-yard score, which came in the third quarter when he darted straight through the middle of Arizona's defense.

Newton was ruled out by the Panthers earlier this week because of a mid-foot sprain. The Panthers (1-2) were confident Allen would be an adequate replacement and Sunday's performance was validation.

Allen outplayed Arizona's Kyler Murray, who was his former college teammate at Texas A&M. Murray also had some good moments, especially early, including a few long runs and a couple of short touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson.

Arizona is 0-2-1.

Texans 27, Chargers 20

Deshaun Watson threw for 351 yards and hit Jordan Akins with two of his three touchdown passes, and J.J. Watt had two of the Texans' five sacks of Philip Rivers.

Akins made the first two TD catches of his career and fellow tight end Darren Fells also caught a TD pass for the Texans (2-1), who rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit with 20 consecutive points on the way to their franchise's second-ever win over the Chargers (1-2).

Keenan Allen caught 13 passes for a career-high 183 yards and two touchdowns from Rivers, who passed for 318 yards in the Bolts' second straight loss.

The Chargers have a losing record after three games for the fifth consecutive season. Los Angeles also started 1-2 last season before reeling off six straight wins during an 11-2 finish.

Houston went up 27-17 with 9:40 to play on a typically magical effort by Watson, whose escape abilities usually kept him one step ahead of the Chargers' tough pass rush. The quarterback barely eluded a sack by Melvin Ingram and converted a broken play, hitting Akins for a 53-yard catch-and-run TD.

The Chargers trimmed the lead to seven points and then drove into Houston territory in the final minute, converting two fourth downs along the way. But a completion that would have put the Chargers inside the Houston 10 was wiped out by a holding penalty on left tackle Trent Scott with 24 seconds to play, and Rivers threw two final incompletions.

Vikings 34, Raiders 14

NFL rushing leader Dalvin Cook cruised past the 100-yard mark for the third straight game, while Kirk Cousins rebounded from his rattled performance the week before with a turnover-free afternoon.

The defense had plenty to do with the victory, too. An interception by Harrison Smith of an overthrow by Oakland's David Carr set up the second of two touchdowns by Adam Thielen to give the Vikings a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. Eric Wilson had two of Minnesota's four sacks.

Cook had 16 carries for 110 yards and a score in just three quarters, and his backups capably grabbed the baton. Rookie Alexander Mattison got his first NFL touchdown as the Vikings (2-1) rushed for 211 yards and didn't even attempt a fourth-quarter pass for the second time in two home games. Last week in a loss at Green Bay, Cousins had three turnovers, including a first-and-goal interception in the end zone.

Cousins enjoyed a sack-free game for the first time in his Vikings career and finished a crisp 15 for 21 for 174 yards and one score to Thielen on their opening possession. That throw covered 35 yards, a rollout away from the play-action when he planted in front of a pressuring defensive tackle P.J. Hall and zipped the ball across the field, where Thielen was racing past safety Curtis Riley. That was one of three touchdown drives of 75-plus yards, and Thielen scored later on an inside handoff off a jet sweep at the goal line.

Derek Carr went 27 for 34 for 242 yards and touchdowns to J.J. Nelson and Tyrell Williams for Oakland (1-2).