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    Thursday, October 31, 2024

    NFL roundup

    Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips (97) celebrates with linebacker Za'Darius Smith (55) as the Vikings take the lead over the Buffalo Bills in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
    Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson (9) celebrates with fans after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
    Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rondale Moore (4) makes a one-handed catch in front of Los Angeles Rams cornerback David Long Jr. (22) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

    Vikings 33, Bills 30

    Patrick Peterson intercepted Josh Allen with 1:12 left in overtime to finally end a sloppy, yet thrilling back-and-forth game between two of the NFL's best teams, and Minnesota completed its rally from a 17-point second-half deficit to beat Buffalo on Sunday.

    The Vikings took advantage of three turnovers by Allen in the fourth quarter and overtime, pulling ahead late in regulation when he mishandled a snap and fumbled in the end zone.

    Greg Joseph put the Vikings ahead to stay by hitting a 33-yard field goal with 3:42 left in overtime. The game didn't end until Allen, facing second and 10 at Minnesota's 20, forced a pass over the middle intended for Gabe Davis, only to have Peterson intercept it a few yards into the end zone, his second pick of the day. Peterson ran out and slid to the turf.

    Kirk Cousins threw for 357 yards, and Justin Jefferson had a monster game with 10 catches for 193 yards, including an incredible one-handed grab to convert a fourth-and-18 for the NFC North-leading Vikings (8-1). Minnesota rallied to win when trailing with 2 1/2 minutes or less remaining in regulation for the fifth time this season.

    The Bills (6-3) dropped out of the AFC lead with their second straight loss.

    The Bills, clinging to a a 27-23 lead, appeared to have won when they stopped Cousins for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line with 49 seconds remaining.

    On the very next play, Allen muffed the snap from center Mitch Morse, and Minnesota linebacker Erik Hendricks dived into the end zone to recover it for a touchdown.

    Packers 31, Cowboys 28

    Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes to rookie Christian Watson and led a 55-yard drive in overtime to set up Mason Crosby's game-winning field goal, and Green Bay stopped a five-game skid with a win over former coach Mike McCarthy and Dallas.

    Green Bay (4-6) appeared well on its way to losing six straight games in the same season for the first time since 1988, trailing 28-14 in the fourth quarter before Rodgers led two long drives that ended with scoring passes to Watson.

    McCarthy coached the Packers to their most recent Super Bowl title after the 2010 season and posted a 125-77-2 record with Green Bay before getting fired in 2018. This was his first game against the Packers since he took over as Dallas' coach in 2020.

    Rodgers was McCarthy's quarterback for most of his time with the Packers. Their relationship grew strained in McCarthy's later seasons, but they exchanged compliments over the last week and shared hugs before and after Sunday's game.

    The Cowboys (6-3) blew a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter for the first time in franchise history. They entered Sunday with a 195-0 record in such games, including playoffs.

    McCarthy chose to go for it on fourth-and-3 from Green Bay's 35 on the opening possession of overtime instead of trying a long field goal. Dak Prescott was pressured by Jarran Reed and threw a desperation pass to Tony Pollard that fell incomplete.

    The Packers had third-and-1 from their own 44 on the ensuing drive when Rodgers threw across the middle to Allen Lazard, who caught the ball just beyond midfield and raced to the 20 for a 36-yard gain. The Packers then set things up for Crosby's game-winning kick.

    Green Bay's Aaron Jones rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown.

    Watson, a second-round pick from North Dakota State, finished with four catches for 107 yards and became the first Packers rookie since Keith Woodside in 1988 to have multiple touchdown catches in a game. His three TDs were the first of his NFL career.

    Dolphins 37, Browns 17

    Tua Tagovailoa maintained his scorching form since his return from a concussion, throwing three touchdown passes as Miami won its fourth straight.

    In a game that was a blowout by the fourth quarter, Tagovailoa connected with three receivers for his third straight three-touchdown game.

    Since returning in Week 7, Tagovailoa has 10 TD passes and no interceptions. He finished with 285 yards on 25-of-32 passing Sunday.

    Jeff Wilson rushed for 119 yards on 17 carries as the Dolphins (7-3) finished with 491 yards of offense.

    Cleveland (3-6) scored a touchdown on its opening drive, thanks in part to a 48-yard kickoff return by rookie Jerome Ford, but Miami tied the game on its first possession en route to scoring 24 straight points. The Browns never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

    Cleveland's Jacoby Brissett completed 22 of 35 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown against one of his former teams. Nick Chubb had 11 carries for 63 yards, including a 33-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

    49ers 22, Chargers 16

    Christian McCaffrey ran for the go-ahead touchdown with 7:54 to play, and San Francisco beat Los Angeles in its first game back from a bye week.

    The Niners (5-4) returned from the midseason break as healthy as they've been all season on offense and with hopes of making a second-half run. Their performance against the short-handed Chargers (5-4) was a slog at times but proved to be just enough to come out on top.

    San Francisco fell behind by 10 points in the second quarter before rallying. Jimmy Garoppolo scored on a 1-yard sneak in the second quarter and then made the biggest play when he hit Brandon Aiyuk on a 24-yard pass on third-and-10 from the Chargers 26 midway through the fourth quarter.

    McCaffrey ran it in on the next play and has now accounted for four touchdowns in three games since arriving from Carolina in a midseason trade.

    Garoppolo went 19 for 28 for 240 yards while San Francisco relied heavily on the ground game, rushing 40 times for 158 yards.

    Justin Herbert went 21 for 35 for 196 yards with a touchdown pass for the Chargers, who were playing without both starting tackles and receivers.

    Titans 17, Broncos 10

    Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine as Tennessee rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Denver.

    The Titans (6-3) won for the sixth time in seven games. Tannehill returned after missing the last two games with a sprained right ankle, and he appeared rusty early as the Titans fell behind 10-0 in the second quarter and were trailing 208-53 in total yards shortly before halftime.

    Denver (3-6) has lost lost five of six. The Broncos had plenty of chances but couldn't score after halftime. Russell Wilson had a final chance to tie the game, but his pass on fourth-and-8 from the Titans 25 was tipped and picked off by Terrance Mitchell with 11 seconds left.

    Tannehill accounted for 70 yards on a drive capped with a 9-yard TD pass to Westbrook-Ikhine to pull within 10-7 just before halftime. In the third quarter, Titans used a flea-flicker with Derrick Henry tossing the ball back to Tannehill, who found Westbrook-Ikhine wide open down the right sideline for a go-ahead 63-yard TD.

    Westbrook-Ikhine had a career-high 119 yards receiving. Tannehill finished with 255 yards passing.

    Lions 31, Bears 30

    Jamaal Williams scored on a 1-yard run in the closing minutes, Jared Goff threw for 236 yards and a touchdown, and Detroit overcame another spectacular effort by Chicago's Justin Fields.

    The Lions (3-6) scored 21 points in the fourth quarter on the way to their second straight win after losing five in a row. They stopped a 13-game road losing streak.

    Detroit wiped out a 14-point deficit with two quick TDs, tying it on a 20-yard interception return by Jeff Okudah.

    Fields then went 67 yards untouched for a TD to put Chicago (3-7) back on top 30-24. Cairo Santos missed the extra point.

    Goff led an eight-play, 91-yard drive in the closing minutes. Williams made it 31-30 when he scored with 2:21 remaining.

    Fields ran for 147 yards and two scores, after rushing for 178 the previous week against Miami. He became the only quarterback in the Super Bowl era with multiple rushing touchdowns of 60-plus yards in the same season.

    Fields also threw for 167 yards and two scores, including a 50-yarder to Cole Kmet.

    Goff completed 19 of 26 passes. Amon-Ra St. Brown had 119 yards receiving.

    Chiefs 27, Jaguars 17

    Patrick Mahomes threw for 331 yards and four touchdowns as Kansas City rolled past Jacksonville.

    Kadarius Toney, who was acquired a couple of weeks ago from the Giants, had 33 yards rushing to go with four catches for 57 yards and his first NFL touchdown reception, helping the Chiefs (7-2) win their sixth straight over the Jaguars.

    Travis Kelce, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Noah Gray also had touchdown catches for the Chiefs.

    Kansas City wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was placed in the concussion protocol after a helmet-to-helmet hit by Jacksonville safety Andre Cisco early in the game.

    Trevor Lawrence threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns, both to Christian Kirk, who finished with nine catches for 105 yards for the Jaguars (3-7).

    The Jaguars became the first team in five years to recover an onside kick to open the game, but their offense squandered the opportunity — and several more. They punted five times and missed a field goal on their first six possessions.

    Steelers 20, Saints 10

    Kenny Pickett and George Pickens ran for 1-yard touchdowns and Pittsburgh pulled away from listless New Orleans.

    Fueled by the return of star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, the Steelers (3-6) held the Saints to 186 yards to win for the second time in eight games. Pittsburgh sacked Andy Dalton twice and forced a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions to thwart any hope of a late rally by the Saints (3-7).

    Watt hadn't played since tearing his left pectoral late in a Week 1 win over Cincinnati.

    Pittsburgh ran for a season-best 217 yards — including 99 by Najee Harris and 51 by Pickett — and didn't turn it over for the third time this season. The Steelers are 3-0 in those games.

    Pickett completed 18 of 30 passes for 199 yards without an interception. He also shook off a tweaked left ankle to convert a couple of late quarterback sneaks, including a 1-yard dive with 8:40 to play that gave the Steelers a 10-point lead.

    The Saints largely beat themselves. While the defense sacked Pickett six times, it also committed six penalties that gave the Steelers first downs.

    Cardinals 27, Rams 17

    Colt McCoy passed for 238 yards in his first start of the season, James Conner rushed for two touchdowns and Arizona hung on for a victory over the Los Angeles Rams, who lost Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp to a possibly serious ankle injury.

    Both teams played their backup quarterbacks with starters Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray sidelined by injury. McCoy threw a TD pass to A.J. Green and hit DeAndre Hopkins for 98 yards on 10 catches, while Los Angeles' John Wolford passed for 212 yards in a much more inconsistent performance.

    The defending champion Rams (3-6) lost for the fifth time in six games, and they also lost Kupp in the fourth quarter when he went down awkwardly while being hit by Marco Wilson after failing to catch a poorly thrown pass from Wolford.

    Kupp, the AP's Offensive Player of the Year while winning the triple crown of receiving last season, made only three catches for minus-1 yard before incurring an injury that had him visibly unhappy as he limped to the locker room.

    In the 34th start of his 13-year career, McCoy went 26 of 37 while patiently running a disciplined offensive game plan for the Cardinals (4-6). Murray sat out with a hamstring injury, but Arizona grinded out a much-needed victory for coach Kliff Kingsbury after losing four of its past five.

    Rondale Moore had nine catches for 94 yards, including a jaw-dropping grab on a long pass on fourth-and-3 in the fourth quarter to set up Arizona's clinching TD run by Conner two plays later with 7:41 to play.

    Darrell Henderson rushed for a TD for the Rams, who are in last place in the NFC West just nine games after they won the Super Bowl. Los Angeles is three games under .500 for the first time in Sean McVay's career.

    Colts 25, Raiders 20

    Matt Ryan got his job back as the Colts' starter under TV analyst-turned-interim coach Jeff Saturday, and the veteran quarterback delivered a 35-yard touchdown pass to Parris Campbell to lead Indianapolis to a victory over Las Vegas.

    The touchdown with 5:07 left came shortly after the 37-year-old quarterback converted a third-and-3 with a 39-yard run to the Raiders 36-yard line.

    His play helped give Saturday, who just a week ago was an ESPN analyst before being hired despite no NFL coaching experience, his first victory. It also handed the Raiders (2-7) their third loss in a row and will increase the scrutiny on first-year coach Josh McDaniels, who took over a playoff team from a year ago. The Raiders were booed off the field.

    Ryan completed 21 of 28 passes for 222 yards, and Jonathan Taylor rushed for 147 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown. It was Taylor's first 100-yard game since the season opener against the Houston Texans, when he rushed for 161 yards.

    The duo offset the play of Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams, who caught nine passes for 126 yards and a TD. But a fourth-down pass to Adams was broken up by Colts cornerback Stephon Gilmore, causing a major celebration on Indianapolis' sideline.

    Las Vegas' Derek Carr completed 24 of 38 passes for 248 yards and two TDs.

    Saturday showed he wasn't afraid to make changes, installing as the play-caller Parks Frazier, someone who had never been in that position. Then on game day, Saturday went back to veteran Ryan as his starter. Ryan was benched by previous coach Frank Reich in favor of Sam Ehlinger, who started the past two games.

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