Dolphins 21, Bills 19
Miami’s Thomas Morstead stepped into the middle of Miami’s end zone, swung his powerful right leg and booted a punt.
Right into the backside of blocker Trent Sherfield.
Miami overcame what was quickly dubbed the “butt punt” by shutting down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills twice in the final minutes, improving to 3-0 with a 21-19 victory that ended with Allen desperately trying to spike the football on the edge of field goal range.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa briefly left the game in the second quarter, returning after halftime despite appearing to be disoriented by a head injury — the team clarified later that actually, he had an issue with his back. He finished with 186 yards and a touchdown pass to River Cracraft.
Allen had about a minute to guide Buffalo into field goal range, and did so, but the Bills ran out of time. Isaiah McKenzie tried for extra yards on a completion from Allen, costing precious seconds. Dolphins players started celebrating when the clock hit zero with Allen just stepping under center.
Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey slammed his headset and began throwing paper and notebooks in the coaches’ box when time ran out.
Buffalo ran 90 plays compared to 39 for Miami, outgaining the Dolphins 497 yards to 212.
On a day in which Allen completed a career-high 42 passes and finished with 400 yards, the Bills finished with their lowest point total since a Week 13 last season.
The Bills were without several defensive starters, including starting safety Micah Hyde, who on Saturday went on injured reserve with a neck injury, and cornerback Dane Jackson, who suffered a neck injury against the Titans last week. The Dolphins’ 21 points was the most Buffalo has allowed all season.
Ravens 37, Patriots 26
Lamar Jackson threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score to help Baltimore (2-1) hold off the New England Patriots 37-26. He became the first player in the Super Bowl era with three or more passing touchdowns and 100-plus rushing yards in consecutive games.
The Patriots, meanwhile, lost quarterback Mac Jones late in the game to a leg injury that appears serious.
Jones completed 22 of 32 passes for 321 yards but threw three interceptions. Coach Bill Belichick provided no detail about the injury.
Baltimore’s defense forced turnovers on three straight fourth-quarter drives by the Patriots (1-2).
Colts 20, Chiefs 17
Indianapolis QB Matt Ryan capped a masterfully managed final drive by finding rookie Jelani Woods on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds left for a 20-17 comeback win over the Kansas City Chiefs. It was Ryan’s first victory with the Colts — sealed by Rodney McLeod Jr.’s interception with 2 seconds to go.
The Colts (1-1-1) snapped a four-game winless streak that dated to last season’s final two games.
Ryan finished 27 of 37 for 222 yards despite getting sacked five times and losing two fumbles.
Patrick Mahomes fell to 13-3 in September while going 20 of 35 for 262 yards with one TD. He was also the Chiefs’ top rusher with four carries for 26 yards.
Panthers 22, Saints 14
Laviska Shenault caught a momentum-changing 67-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield in the fourth quarter, Marquis Haynes returned a fumble 44 yards for a touchdown and the Carolina Panthers defeated the New Orleans Saints 22-14 to snap a nine-game losing streak.
Mayfield threw for 170 yards, Christian McCaffrey ran for 108 and Shenault had 90 yards receiving as the Panthers (1-2) won at home for the first time since beating the Saints 26-7 on Sept. 19, 2021.
Jameis Winston, playing with an injured back, completed 25 of 41 passes for 353 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, while rookie Chris Olave had nine catches for 147 yards for a Saints wide receiver corps that lost Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry and Tre’Quan Smith to injuries in the second half.
Bears 23, Texans 20
Chicago LB Roquan Smith set up Cairo Santos’ game-ending field goal when he intercepted Davis Mills deep in Houston territory, and the Bears beat former coach Lovie Smith and the Texans 23-20.
Khalil Herbert ran for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns. And Chicago rushed for 281 yards even though top running back David Montgomery exited in the early going with knee and ankle injuries.
Justin Fields had another difficult game. But the (2-1) Bears at least did enough to bounce back against a struggling team after losing to the rival Packers.
Fields was 8 of 17 for 106 yards. The former Ohio State star threw two interceptions and had a 27.7 rating.
The Texans dropped their second in a row after blowing fourth-quarter leads in a season-opening tie with Indianapolis and loss to Denver.
Bengals 27, Jets 12
Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes and the defending AFC champions got their first victory of the season, rolling past the New York Jets 27-12 on Sunday.
After opening 0-2 with a pair of three-point losses during which they trailed by at least two TDs, the Bengals won the coin toss, took the ball and got going right away against the Jets — who fell flat after a stunning comeback win last week at Cleveland.
Burrow finished 23 of 36 for 275 yards with TD throws to Samaje Perine, Tyler Boyd and Ja’Marr Chase.
Joe Flacco, who led the Jets’ 13-point rally in the final 1:55 last Sunday, struggled against the Bengals in what will likely be his final start with the injured Zach Wilson expected to return this week. Wilson, injured in the preseason opener, is recovering from a bone bruise and arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Flacco was 28 of 52 for 285 yards and two interceptions, and was under pressure all game.
Vikings 28, Lions 24
K.J. Osborn caught the go-ahead, 28-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins with 45 seconds remaining, and the Minnesota Vikings came back to beat the Detroit Lions 28-24.
Leading by three after Minnesota turned the ball over on downs at its 47 with 2:32 left, Detroit coach Dan Campbell — who went for it on fourth down six times — elected to try a 54-yard field goal that he second-guessed himself for afterward. Austin Seibert pushed the kick wide right with 1:10 remaining.
After an incompletion to Osborn, Cousins hit his No. 3 wide receiver for a 28-yard gain to set up the touchdown. Osborn blew by former Vikings cornerback Mike Hughes on a corner route to snag the pass in stride and cruise across the goal line to give Minnesota (2-1) the lead for the first time.
Dalvin Cook rushed for 96 yards and a score before leaving with a shoulder injury for the Vikings.
Detroit’s Jared Goff was 25 for 41 for 277 yards.
Titans 24, Raiders 22
Ryan Tannehill threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score and the Tennessee Titans never trailed Sunday, holding off the Las Vegas Raiders 24-22 for their first victory this season.
Derrick Henry ran for 85 yards and a touchdown. Henry also added 58 yards more receiving as the Titans (1-2) avoided their worst start since 2009 when they lost the first six games.
The Raiders (0-3) are off to their worst start since 2018. A week after blowing a 20-point lead in losing to Arizona in overtime, the Raiders had every chance to get back in this game in the second half as they blanked Tennessee after halftime.
Two-time All-Pro safety Kevin Byard picked off a Derek Carr pass in the end zone with 9:22 left.
Kristian Fulton broke up a pass to Raiders receiver Mack Hollins in the end zone with 3:33 left.
Trailing 24-16, the Raiders converted a fourth-and-15 and a fourth-and-10. Carr then hit Hollins with a 9-y ard TD pass on fourth-and-goal with 1:14 left. But Carr’s 2-point conversion pass to tie the game was broken up by linebacker Dylan Cole that Byard nearly picked off as well.
Austin Hooper then recovered the onside kick for Tennessee, which knelt down for the win.
Carr was 26 of 44 for 303 yards and two touchdowns. Hollins finished with eight catches for 158 yards, and five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Davante Adams was held to five catches and 36 yards with a TD.
Eagles 24, Commanders 8
DeVonta Smith caught eight passes for a career-high 169 yards and a touchdown in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 24-8 rout of former quarterback Carson Wentz and the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
Jalen Hurts was 22 of 35 for 340 yards and three touchdown passes, one each to Smith, A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert.
The quarterback Hurts replaced as the Eagles starter was completely ineffective and got sacked nine times. Wentz, the second pick in the 2016 draft to Philadelphia on his third team in three years, was 25 of 43 for 211 yards with two fumbles — one lost, which set up Goedert’s 22-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Rams 20, Cardinals 12
Matthew Stafford passed for 249 yards and Cam Akers rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown in the Rams’ 20-12 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Matt Prater kicked a 31-yard field goal with just over a minute left in regulation, but the Cardinals failed to recover the onside kick, cementing the Rams’ victory.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray completed 37 of 58 passes for 314 yards. Arizona wide receiver Marquise Brown had 14 catches for 140 yards.
L.A. improves to 2-1 and the Cardinals fall to 1-2.
Jaguars 38, Chargers 10
Justin Herbert, battling a rib injury, didn’t perform up to his usual standards and the Chargers defense couldn’t contain Trevor Lawrence in a 38-10 loss to the Jaguars.
Herbert finished 25 of 44 for 297 yards, with one interception and one lost fumble. His accuracy and timing were both clearly impacted by his compromised health.
Lawrence threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns.
James Robinson rushed for 100 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown in the third quarter that proved to be the knockout punch. It was the first of three straight scoring drives by the Jaguars (2-1).
The Chargers (1-2) had the ball for only 22 minutes and were held to 29 rushing yards.
Packers 14, Bucs 12
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers did just enough to beat Tom Brady and the short-handed Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The NFL MVP threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns, and the Packers withstood a late rally led by Brady to hold off the Bucs for a 14-12 victory in the first meeting between the teams since Tampa Bay won the NFC championship game two seasons ago.
Rodgers tossed TD passes of 5 yards to Romeo Doubs and 6 yards to Allen Lazard on his team’s first two possessions, while the Bucs’ offense sputtered much of the day without star receivers Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Julio Jones.
For the second straight week, the Bucs (2-1) were held without a touchdown into the fourth quarter. Brady finally got them into the end zone on a 1-yard pass to Russell Gage, capping an 89-yard drive with 14 seconds remaining.
Tampa Bay’s bid to force overtime with a 2-point conversion was thwarted, first by a delay-of-game penalty and then an incomplete pass that was tipped by Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell.
The Packers (2-1) forced two turnovers and held Tampa Bay to fewer than 200 net yards before the Bucs’ final drive.
Rodgers completed 27 of 35 passes and was intercepted once in the first matchup in NFL history in which each starting quarterback has won at least three regular-season league MVP awards.
Rodgers has won four, including the past two, while Brady has three MVPs.
Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Cordarrelle rushed for a career-high 141 yards and one touchdown, and the Atlanta Falcons beat the Seattle Seahawks 27-23 on Sunday for their first win of the season.
Patterson rumbled for 107 yards in the second half and the Falcons were able to avoid starting 0-3 for the second time in three seasons.
Marcus Mariota was 13 of 20 passing for 223 yards and one touchdown.
Seattle quarterback Geno Smith threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted by Richie Grant on a desperation fourth-and-18 from the Atlanta 38 with 1:30 remaining.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Broncos 11, Niners 10
Melvin Gordon atoned for two fumbles with a late 1-yard touchdown run and safety Kareem Jackson recovered Jeff Wilson Jr.’s fumble with 1:05 left to preserve a Denver Broncos’ 11-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Russell Wilson and the Broncos (2-1) won despite going three-and-out nine times. Their only sustained drive was a 12-play, 80-yarder that included a 12-yard scramble by Wilson.
Gordon capped it with a 1-yard run with 4:10 remaining, but Wilson’s 2-point pass was batted down, leaving the Broncos clinging to a one-point lead.
Jimmy Garoppolo, in his first start for the injured Trey Lance, drove the 49ers (1-2) to midfield but his pass to Deebo Samuel was tipped by Jackson and intercepted by linebacker Jonas Griffith at the Denver 42 just before the 2-minute warning.
The Broncos went three-and-out again and the Niners got the ball back at their 15 with 1:42 remaining after punt returner Ray-Ray McCloud recovered his own muffed punt.
Bradley Chubb sacked Garoppolo for a 12-yard loss to the San Francisco 3. Then, Jeff Wilson hauled in the pass and coughed up the football on a hit from P.J. Locke. Jackson scooped up the loose ball with 65 seconds left at the 49ers’ 24.
TONIGHT on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
The (1-1) Dallas Cowboys battle the (2-0) New York Giants.
Bucs QB Tom Brady talks about the loss to the Packers: “just bad execution… we haven’t scored many points this season.”
Rams star receiver Cooper Kupp gets the first rushing touchdown of his career.
Chargers head coach Brandon Staley takes some heat during the post-game press conference for allowing Justin Herbert to play the entire game vs. Jaguars, even though Jacksonville had a big lead and Herbert has a rib injury: ‘He wanted to finish the game’
Chargers QB Justin Herbert talks about the decision to play against the Jaguars, even though he has a significant rib injury.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got a win against the Buccaneers. He talks about Romeo Doubs, who had 8 catches, 73 yards, and a touchdown. Doubs is the first rookie wide receiver to catch a touchdown pass from Rodgers since Marquez Valdes-Scantling in 2018. He is also the first Packers wide receiver not named Davante Adams to record eight receptions in a single game since Randall Cobb accomplished the feat in the season opener of the 2018 season.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes talks about the end of the first half ‘altercation’ with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy: ‘I don’t know if it’s an altercation’.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan discusses importance of the Colts’ win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Los Angeles Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald recorded the 100th sack of his career on Sunday in the Rams’ 20-12 win against the Arizona Cardinals.
Denver Broncos safety P.J. Locke seals the Broncos’ ‘Sunday Night Football win by forcing a fumble on San Francisco 49ers running back Jeff Wilson.
