NFL roundup: Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins lead Texans past Chiefs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Deshaun Watson threw for 280 yards and a touchdown while running for two more, outdueling Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes in a matchup of former first-round picks and leading the Houston Texans to a 31-24 victory over Kansas City on Sunday.
Carlos Hyde added 116 yards rushing and a touchdown against the team that traded him to Houston (4-2) before the start of the season. DeAndre Hopkins hauled in nine passes for 55 yards.
None was bigger than his last, when the Texans star made a sliding grab on fourth-and-3 from the Kansas City 27 with just under 2 minutes to go. That allowed Houston to run out the clock and deal the Chiefs (4-2) their second consecutive loss — both at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes, who was selected two spots ahead of Watson in the 2017 draft, finished with 273 yards passing and three touchdowns, though he also threw his first interception of the season.
Jared Goff is held to just 78 yards passing as the Todd Gurley-less Rams fall to the San Francisco 49ers 20-7 for their third consecutive loss.
Star wide receiver Tyreek Hill returned to action for the first time since Week 1, when he broke his collarbone, to catch five passes for 80 yards and two of the Chiefs’ scores.
It wasn’t a pretty game for either side. The teams combined for 21 penalties totaling nearly 150 yards, and that didn’t include close to a dozen flags that were offsetting, overruled or declined.
Seattle 32, at Cleveland 28: Chris Carson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:30 left, Russell Wilson threw two TD passes and ran for one and the Seattle Seahawks rallied for a win over the mistake-prone Browns and improved to 3-0 on the road for the first time in 39 years.
The Seahawks (5-1) gave up touchdowns on Cleveland’s first three possessions before storming back.
Wilson connected with Jaron Brown for two scores, and Seattle’s cool quarterback scampered 16 yards for a TD. The Seahawks last won their first three road games in 1980, when they went 4-12.
The Browns (2-4) were hurt by their own miscues. They couldn’t overcome four turnovers, a blocked punt or quarterback Baker Mayfield’s hip injury and fell to 0-3 at FirstEnergy Stadium.
at New York Jets 24, Dallas 22: Sam Darnold gave the Jets’ struggling offense a huge boost by throwing two touchdown passes in his return from mononucleosis, and New York held on to beat the Cowboys for their first win of the season.
The Jets led 21-9 in the fourth quarter, but Dak Prescott and the top-ranked Cowboys offense stormed back — and had a chance to tie in the closing moments.
Prescott ran for a 4-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left, making it a two-point game. Going for the tie, Prescott dropped back and was quickly met by a blitzing Jamal Adams and his pass on the conversion try fell short of Jason Witten in the end zone.
The Cowboys (3-3) tried an onside kick, but Demaryius Thomas recovered for the Jets (1-4), who won for the first time under coach Adam Gase. It was the third straight loss for Dallas.
Darnold, who missed three games while recovering from mononucleosis, finished 23 of 32 for 338 yards — including a 92-yard touchdown toss to Robby Anderson and a 5-yarder to Ryan Griffin. Le’Veon Bell also ran for a score, his first on the ground with the Jets.
at New Orleans 13, Jacksonville 6: Teddy Bridgewater found Jared Cook for a 4-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and the Saints held on to improve to 4-0 without injured starter Drew Brees.
Coming off a 300-yard, four-touchdown performance against Tampa Bay, Bridgewater was less effective against the Jaguars (2-4). But he did enough for New Orleans’ defense, which turned Minshew Mania into Minshew Mayhem.
Minshew was sacked twice, hurried often and threw his first interception as a starter. The rookie sensation completed 14 of 29 passes for 163 yards and was held without a touchdown for the first time this season. His worst outing came on the same day the team, in conjunction with the NFL, handed out 30,000 “Minshew mustaches” as fans entered the gates.
Bridgewater was 24 of 36 passing for 240 yards for the Saints (5-1). He picked up a first down on a quarterback sneak in the closing minutes to seal the victory.
Carolina 37, Tampa Bay 26 (at London): Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns and Carolina turned five interceptions by Jameis Winston into 17 points to give the Panthers their fourth straight victory.
After starting the season with two straight losses with hobbled Cam Newton at quarterback, the Panthers (4-2) have been on a roll with Kyle Allen at quarterback thanks to McCaffrey’s big plays and an opportunistic defense that had a franchise record-tying seven takeaways on the day.
Both of those factors came up big on Carolina’s first trip to London in front of a large contingent of Panthers fans for what was designated as a home game for the Bucs (2-4).
James Bradberry intercepted Winston on the first play from scrimmage to set up a field goal to set the tone for the game.
Bruce Irvin then forced a bad throw by Winston in the second quarter that Javien Elliott intercepted . That led to McCaffrey’s dazzling 25-yard touchdown catch that featured him juking Vernon Hargreaves III and stiff-arming Devin White on his way into the end zone.
at Minnesota 38, Philadelphia 20: Kirk Cousins threw to Stefon Diggs for three of his four touchdowns, racking up a season-high 333 passing yards as the Vikings ravaged the Eagles’ secondary.
Diggs scored on plays in the first half that covered 51 and 62 yards, becoming the first player since Randy Moss in 2000 to post two touchdown receptions of 50-plus yards in one game for the Vikings (4-2).
His most important catch came late in the third quarter, a double toe tap in the back of the end zone from 11 yards out that pushed the lead to 11 points after Carson Wentz and the Eagles (3-3) had pulled within 24-20 with 17 straight points.
Cousins went 22 for 29 with one sack and one interception that was, oddly enough, Diggs’ fault when a sideline throw hit him in the hands, bounced off his helmet and into the air behind him for former Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo to pick off late in the second quarter.
at Baltimore 23, Cincinnati 17: Lamar Jackson rambled, shimmied and passed his way through the winless Bengals, who were rendered powerless against the versatile and seemingly indestructible Baltimore quarterback.
Jackson ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown, threw for 236 yards for the Ravens.
Alternatingly jutting left and right, up the middle and occasionally toward the sideline, Jackson carried 19 times (including three kneel-downs at the end). Tapering off his forays downfield at the end, Jackson finished tantalizingly short of Michael Vick’s single-game record of 173 yards rushing by a quarterback.
Jackson now has three career 100-yard rushing games, tied with Billy Kilmer for most by a quarterback in his first two seasons since 1950. Jackson’s first 100-yard game came last November, in his first NFL start against the Bengals.
Washington 17, at Miami 16: Rookie Terry McLaurin caught two touchdown passes and the Washington Redskins stopped Miami’s two-point conversion attempt with six seconds left in a matchup between winless teams.
Adrian Peterson more than doubled his season rushing total with 118 for Bill Callahan in his first game as interim coach. Washington intercepted Josh Rosen twice and sacked him five times before he was benched at the start of the fourth quarter with the Dolphins trailing 17-3.
Rosen’s replacement, Ryan Fitzpatrick, sparked a rally and led two touchdown drives, including a 75-yard march that began with 2:02 left. But after Fitzpatrick hit DeVante Parker for an 11-yard score to cut the deficit to one point, rookie coach Brian Flores decided to go for two. Running back Kenyan Drake dropped Fitzpatrick’s quick pass with several defenders between him and the goal line.
Washington (1-5) looked like a different team after firing coach Jay Gruden, but the caliber of the opposition had something to do with that. The Dolphins (0-5) remained winless under Flores but helped their chances of securing the No. 1 draft pick in April.
at Denver 16, Tennessee 0: The Broncos’ swarming defense sent Marcus Mariota to the bench and the Titans to their fourth loss in five games.
The Broncos (2-4) had seven sacks in a game for the first time since their 2015 Super Bowl season and they picked off three passes.
Chris Harris Jr. and Justin Simmons intercepted Mariota, who was sacked three times and was replaced by Ryan Tannehill after Simmons’ interception led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Phillip Lindsay that made it 13-0. Tannehill was sacked four times and picked off by Kareem Jackson on Tennessee’s final drive, which reached the Denver 5-yard line before two offensive penalties and a sack pushed the Titans back to the 30-yard line.
The Titans (2-4) lost for the fourth time in five games.
at Arizona 34, Atlanta 33: Kyler Murray threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and Arizona built a big lead over Atlanta, lost it, and then rallied to win.
Atlanta looked like it would tie the game with 1:53 left after Matt Ryan hit Devonta Freeman on a 12-yard touchdown pass, but 44-year-old Matt Bryant missed left on the extra point, and the Cardinals ran out the clock from there.
The Cardinals (2-3-1) took a 34-27 lead with 5:12 remaining on David Johnson’s 14-yard touchdown catch from Murray. Johnson made a great adjustment to his route on the slightly underthrown ball, catching the ball between two defenders.
The Cardinals won at home for the first time since last Oct. 28.
The Falcons (1-5) have lost four straight games.
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