NFL: Eagles rout Broncos 51-23 to keep NFL’s best record
ARLINGTON, Texas — Ezekiel Elliott ran for the go-ahead touchdown after another reprieve from his six-game suspension, and Dallas overcame Tyreek Hill’s improbable last-play touchdown in the first half to beat Kansas City 28-17.
Elliott’s 2-yard plunge in the third quarter came after the Chiefs turned a 14-3 deficit into a 17-14 advantage, sparked by Hill’s weaving 57-yard catch with the first-half clock expired and seven Dallas defenders inside their 25 trying to prevent the score.
Last year’s NFL rushing champion as a rookie, Elliott had 93 yards, ending a streak of three straight 100-yard games but outgaining Kareem Hunt, this year’s rushing leader in his first season entering the game.
Hunt matched a season low with nine carries, finishing with 37 yards as a club record-tying nine-game road winning streak ended for the Chiefs (6-3) in their third loss in four games since a 5-0 start.
Elliott got an emergency stay from a New York court Friday, stopping the suspension over alleged domestic violence for the third time.
With former quarterback Tony Romo calling his first Dallas game as lead analyst for CBS, Dak Prescott had two touchdown passes to Cole Beasley and ran for another score in a third straight win for the Cowboys (5-3).
Terrance Williams had a career-high nine catches for 141 yards.
EAGLES 51, CHIEFS 23
PHILADELPHIA — Carson Wentz tossed four touchdown passes, Corey Clement had three scores, and the Philadelphia Eagles routed the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
The Eagles (8-1) dismantled the league’s top-ranked defense, racking up 419 yards, to win their seventh straight game and head into a bye week with the best record in the NFL.
Brock Osweiler couldn’t get the Broncos (3-5) on track in his first start since rejoining the team in September. He threw two interceptions. Denver has lost four in a row and five of six.
Wentz was 15 of 27 for 199 yards before giving way to Nick Foles. He has three four-TD performances in the last five weeks.
Clement had two TD runs and one TD catch, and newcomer Jay Ajayi ran for 77 yards and one score.
The Eagles hadn’t scored 50 points since a 54-11 victory over the Bears on Dec. 22, 2013.
REDSKINS 17, SEAHAWKS 14
SEATTLE — Kirk Cousins drove Washington 70 yards in 35 seconds, capped by Rob Kelley’s 1-yard touchdown run with less than a minute remaining, to stun Seattle.
Seattle (5-3) took a 14-10 lead with 1:34 remaining after Russell Wilson found Doug Baldwin for a 30-yard touchdown pass after the Seahawks had scuffled on offense all day. But Cousins had an unexpected answer.
Taking over at his 30-yard line, Cousins hit Brian Quick for 31 yards and Josh Doctson for 38 on consecutive throws to get to the Seattle 1 with 1:02 left. Doctson beat rookie Shaquill Griffin down the sideline and made an impressive diving catch. Kelley bulled his way in from the 1 on the next play.
Kelley finished with two touchdown runs, while Cousins was 21 of 31 for 247 yards for the Redskins (4-4). He was responsible for a fumble in the first half, but otherwise took care of the ball against Seattle’s standout defense. He also withstood six sacks and a number of other quarterback hits behind a makeshift offensive line of backups and rookies.
Wilson was 24 of 45 for 297 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
CARDINALS 20, 49ERS 10
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Adrian Peterson carried a career-high 37 times for 159 yards and Drew Stanton threw two touchdown passes to lead Arizona past winless San Francisco.
Peterson, 32, was a workhorse in his third game with the Cardinals (4-4). He posted the most carries ever for a player in his 30s and topped the 100-yard mark for the second time since being acquired in a trade from New Orleans last month.
Peterson’s tough running and Stanton’s pair of first-half touchdown passes were enough to help Arizona bounce back from a 33-0 loss to the Rams before last week’s bye.
The undermanned 49ers (0-9) extended the worst start in franchise history and have lost 23 of the past 24 games overall. Newly acquired quarterback of the future Jimmy Garoppolo was mostly a spectator as rookie C.J. Beathard got battered once again behind a patchwork line missing injured left tackle Joe Staley.
Beathard went 24 for 51 for 294 yards and an interception and also ran for a touchdown.
JAGUARS 23, BENGALS 7
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With A.J. Green and Jalen Ramsey ejected for fighting, Jaydon Mickens delivered the knockout blow by returning a punt 63 yards for a touchdown.
The Jaguars (5-3) won consecutive games for the first time in 13 months and were victorious at EverBank Field for the first time since last December.
Blake Bortles threw for 259 yards and a touchdown in another efficient performance. Marqise Lee had his first TD reception of the season and responded by punting the ball into the stands.
But most of the talk will center on Green and Ramsey.
The perennial Pro Bowl receiver retaliated against the trash-talking cornerback in a violent way late in the first half. After Ramsey knocked Green to the ground at the end of a running play, Green grabbed Ramsey around the neck and slammed him to the ground. Green then delivered numerous punches to Ramsey’s helmet — never the smartest idea — and put another MMA-style choke hold on Ramsey. It was the kind of aggressive attack that could lead to a suspension.
Players from both sidelines rushed the field, pushing, pulling, shoving, screaming and looking like they would brawl.
Coaches and officials stepped in and prevented a melee. Green and Ramsey were ejected, a decision that prompted loud objections from Jacksonville’s coaching booth next to the press box. Jaguars executive Tom Coughlin and general manager Dave Caldwell were in the box.
SAINTS 30, BUCCANEERS 10
NEW ORLEANS — The Saints extended their winning streak to six when Drew Brees completed 81.2 percent of his passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns.
The Buccaneers came in hoping to stem a four-game skid, but instead were not just beaten, but beaten up. Quarterback Jameis Winston left with shoulder soreness after the first half. Starting defensive end William Gholston was carted off the field with a neck injury. And tensions boiled over when Winston, after he had left the game, appeared to instigate a scuffle along the sideline.
Brees’ touchdowns went for 33 yards to Alvin Kamara and 36 yards to Ted Ginn. Kamara, who also scored on a 6-yard run, did most of the work on his TD reception, thrilling the Superdome crowd with a waving, tackle-slipping run after his short catch.
The Saints also scored on Justin Hardee’s blocked punt, which Hardee recovered in stride and returned for a touchdown.
The scuffle erupted in the third quarter and appeared to be ignited when Winston vigorously pressed his finger into the back of Lattimore’s helmet during a dead-ball period between a failed third-down pass and a punt. Lattimore turned and shoved Winston, after which receiver Mike Evans leveled Lattimore from behind. Saints defensive back De’Vante Harris then came charging into the melee to defend Lattimore. As the scuffle was broken up, Saints coach Sean Payton marched halfway across the field, gesturing angrily at the Tampa Bay bench before officials chased him back to the Saints’ sideline.
The score was 30-3 at the time. Evans was called for unnecessary roughness. There were no ejections.
PANTHERS 20, FALCONS 17
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cam Newton ran for 86 yards and a touchdown and the Panthers stormed back from an early 10-point deficit, then held on.
The Panthers spotted the Falcons 10 points before Newton and the ground game got rolling. Carolina ran for 201 yards, including a career-high 66 and a touchdown from rookie Christian McCaffrey.
The win kept the Panthers (6-3) a half-game behind the Saints in the NFC South. Atlanta is 4-4.
Devin Funchess had 86 yards on five catches in his first game as Carolina’s No. 1 receiver after the team traded Kelvin Benjamin earlier in the week.
Matt Ryan, last year’s NFL MVP, threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns and had one costly first-half interception for the defending NFC champions.
With six catches for 118 yards, Julio Jones became the first receiver to surpass 100 yards receiving against the Panthers this season.
RAMS 51, GIANTS 17
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jared Goff set career highs with four touchdown throws and 311 yards passing and Todd Gurley ran for two more scores for the surprising Rams.
The win was the fifth in six games for the Rams, whose 6-2 start is the franchise’s best since 2001, when the club, then in St. Louis, went 14-2 in the regular season and eventually lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Los Angeles did everything right in remaining unbeaten in four road games, five if a “home” win in London is included. The Rams’ high-powered offense showed no rust coming off the bye, scoring on eight of their first nine possessions. The defense forced three turnovers that the offense turned into 17 points and the special teams blocked a third-quarter punt that Gurley converted into his second TD.
Greg Zuerlein added three field goals.
Eli Manning (20 of 36 for 220) threw two touchdown passes and became the seventh NFL quarterback to reach the 50,000-mark with his completion of a garbage-time pass to Sterling Shepard in the fourth quarter.
The loss dropped the Giants to 1-7, and it certainly has to put coach Ben McAdoo’s future in question just one year after he led the team to the playoffs.
TITANS 23, RAVENS 20
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Marcus Mariota threw for 218 yards and two touchdowns, and the Titans got their third straight victory.
Derrick Henry ran for a 1-yard TD. Safety Kevin Byard also intercepted two passes , giving the second-year pro five picks over his past two games.
The Titans (5-3) sacked Joe Flacco twice and scored 13 points off Byard’s first interception and a shanked punt to stay atop the AFC South.
The Ravens (4-5) have lost three of four going into their bye, but they outgained Tennessee 341-257.
Flacco tried to rally the Ravens with two TD passes in the final 8:56, the last a 1-yard pass to Mike Wallace with 46 seconds left. But Justin Tucker’s onside kick attempt didn’t travel 10 yards, skittering almost sideways off the tee before being recovered by Titans linebacker Daren Bates.
COLTS 20, TEXANS 14
HOUSTON — T.Y. Hilton had 175 yards receiving with two touchdowns to help the Colts halt a three-game skid by beating a Texans team that struggled without Deshaun Watson.
Jacoby Brissett threw for 308 yards filling in for Andrew Luck, who was placed on injured reserve Thursday and will miss the season after having shoulder surgery in January. Watson’s stellar season ended that day, too, when the rookie tore the anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees in practice.
Tom Savage, benched in the opener for Watson, couldn’t move the offense for most of the game, but threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to get Houston within six.
The Texans had a chance to win it late, but Savage was sacked by Jabaal Sheard and fumbled as time ran out.
With Watson running the offense, the Texans (3-5) had set a franchise record by scoring 30 or more points in five straight games. On Sunday, with Watson relegated to an extra coach on the bench, this Houston offense sputtered.
RAIDERS 27, DOLPHINS 24
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Derek Carr threw for 300 yards and the Oakland Raiders overcame two fluky plays that cost them possession to beat the Miami Dolphins 27-24 on Sunday night.
Carr went 21 of 30 with one touchdown and one interception. He helped the Raiders convert 8 for 15 third downs.
The Raiders’ Marshawn Lynch, returning from one-game suspension for shoving an official, scored on a 22-yard run, his longest this year. He added another late score and finished with 57 yards on 14 carries.
Oakland (4-5) won for only the second time since Week 2. Miami (4-4) fell to .500 for the third time this season, and lost a close game for the first time in more than a year. In games decided by seven points or less, they had won 12 in a row.
Miami’s Jay Cutler, back after missing one game with cracked ribs, completed his first 16 passes and finished 34 for 42 for 311 yards and three scores. His touchdown pass with 1:32 left cut the deficit to three points, but Oakland recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the win.
