Tua Tagovailoa tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jonnu Smith on the first possession of overtime as the Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets 32-26 on Sunday afternoon in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Tagovailoa passed for 331 yards and two touchdowns as Miami (6-7) kept its playoff hopes alive. Tyreek Hill caught 10 passes for 115 yards and one TD. Jaylen Waddle caught nine passes for 99 yards and a two-point conversion.
The game featured six lead changes, and it was the ninth straight year that the Dolphins beat the Jets at home.
The Dolphins didn’t force a punt until they got two straight stops in the fourth quarter, allowing Miami to rally from an eight-point deficit. Anders Carlson made a 42-yard field goal with 52 seconds left to give the Jets a 26-23 lead, but Jason Sanders nailed a 52-yarder with seven seconds left, sending the game to overtime.
Aaron Rodgers passed for 339 yards and one touchdown, but New York (3-10) still lost its fourth straight game.
Jets receiver Garrett Wilson caught seven passes for 114 yards. Davante Adams caught nine passes for 109 yards and one touchdown.
The Jets also had a great performance from linebacker Jamien Sherwood, who had 18 tackles, two stops for losses and one pass defended.
New York played without leading rusher Breece Hall and cornerback Sauce Gardner, who has made the Pro Bowl the past two years.
Both teams scored on their first possession.
For Miami, De’Von Achane scored on a 2-yard run. But Sanders’ streak of 75 successful extra points ended when he hit the left post. The Jets cut their deficit to 6-3 on Carlson’s 28-yard field goal.
In the second quarter, Miami opted for a field goal on fourth-and-1, and Sanders made a 39-yarder.
On its next possession, New York took its first lead of the game at 10-9 on rookie Isaiah Davis’ 17-yard cutback run. The key to that drive was a fourth-and-4 conversion pass from Rodgers to Wilson that gained 35 yards.
Miami went into halftime with a 15-13 lead as Sanders hit two more field goals, and Carlson connected on one. The final first-half play from scrimmage was Sanders’ career-high-tying 57-yarder.
New York took a 23-15 lead with the only points of the third quarter — a 3-yard TD pass to Adams and a 40-yard field goal by Carlson.
But with 9:04 left in the fourth quarter, Miami tied the score 23-23 on Tagovailoa’s 4-yard pass to Hill and a two-point conversion toss to Waddle.
49ers rout bumbling Bears to snap 3-game skid
Brock Purdy passed for 325 yards and two touchdowns, Isaac Guerendo ran for two scores and Leonard Floyd registered two sacks against his former team as the host San Francisco 49ers routed the skidding Chicago Bears 38-13 on Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif.
San Francisco (6-7) stopped a three-game losing streak while remaining in the hunt in the NFC wild-card race.
Chicago lost its seventh in a row, stumbling through its first game under interim coach Thomas Brown, who took the reins after the organization fired third-year coach Matt Eberflus on Nov. 29. The Bears (4-9) were outgained 452-162.
The 49ers reached the end zone on three of their first four possessions and scored on four of their five first-half drives overall, excluding their kneel-down on the final play.
San Francisco raced down the field with the opening kickoff, needing just five plays and 2:40 of clock time to drive 70 yards for a touchdown. Purdy punctuated the drive with a seven-yard TD pass to Jauan Jennings, who also caught a 16-yard scoring pass to make it 21-0 with 7:41 left in the second quarter.
Seeing an increased workload with fellow running backs Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason on injured reserve, Guerendo scored the first of his two TDs with 1:39 left in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead.
Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams regrouped from an abysmal first half in which he was 6-for-9 for 27 yards. With the three sacks Chicago allowed before intermission, however, Chicago gained just four first-half yards.
The Bears got on the scoreboard on the first possession of the third quarter, with Williams capping a 16-play, 70-yard drive that took 9:04 of clock time with a 4-yard TD pass to Rome Odunze.
Odunze also caught a 14-yard scoring pass from Williams with 11:48 to go.
Guerendo rushed 15 times for 78 yards and scored his second touchdown from 4 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 31-6. He also had 50 receiving yards before leaving with a foot injury in the fourth quarter.
Patrick Taylor Jr. capped the scoring with a 3-yard run.
Purdy was 20-for-25 through the air. George Kittle had six catches for 151 yards and Jennings had six receptions for 90 yards.
Williams was 17-for-23 for 134 yards and two TDs. DJ Moore had six catches for 49 yards.
Seahawks sweep Cardinals, retain NFC West’s top spot
Zach Charbonnet rushed for a career-high 134 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Seattle Seahawks remained atop the NFC West with a 30-18 victory against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a 19-yard scoring strike from Geno Smith and Jason Myers kicked three field goals for the Seahawks (8-5), who have won four consecutive games since their bye week — including two against Arizona.
Smith completed 24 of 30 passes for 233 yards and Charbonnet, starting for the injured Kenneth Walker III (calf), added a team-high seven receptions for 59 yards.
Arizona’s Kyler Murray was 25-of-38 passing for 259 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. James Conner rushed for 90 yards on 18 carries and Trey McBride made seven receptions for 70 yards for the Cardinals (6-7), who lost their third in a row.
Murray threw back-to-back interceptions late in the first quarter, leading to two Seahawks touchdowns.
Ernest Jones IV picked off the first, giving Seattle the ball at the Cardinals’ 19-yard line. Smith found Smith-Njigba in the back right corner of the end zone on the next play, giving the Seahawks a 10-7 lead.
Coby Bryant intercepted Murray’s next pass, putting the ball at Arizona’s 46. Five plays later, Charbonnet scored on a 1-yard run.
Chad Ryland kicked a 28-yard field goal to pull the Cardinals within 17-10, but Charbonnet scored on a 51-yard run with 2:36 left in the second quarter to give Seattle a 24-10 lead at the intermission.
Conner scored on a 2-yard shovel pass from Murray with 1:05 left in the third quarter and Murray ran for a two-point conversion to make it 27-18, but that was as close as the Cardinals would get.
The Cardinals, who were limited to a pair of field goals in a 16-6 loss at Seattle on Nov. 24, found the end zone on the game’s opening possession, as Murray hit Michael Wilson with a 41-yard scoring strike down the right sideline.
Wilson beat Bryant, who had a 69-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first meeting between the teams.
Puka Nacua helps Rams edge Bills, Josh Allen
Puka Nacua finished with 178 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns, and the Los Angeles Rams held on for a 44-42 win over the visiting Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Nacua caught 12 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, and he rushed for 16 yards and another score for Los Angeles (7-6). Kyren Williams added 87 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and Cooper Kupp finished with five catches for 92 yards and a score.
Josh Allen made history in the loss for Buffalo (10-3) as the first player to pass for three touchdowns and rush for three touchdowns in a single game. Allen completed 22 of 37 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns, and he carried the ball 10 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns.
Matthew Stafford completed 23 of 30 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams, who have won two games in a row and three of their past four.
The teams accounted for 902 total yards in addition to teaming up for 86 points. The Rams outgained the Bills 457-445.
Buffalo trailed 38-21 at the end of the third quarter before trying to make a late rally.
Allen cut the deficit to 38-28 with 14:27 remaining on his second of three touchdown runs, all of which came from 1 yard.
The Bills pulled within 38-35 with 8:49 to play when Allen connected with Mack Hollins for a 21-yard touchdown. The score finished off a 10-play, 91-yard drive.
Los Angeles increased its lead to 44-35 when Stafford hit Nacua for a 19-yard touchdown with 1:54 left. It was the second touchdown of the day for Nacua, who rushed for a 4-yard touchdown late in the first half.
Allen trimmed Buffalo’s deficit to 44-42 with one minute to go. His teammates pushed him across the goal line for his third rushing touchdown and his sixth touchdown overall.
Los Angeles recovered Buffalo’s onside kick moments later and ran out the clock.
The Rams built a 24-14 lead at the half. Williams and Nacua each rushed for a score, and Hunter Long scooped a blocked punt and returned it for another Rams touchdown.
Allen rushed for one touchdown in the first half and Ty Johnson had a 41-yard touchdown catch.