CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell below .500 with a stunning 21-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers, who won just their second game of the season Sunday despite playing with a third-string quarterback and interim head coach.
Brady was 32-of-49 passing for 290 yards for the Bucs (3-4). One of those incompletions came when Mike Evans dropped a wide-open 64-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the game.
Brady hasn’t had a losing record this far into a season since the 2002 New England Patriots dropped four straight games to reach 3-4. Brady has never been under .500 after eight games.
P.J. Walker threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns for Carolina (2-5) in place of injured Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. The Panthers won for the first time under interim coach Steve Wilks, who replaced Matt Rhule when he was fired Oct. 10.
Dolphins 16, Steelers 10
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa got Miami off to a fast start in his return from a concussion, and the Dolphins held on throughout a scoreless second half to beat Pittsburgh.
The Dolphins (4-3) snapped a three-game skid that began on Sept. 29, when Tagovailoa was concussed in a loss at Cincinnati.
Miami coach Mike McDaniel opted not to have Jason Sanders kick his fourth field goal of the game midway through the third quarter for a two-score lead. Chase Edmonds was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-3 from the Pittsburgh 13.
The decision loomed large as Miami punted on its next five possessions. But the Dolphins intercepted rookie Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett twice in the closing minutes to seal it.
The Steelers (2-5) fell short a week after they held off Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home.
Tagovailoa finished 21 of 35 for 261 yards and an 8-yard touchdown pass to Raheem Mostert on the Dolphins’ opening drive. Miami added two field goals by Sanders to lead 13-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Pickett, who was cleared from the NFL’s concussion protocol Friday, was 32 for 44 for 257 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Chiefs 44, 49ers 23
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns to rally Kansas City back from another double-digit deficit in the Chiefs’ 44-23 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Mahomes got off to a rough start in this Super Bowl rematch with his early interception putting Kansas City (5-2) in a 10-0 hole but that once again proved to be no problem as he led the Chiefs to touchdowns on six of the next seven drives.
Mecole Hardman scored on two TD runs and an 8-yard catch, Justin Watson caught a 4-yard TD and JuJu Smith-Schuster finished it off with a 45 yard catch and run. Clyde Edwards-Helaire also scored on a 16-yard run.
The comeback improved Kansas City to 13-9 with Mahomes when falling behind by at least 10 points with the most memorable coming in a Super Bowl win over the 49ers (3-4) following the 2019 season.
Commanders 23, Packers 21
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay’s offense sputtered, penalties piled up at the most inopportune moments and the Packers lost their third game in a row, 23-21 at the Washington Commanders on Sunday for their longest skid since 2018.
Nursing a sore thumb and out of sync with receivers, Rodgers was 23 of 35 for 194 yards and the Packers went 0 of 6 on third down. Green Bay (3-4) had just 232 total yards of offense to Washington’s 364 and lost Allen Lazard to a shoulder injury, making him the team’s third wide receiver to go down during the first losing streak under coach Matt LaFleur.
The negatives outweighed the few positives: a 63-yard pick-6 of Taylor Heinicke by De’Vondre Campbell and two touchdown passes from Rodgers to Aaron Jones _ the second of which completed a 75-yard drive aided by Washington penalties that pulled the Packers within two with 3:26 left in the fourth quarte
The Packers had no third-down conversions for the first time since 1999 — 370 games ago and before Rodgers graduated high school.
Raiders 38, Texans 20
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Josh Jacobs rushed for 143 yards and three second-half touchdowns, and the Las Vegas Raiders ran away from the Houston Texans 38-20 on Sunday.
In a battle of one-win teams coming off byes, the Raiders (2-4) dominated the Texans (1-4-1) after halftime, outscoring them 28-10 behind 227 yards of offense, including 98 from Jacobs on the ground.
Las Vegas, which erased a three-point fourth-quarter deficit, scored on four straight possessions before safety Duron Harmon sealed the win by intercepting Davis Mills and returning it 73 yards for a touchdown.
Derek Carr completed 21 of 27 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown. Davante Adams had eight receptions for 95 yards.
Seahawks 37, Chargers 23
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Rookie Kenneth Walker III rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns, Marquise Goodwin caught a pair of scores, and the Seattle Seahawks jumped out to a 17-point first-quarter lead before defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 37-23 on Sunday.
Geno Smith completed 20 of 27 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, his fifth multi-TD game of the season. Jason Myers added three field goals for the Seahawks (4-3), who have won three of four and took a half-game lead in the NFC West.
Seattle led 17-0 late in the first quarter, its largest lead after 15 minutes since a win over New Orleans in Week 13 of 2013. It was the Seahawks’ largest road lead at the end of the first since 2000.
It was the third straight week the Chargers (4-3) fell behind by double digits in the first quarter. They rallied against Cleveland and Denver, but were unable to pull it off this time and had a three-game winning streak snapped. LA now trails Kansas City by one game in the AFC West.
Jets 16, Broncos 9
DENVER (AP) — Rookie Breece Hall ran for a 62-yard touchdown before leaving with a knee injury and the surprising New York Jets won their fourth straight by beating backup quarterback Brett Rypien and the punchless Denver Broncos 16-9 on Sunday.
Rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner broke up Rypien’s fourth-down pass into the end zone to Courtland Sutton with just under 2 minutes remaining. Rypien’s final heave in the closing moments fell woefully short of KJ Hamler’s grasp at the goal line.
The Jets (5-2) are off to their best start since 2010, have their first four-game winning streak since 2015 and already surpassed their win total from last year when they went 4-13. New York also improved to 4-0 on the road.
Denver starting quarterback Russell Wilson sat this one out with a pulled hamstring, missing a game for just the fourth time in his 11-year career. But the Broncos, who are last in the league in scoring, fared no better under Rypien, who was making his second career start.
The Broncos (2-5) lost their fourth straight despite another outstanding defensive performance.
Ravens 23, Browns 20
BALTIMORE (AP) — Gus Edwards ran for two touchdowns in his first game back from a major knee injury, and the Baltimore Ravens avoided another fourth-quarter collapse thanks to a couple huge Cleveland penalties that helped them hold off the Browns 23-20 on Sunday.
Baltimore (4-3) has blown a double-digit lead in the second half of each of its three losses this season. The Ravens led 23-13 after Justin Tucker’s 55-yard field goal with 11:24 remaining, but the Browns quickly responded with a 2-yard touchdown run by Kareem Hunt to make it a three-point game. Then a fumble by Baltimore’s Justice Hill gave Cleveland the ball at its own 16 with 3:12 to play.
The Browns reached the Baltimore 34 before an offensive pass interference call wiped out a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper, who appeared to hold off cornerback Marcus Peters with his left arm. Cleveland still made it back into position to try a long field goal, but a false start before that snap forced Cade York to try it from 60.
His attempt was blocked by Malik Harrison with 1:59 remaining, and the Ravens were able to run out most of the remaining time.
Cleveland (2-5) has lost four in a row.
Bengals 35, Falcons 17
CINCINNATI (AP) — Joe Burrow passed for 345 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as the Cincinnati Bengals scored on their first four possessions on the way to a 35-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
The Cincinnati quarterback played his best game of the season, finishing 34 of 42 for 481 yards and three touchdowns and running for a 1-yard score as the defending AFC champion Bengals (4-3) moved above .500 for the first time this season.
Receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd both eclipsed the 100-yard mark in the first half. Boyd finished with a career-high 155 yards on eight catches. Chase also caught eight passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Marcus Mariota completed just eight passes for the Falcons (3-4), whose strong running game was also stymied by Cincinnati. Mariota threw for 124 yards and Atlanta generated only 214 yards of offence to the Bengals’ 537.
Cowboys 24, Lions 6
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ezekiel Elliott ran for two 1-yard touchdowns and Dak Prescott threw for a score in his return from injury while the Dallas Cowboys leaned on their defence again in a 24-6 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Cowboys (5-2) recovered Jamaal Williams’ fumble inside their 1 with a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Jared Goff was responsible for four other Detroit turnovers — he threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
Prescott was predictably ragged after missing five games with a fractured right thumb, and the offence struggled much as it did when Cooper Rush got a boost from the defence and went 4-1 as the star QB’s replacement.
Giants 23, Jaguars 17
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Two Giants defenders tackled Jacksonville’s Christian Kirk inside the 1-yard line as time expired, preserving New York’s 23-17 victory over the Jaguars on Sunday to match its best start since 2008.
New York quarterback Daniel Jones ran for a career-high 107 yards and a touchdown, turning to his legs to carry the Giants (6-1) down the stretch. He ran for 35 yards on a go-ahead drive and capped it with a 1-yard plunge after consecutive penalties by Jacksonville moved the ball inches from the goal line.
Jacksonville had a final shot and reached the New York 1-yard on Trevor Lawrence’s pass to Kirk. But Julian Love and Xavier McKinney stopped Kirk short of the goal line, even as Jaguars players tried pushing the pile into the end zone.
The Giants leaned on their ground game — despite being down two starting offensive linemen and its starting tight end — to win another close one. Their six victories have come by a combined 27 points, a small margin that contributed to them being three-point underdogs on the road against the reeling Jaguars (2-5).
Titans 19, Colts 10
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Andrew Adams returned an interception 76 yards for the first pick-6 of his career, and the Tennessee Titans never trailed in beating the Indianapolis Colts 19-10 Sunday for a second straight sweep of their AFC South rivals.
The reigning two-time division champion Titans (4-2) won their fourth straight overall, and they’ve now beaten the Colts five straight and six of the past seven. This was just their fourth sweep of the Colts since becoming division rivals in 2002.
Randy Bullock matched his career high with four field goals, the last two providing Tennessee’s first points this season in the fourth quarter. Bullock’s 48-yarder provided the final margin with 4:47 remaining.
The Titans forced three turnovers, the last on Michael Pittman Jr.’s fumble with 3:22 left. Jeffery Simmons also had one of three sacks for Tennessee.
Derrick Henry helped seal the win with his third straight 100-yard rushing game, finishing with a season-high 128 yards on 30 carries.
The Colts (3-3-1) came in having won three of four to nip at Tennessee’s heels in the division and wound up snapping a two-game winning streak. Worse, they’ve trailed by at least 10 in each of their first five divisional games.