NFL week 8: Washington stun Cowboys, Big Ben fires, Lions leave it late, Patriots run riot
THE Lions left it oh so late in London and Ben Roethlisberger played one of the best games in history. Check all today’s NFL action.
Other Sports
Don't miss out on the headlines from Other Sports. Followed categories will be added to My News.
THE Lions left it oh so late in London, Seahawks won but impressed no one and things got all kinds of ugly for the hapless Bears.
Check out our wrap of all today’s action from the NFL.
WASHINGTON 20 - DALLAS COWBOYS 17
The Redskins ended the Cowboys’ six-game NFL winning streak with an overtime victory.
Colt McCoy directed Washington to Kai Forbath’s 40-yard field goal in overtime and Dallas was unable to answer after Tony Romo returned from an apparent injury.
McCoy, the former Texas star playing at the home of the Cowboys for the first time since his final college game, calmly drove the Redskins (3-5) to the winning points.
The Cowboys (6-2) had one last chance, but didn’t get a first down. Romo’s final pass on fourth down was knocked away by Bashaud Breeland.
Romo left the field after getting sacked by Keenan Robinson in the third quarter. He lay motionless for several minutes but returned for the final Dallas drive of regulation.
McCoy, who was 25 of 30 for 299 yards, threw 23 yards to Pierre Garcon to get the winning drive going.
Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray extended the record he took from Jim Brown a week ago with his eighth straight 100-yard rushing game to start the season. He also had 80 yards receiving.
STEELERS 51 — COLTS 34
Ben Roethlisberger shattered several Pittsburgh team records, including his six touchdown passes, to lead the Steelers over the Indianapolis Colts 51-34 in a rollicking game at Heinz Field.
Roethlisbeger completed a team record 40 of 49 passes for a team record 522 yards as the Steelers raised their record to 5-3, matching the Colts, who had won five in a row. He became the first NFL player to throw for 500 yards in two games and the 522 yards was the fourth-most in NFL history.
Antonio Brown and rookie Martavis Bryant caught two touchdown passes and Markus Wheaton his first in the NFL. William Gay returned an interception of Andrew Luck 33 yards for another Steelers touchdown and Heath Miller caught an 11-yard touchdown pass with 5:14 to go that virtually put it away. Antwon Blake intercepted Luck in the end zone with 2:48 left.
Both Miller and Brown topped 100 yards receiving.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 44 - GREEN BAY PACKERS 23
Drew Brees completed 27 of 32 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns as the Saints ended the Packers’ four-game winning streak.
Rookie receiver Brandin Cooks had a 50-yard touchdown catch and a 4-yard scoring run, and tight end Jimmy Graham also caught a touchdown pass to help the Saints (3-4) pull even in victories with Carolina (3-4-1). That sets up a showdown to decide first place in the NFC South on Thursday night.
Aaron Rodgers, intercepted only once in Green Bay’s first seven games, was picked off twice on deflected and sacked three times. He still passed for 418 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb, but it was not nearly enough to prevent the Packers (5-3) from falling a game behind NFC North leader Detroit.
LIONS 22 — FALCONS 21
Matt Prater kicked a 48-yard field goal on the last play of the game to lift the Detroit Lions to an improbable victory after they earlier trailed by 21 points.
Prater capped a second straight late winning drive for the Lions (6-2), who also rallied to beat the Saints last week.
It was the first field goal the Lions have made from 40-49 yards all season.
Matt Stafford threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 120 career TDs, breaking the Lions record of 118 held by Bobby Layne.
Matt Ryan led the Falcons (2-6) with 228 yards passing and two touchdowns, but clock management problems, a penalty and a dropped pass doomed the Falcons at the end. The blown half-time lead tied the biggest in Atlanta’s history.
BENGALS 27 — RAVENS 24
Andy Dalton made up for his two second-half turnovers by scoring on a one-yard sneak with 57 seconds left to rally the Cincinnati Bengals to a 27-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens that tightened the AFC North race.
The Bengals (4-2-1) wasted an 11-point lead as Dalton’s fumble and interception helped the Ravens (5-3) pull ahead 24-20 with 3:59 left.
That’s when Dalton pulled it out against the NFL’s stingiest defence. He threw a 53-yard pass to Mohamed Sanu on third-and-10 and took it the final yard on fourth down, completing a 10-play, 80-yard drive.
The Ravens appeared to regain the lead when Steve Smith Sr. caught a pass and went 80 yards to the end zone with 32 seconds left, but the receiver was called for pushing off to get open.
SEAHAWKS 13 — PANTHERS 9
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Luke Willson with 47 seconds left to scrape past the Carolina Panthers.
It’s the third straight year Wilson has brought the Seahawks (4-3) back from a second-half deficit to beat the Panthers on the road. In the previous two seasons, Wilson threw second-half TD passes to Jermaine Kearse and Golden Tate in tight defensive games.
Carolina’s defence, which had allowed at least 37 points in four of its previous five games, held the Seahawks in check before Wilson led a nine-play, 80-yard drive for the only touchdown of the game.
Wilson finished with 20 completed passes from 32 attempts for 199 yards with one interception and one touchdown.
Panthers QB Cam Newton was 12 of 27 for 121 yards with an interception and a fumble.
PATRIOTS 51 — BEARS 23
Tom Brady threw five scoring passes and the streaking New England Patriots crammed three touchdowns into the last two minutes of the first half as they destroyed the hapless Chicago Bears.
New England (6-2) scored on all five of its possessions in the half — and one of Chicago’s — on its way to its fourth straight win.
The Bears (3-5) fell behind 45-7 early in the second half and lost for the fourth time in five games.
In one of the best statistical games of his brilliant career, Brady completed 30 of 35 passes for 354 yards. He threw three scoring passes to Rob Gronkowski and one each to Tim Wright and Brandon LaFell.
Defensive end Rob Ninkovich scored with 55 seconds left in the first half on a 15-yard return of Jay Cutler’s fumble.
VIKINGS 19 — BUCCANEERS 13, OT
Anthony Barr forced a fumble on the first play of overtime and returned it 27 yards to score and lift Minnesota to a last-gasp win against Tampa Bay.
The stunning end came just 17 seconds after the Vikings (3-5) extended the game on Blair Walsh’s 38-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.
Teddy Bridgewater threw for 241 yards, one TD and no interceptions to help Minnesota stop a three-game skid.
Mike Glennon threw a seven-yard scoring pass to Austin Seferian-Jenkins to give Tampa Bay (1-6) a 13-10 lead with 2:02 remaining. But the Bucs’ porous defence couldn’t stop Bridgewater from putting together a nine-play, 61-yard march to get the game into OT.
Glennon’s pass to Seferian-Jenkins gained 10 yards before Barr stripped the ball from the rookie tight end and took it up the left sideline to score.
CHIEFS 34 — RAMS 7
Jamaal Charles ran for two touchdowns, Knile Davis returned a kick 99 yards for another score and the Chiefs trounced their cross-state rival.
Cairo Santos added a pair of field goals for Kansas City (4-3), including a career-best 53-yarder. Alex Smith was 24 of 28 for 226 yards, while Davis capped a run of 34 unanswered points with a short touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
Justin Houston had three of the Chiefs’ seven sacks.
The banged-up Rams (2-5) lost their sixth straight to Kansas City dating to September 25, 1994, when they were still in Los Angeles. Rams quarterback Austin Davis threw for 160 yards with a touchdown and a pick.
DOLPHINS 27 — JAGUARS 13
Rookie Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles had two interceptions returned for touchdowns to help Miami win.
Louis Delmas (81 yards) and Brent Grimes (22 yards) scored on the turnovers for the Dolphins (4-3), who won consecutive games for the first time this season.
Ryan Tannehill’s 3-yard pass to Rishard Matthews made it 24-6 late in the third quarter and gave the Dolphins a comfortable cushion in a game they could have easily trailed by double digits.
The Jaguars (1-7) dominated the first half, but trailed 10-3 at the break because of miscues. Bortles was the culprit, continuing a trend that started when he took over the starting job last month.
Bortles had three turnovers Sunday, giving him six in the last two weeks and 13 in six games. Four of those have been interceptions returned for touchdowns.
BILLS 43 — JETS 23
Kyle Orton threw four touchdown passes and his Buffalo Bills forced six turnovers, three each from tag-teaming New York quarterbacks Geno Smith and Michael Vick.
Orton won for the third time in four games since replacing EJ Manuel as the starting quarterback for the Bills (5-3), tossing TD passes to Robert Woods, Lee Smith, Scott Chandler and Sammy Watkins against the listless Jets (1-7).
Stephon Gilmore, Preston Brown, Aaron Williams and Da’Norris Searcy had interceptions for the Bills.
The Jets have lost seven straight for the first time since 2005, in Herm Edwards’ final season as coach. Geno Smith threw interceptions on three consecutive possessions in the first quarter and was pulled in favour of Vick, who was picked off once and lost two fumbles.
TEXANS 30, TITANS 16
Houstan Texans running back Arian Foster ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns and also caught a pass for a score in the franchise’s 200th game.
The Texans (4-4) also snapped a three-game skid as Foster topped 100 yards rushing in his fourth straight game.
J.J. Watt had two sacks and forced a fumble as the Texans beat the team they replaced in Houston for the fourth time in five games.
Texans linebacker and top draft pick Jadeveon Clowney played for the first time since hurting his knee in the season opener, and finished with one tackle for the game.
Rookie Zach Mettenberger turned over the ball twice in his first start, but he also threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns. The Titans (2-6) go into their bye having lost two straight.
CARDINALS 24 — EAGLES 20
Rookie John Brown gathered in a 75-yard touchdown pass from Carson Palmer with 1:21 to play to give the Arizona Cardinals a stunning 24-20 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in a matchup of two of the NFL’s four remaining one-loss teams.
The Cardinals (6-1) had a goal line stand that forced the Eagles (5-2) to settle for a 20-yard field goal that put Philadelphia up 20-17 with 1:56 left.
Then on third-and-five, Palmer — who also had an 80-yard TD pass to Larry Fitzgerald — lofted the ball deep, where the speedy Brown caught it and crossed the goal line just as he was being tackled.
The Eagles then drove to the Arizona 16 and on the last play of the game Jordan Matthews caught a pass from Nick Foles in the end zone but landed out of bounds.
Foles completed 26 of 62 passes for 411 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jeremy Maclin, but was intercepted twice by Antonio Cromartie, the second one setting up Chandler Catanzaro’s 28-yard field goal that tied it at 17-17 with 9:02 to play.
Parkey also kicked a 54-yarder, the longest field goal by an Eagle since 2003.
BROWNS 23 — RAIDERS 13
THE Cleveland Browns used clutch defensive plays to defeat the Oakland Raiders 23-13.
The Browns didn’t run the ball well (25 carries for 39 yards) and their offense was dreadful on third down (two-of-12). But the defence did enough to ensure the Browns would improve to 4-3, their best record through seven games since 2007, when they finished 10-6 but missed the playoffs.
But all of the fun would have been spoiled had the Browns followed their only lopsided loss of the season, a 24-6 defeat on the road against the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars, with another defeat to an 0-6 team.
They were flirting with disaster until their defence delivered in a major way late in the third quarter.
On second-hand-7 from Cleveland’s 30, Raiders running back Darren McFadden broke loose for a 10-yard run. But strong safety Donte Whitner hit McFadden at the 20, and the ball shot into the hands of cornerback Joe Haden at the 15. Haden returned it 34 yards to the Browns’ 47 with 23 seconds left in the third quarter.
Their subsequent drive ended with a four-yard touchdown reception from Hoyer, giving the Browns a 16-6 lead with 14:17 left in the fourth quarter and snapping their drought of seven quarters without a touchdown.
QAFL colts top 80 Players of the Season revealed
QAFL colts: The top 80 Players of the Season revealed ahead of Saturday’s grand final. Check out which next-up young guns are featured from your club here.
AIC First XIII rugby league Team of the Season after Iona triumph
Who has made the AIC First XIII rugby league Team of the Season following Iona’s premiership confirmation? All is revealed here, along with the best of the best who just missed selection.