NFL week three: Chargers shock Bills, Lions lead the Pack, Broncos get Beasted
PHILIP Rivers proves a right Royal pain for the Bills, it might be time for the Packers to panic and Luck’s a fortune for the Colts.
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PHILIP Rivers proves a right Royal pain for the Bills, it might be time for the Packers to panic and Luck’s a fortune for the Colts.
RIVERS A ROYAL PAIN FOR BILLS
Philip Rivers threw two touchdown passes to Eddie Royal in leading the San Diego Chargers to a 22-10 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Malcom Floyd had two catches for 98 yards, and the Chargers overcame the loss of running back Danny Woodhead, who hurt his right ankle in the first quarter. Donald Brown stepped in and finished with 31 carries for 62 yards and five catches for 27 yards.
Rivers was 18-of-25 passing for 256 yards.
The Chargers are off to a 2-1 start for the third time in four years. They built on the momentum of last week’s 30-21 home win over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
Fred Jackson scored on an 11-yard catch for Buffalo (2-1), which blew an opportunity to get off to a 3-0 start for only the third time since 1993.
TOUCHDOWN DALTON — AS A RECEIVER
Andy Dalton caught a touchdown pass — the first Bengals quarterback to pull off that feat — as Cincinnati stayed undefeated on Sunday, beating Tennessee 33-7 a few hours after the Titans got sad news.
The Bengals (3-0) head into their bye week with their best start in eight years.
A few hours before kick-off, the Titans (1-2) learned that kicker Rob Bironas had died overnight in a one-car crash in Nashville. He’d been released in March after his ninth season with Tennessee.
The Titans committed a safety for holding in the end zone on a punt, missed two field goal attempts, snapped the ball before Jake Locker was ready in shotgun formation, and whiffed on the game’s defining play. Cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson let Dalton catch Mohamed Sanu’s pass and go 18 yards for a score.
BROWNS GO DOWN ON LAST PLAY
Justin Tucker kicked a 32-yard field as time expired, giving the Baltimore Ravens a 23-21 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Tucker’s boot capped another challenging week for the Ravens (2-1), who continue to be dogged by questions surrounding running back Ray Rice’s domestic violence suspension.
Joe Flacco set up Tucker’s game-winner with a 32-yard pass to Steve Smith with 1:28 left. The Ravens then ran the clock down before bringing in Tucker, who split the uprights and sent the Browns (1-2) to another tough loss. Both of Cleveland’s losses have come on last-play field goals.
Flacco finished 19 of 31 for 217 yards with one touchdown.
Cleveland’s Brian Hoyer completed 19 of 25 passes for 290 yards. The Browns failed to capitalise on several chances to put the Ravens away in the second half. Cleveland missed a field goal and had one blocked.
DETROIT D SENDS GREEN BAY PACKING
Don Carey returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown, and Detroit’s defensive front smothered Green Bay on Sunday, leading the Lions to a 19-7 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
The Lions (2-1) came into the game with a secondary decimated by injuries, but that didn’t much matter with Rodgers under constant pressure. He was sacked twice and threw for only 162 yards, and Green Bay (1-2) wasn’t any better running the ball.
Reggie Bush added a 26-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter for Detroit, which had never beaten Green Bay with Rodgers healthy for the whole game.
The Packers managed only 223 yards of offence and lost despite forcing three turnovers.
Detroit linebacker Stephen Tulloch left with a knee injury that appeared to occur as he was celebrating a sack.
LUCK’S A FORTUNE FOR COLTS
Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes — three of them in a lopsided first half — and the Indianapolis Colts dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars 44-17 on Sunday for their first win of the season.
It was a home opener to forget for the Jaguars (0-3), who trailed 30-0 at the break and benched quarterback Chad Henne.
The only positive for Jacksonville was getting rookie Blake Bortles on the field. The third overall pick in May’s NFL draft played the entire second half, finishing with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 223 yards, including fourth-quarter scores to Allen Hurns and Cecil Shorts III.
Those were among the few highlights for the Jaguars.
Indianapolis (1-2) made plays from start to finish. Luck completed 31 of 39 passes for 370 yards.
RAIDERS REALLY ARE ROTTEN
Tom Brady threw a touchdown pass, Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals and the sluggish New England Patriots held on to beat the Oakland Raiders 16-9 when defensive tackle Vince Wilfork intercepted a pass near his goal line Sunday.
Darren McFadden’s potential tying touchdown run was nullified by a holding penalty. A play later, Wilfork grabbed the ball when Logan Ryan jarred it loose from intended receiver Denarius Moore with 51 seconds left.
The Patriots (2-1) won their 12th home opener in 13 seasons, while the Raiders (0-3) lost their 15th straight game in the Eastern time zone. They were held to three field goals by Sebastian Janikowski.
SAINTS BREAK DUCK, VIKES DEBUT BRIDGEWATER
Drew Brees passed for 293 yards and two touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints won for the first time this season, 20-9 over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
For the Vikings, the loss capped a week of distractions as the club first announced that star running back Adrian Peterson would play, then later changed course and said Peterson would leave the team indefinitely to deal with child abuse allegations.
Minnesota then lost starting quarterback Matt Cassel with a toe injury early in the second quarter. He was replaced by rookie Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 12 of 20 for 150 yards while leading two scoring drives that both ended with field goals.
Brees’ scoring passes went for 34 yards to tight end Josh Hill and 18 yards to receiver Marques Colston.
GIANTS RUSH TO WIN OVER TEXANS
Rashad Jennings ran for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown and Eli Manning threw two TD passes as the New York Giants overcame some early mistakes and beat the suddenly error-prone Houston Texans 30-17 on Sunday.
The victory not only put some life back into the Giants (1-2) after two disappointing efforts, it also ended any chance of a second straight 0-6 start for Tom Coughlin’s team.
The Giants got a lot of contributions. Victor Cruz caught a 26-yard touchdown pass, his first since Game 4 of last season, and danced the salsa. The defence intercepted three of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s passes, and the special teams blocked a punt.
Fitzpatrick threw a 44-yard scoring pass to Damaris Johnson and ran for another score for the Texans (2-1), who played without half-back Arian Foster (hamstring).
EAGLES BEAT WASHINGTON IS SPITEFUL MATCH
Rookie Jordan Matthews, the receiver who replaced DeSean Jackson in Philadelphia, caught two touchdown passes, and the Eagles beat Jackson and his Washington Redskins 37-34 on Sunday in a nasty game marred by a fourth-quarter brawl.
Jackson had his own big play, an 81-yard TD that tied it at 27. But it was not enough to offset Matthews and Jeremy Maclin, whose 27-yard scoring reception gave Philadelphia (3-0) the lead. Rookie Cody Parkey’s third field goal, a 51-yarder with 5:55 remaining, put the game out of reach.
Philadelphia’s Chris Polk had a 102-yard kick-off return. Kirk Cousins threw for three touchdowns for Washington (1-2).
The game was slowed by several injuries and disrupted by a sideline brawl with about 10 minutes remaining. Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was blindsided by Chris Baker during an apparent interception return by Bashaud Breeland. Baker and Philly left tackle Jason Peters were ejected.
COWBOYS FIGHT BACK TO STUN RAMS
Terrance Williams scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter, and Bruce Carter returned an interception 25 yards for a TD on the next snap, capping the Dallas Cowboys’ comeback from a 21-0 deficit to stun the St. Louis Rams 34-31 on Sunday.
DeMarco Murray’s 1-yard run late in the first half began the rally for Dallas (2-1). Dez Bryant caught a 68-yard scoring pass in the third quarter, and Carter’s first career interception and touchdown came not long after he was evaluated for concussion-like symptoms on the bench.
The comeback matched the largest in Dallas history, the other two coming in overtime in 1984 against New Orleans and 1999 against Washington. It tied the second-largest lead blown by the Rams, who slowed Murray but got burned everywhere else.
St. Louis is 0-2 at home and was whipped 34-6 by Minnesota in the opener.
SEAHAWKS BUST THE BRONCOS IN THRILLER
Marshawn Lynch scored on a 6-yard TD run on the first possession of overtime and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos 26-20 on Sunday in a Super Bowl rematch that lived up to expectations.
Seattle (2-1) blew a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead, watching Denver tie the game at 20 on Peyton Manning’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Tamme with 18 seconds left in regulation and his 2-point conversion pass to Demaryius Thomas.
But Manning never saw the ball in overtime thanks to Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson. After nearly getting sacked for a safety and throwing an interception in the fourth quarter, Wilson was brilliant in overtime. Wilson rushed for 21 yards and was 4 of 6 passing in overtime. Lynch went the final 6 yards.
Manning led the rally for Denver (2-1) helped by a number of Seahawks mistakes.
STEELERS FIND THEIR MOJO
The Steelers re-discovered their mojo for a 37-19 victory over the favored Carolina Panthers.
Held out of the end zone for the previous eight quarters, they erupted for four touchdowns in the second half. Two of those were aided by something else that had vanished through the first two games - forced turnovers.
The cherry on top came when Roethlisberger led them on a 98-yard drive in which LeGarrette Blount ran one time for 50 yards and the final time for eight yards and a touchdown.
Backup quarterback Derek Anderson’s 35-yard pass to rookie Kelvin Benjamin with 3:53 left ended the day’s scoring.
The Steelers also produced two 100-yard rushers for the first time in 28 years when Le’Veon Bell had 147 yards and Blount ran for 118 yards.
The victory that left them with a 2-1 record did not come without a cost, however. The Steelers lost three defensive starters in the third quarter. Cornerback Ike Taylor left with what appeared to be a severe injury to his right forearm, perhaps a break. Linebackers Ryan Shazier (right knee) and Jarvis Jones (right wrist) also left.
Originally published as NFL week three: Chargers shock Bills, Lions lead the Pack, Broncos get Beasted
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