TAMPA, Fla. — The Philadelphia Eagles used a fake tush push, another special teams touchdown and a late defensive stop to stay undefeated.
Jalen Hurts tossed two touchdown passes, Sydney Brown returned a blocked punt for a score and the Eagles beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-25 on Sunday for their 20th victory in 21 games.
The only loss in that span for the reigning Super Bowl champions was against Washington last December in a game Hurts left with a concussion in the first half.
Chase McLaughlin’s 65-yard field goal for Tampa Bay on the final play of the first half was the longest in NFL history in an outdoor stadium.
Playing with an injured biceps that limited in him in practice this week, Baker Mayfield had TD passes of 77 yards and 72 yards but threw an interception on first down from the Eagles 11 with his team down 31-23 midway through the fourth quarter.
The Bucs had another chance with the ball at Philadelphia’s 40 and just under two minutes left. But Mayfield was sacked by Moro Ojomo and a fourth-and-nine pass went for only two yards.
BILLS 31, SAINTS 19
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, and the Buffalo Bills shook off a sloppy first three quarters to stay undefeated, beating the winless New Orleans Saints 31-19 on Sunday.
James Cook had 117 yards rushing and a touchdown in a game that wasn’t decided until midway through the fourth quarter. The Bills never trailed, but were clinging to a 21-19 lead when Allen hit a wide-open Dalton Kincaid for a 28-yard touchdown with 7:07 left.
Allen asserted himself on the previous play by putting his head down, breaking two tackles and dragging three defenders before finally going down for a 27-yard gain to convert a third-and-five.
Allen finished 16-of-22 for 209 yards while throwing his first interception of the season. Khalil Shakir scored on a 43-yard catch to cap Buffalo’s opening drive.
The five-time defending AFC East champion Bills are 4-0 for the 10th time in team history and first since 2020. Buffalo also won its 14th straight regular-season outing at home, one short of matching the franchise record spanning the 1990-91 seasons.
The Saints opened a season 0-4 for the ninth time in team history and first since 2012. They’ve lost eight straight dating to last year, their worst streak since losing 14 straight in 1980.
TEXANS 26, TITANS 0
HOUSTON — Rookie Woody Marks had a touchdown reception and ran for another score and the Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans 26-0 Sunday for their first win this season.
It’s the third time the Texans have shut out a team and the first time since blanking the Titans 29-0 on Nov. 28, 2010. The Titans were shut out for the first time since a 16-0 loss at Denver on Oct. 13, 2019.
C.J. Stroud threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns as the Texans scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter Sunday to put the game away and match their TD total in the previous three games combined.
The Texans (1-3) led 6-0 after two first-half field goals, but neither team got into the red zone until a 17-yard grab by Nico Collins put Houston on the 12 on the last play of the third quarter. Stroud connected with Marks for a TD on the next play, but the two-point try failed to leave the Texans up 12-0.
Derek Stingley picked off rookie first overall pick Cam Ward on the next drive and returned it 20 yards. The Texans cashed in on that mistake when Stroud threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jayden Higgins to push the lead to 19-0 with about nine minutes to go.
An 18-yard touchdown run by Marks, a fourth-round pick from USC, made it 26-0 with less than five minutes remaining.
FALCONS 34, COMMANDERS 27
ATLANTA — Michael Penix Jr. bounced back from his worst NFL start, Bijan Robinson had a career-high 181 yards from scrimmage and the Atlanta Falcons beat the short-handed Washington Commanders 34-27 on Sunday.
The Falcons (2-2) were coming off a 30-0 loss to the Panthers in which Penix and the offense were totally ineffective. Against the Commanders (2-2), Penix completed 20-of-26 passes for a career-high 313 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Robinson had 75 rushing yards on 17 carries, including a nifty 14-yard touchdown run where he broke multiple tackles. He also had four catches for 106 yards, the highlight being a 69-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter that set up Penix’s TD toss to Kyle Pitts.
Falcons wide receiver Drake London had his best game of the season with eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown less than a week after the Falcons fired wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard.
Marcus Mariota, filling in for injured Commanders starter Jayden Daniels, was 16-for-27 for 156 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. With top receiver Terry McLaurin also sidelined, Deebo Samuel had six receptions for 72 yards and a TD for Washington. Luke McCaffrey also had a scoring catch and Chris Rodriguez Jr. led the Commanders in rushing with 59 yards on seven carries.
PATRIOTS 42, PANTHERS 13
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Marcus Jones had an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown, Drake Maye added two touchdown passes and ran for another, and the New England Patriots rolled to a 42-13 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
TreVeyon Henderson and Antonio Gibson added touchdown runs and Jones had a 61-yard punt return that set up another TD to help the Patriots (2-2) avoid their fifth straight 1-3 start.
A week after turning the ball over five times in a loss to Pittsburgh, the Patriots were turnover-free while going 4-for-4 in the red zone.
Maye was steady throughout, completing 14-of-17 passes for 203 yards. Receiver Stefon Diggs had six catches for 101 yards.
Carolina struggled from the outset, missing an extra point after scoring on the game’s opening possession and then punting on four of its final five drives. The other possession ended with a missed field goal.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young finished 18-of-30 for 150 yards and a touchdown before being replaced by Andy Dalton with just over eight minutes remaining.
Maye put New England in front 14-6 in the opening seconds of the second quarter when he scored on a designed quarterback run.
LIONS 34, BROWNS 10
DETROIT — Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond returned a punt 65 yards for another score and the Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns 34-10 on Sunday.
The Lions (3-1) intercepted Joe Flacco twice in the first half and scored 20 straight points for a 13-point lead at halftime. Detroit forced Flacco to fumble in the fourth, setting up another touchdown.
The Browns (1-3) opened with an 88-yard, 13-play touchdown drive, then had 44 yards with three punts and two turnovers the rest of the half. They finished with 249 yards of offence, gaining an average of 3.8 yards per play.
Goff was 16-of-27 for 168 yards with a two-yard touchdown pass to St. Brown late in the first half and an eight-yard toss to him in the fourth quarter, giving the All-Pro receiver six TD receptions in the last three games.
Flacco started strong before struggling and finishing 16-of-34 for 184 yards with three turnovers. Rookie Dillon Gabriel, a third-round pick, replaced Flacco late in the lopsided game.
Quinshon Judkins had 21 carries for 82 yards and a one-yard scoring run that gave the Browns a short-lived lead in the first quarter.
GIANTS 21, CHARGERS 18
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Jaxson Dart threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score in an impressive NFL starting debut, leading the New York Giants to their first victory, 21-18 over the previously undefeated Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
The excitement by the Giants (1-3) over the win was a bit tempered by the uncertain status of wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was carted off the field in the second quarter with a knee injury.
Dart launched a deep pass down the right sideline — a free play after the Chargers jumped offside — toward a streaking Nabers. The wide receiver’s right leg appeared to buckle as he went up to try to catch the pass, which fell incomplete.
Nabers, down at the Chargers seven with 6:12 left before halftime, immediately grabbed at his right leg. He was checked for several minutes before being helped onto the cart.
Dart, starting in place of Russell Wilson, ran for a 15-yard score to cap his first drive as a starting quarterback. He also threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Theo Johnson. Dart finished 13-of-20 for 111 yards and ran 10 times for 54 yards.
He also brushed off a hamstring injury after halftime and a big hit from the Chargers that sent him to the medical tent for two plays to be evaluated for a head injury.
