JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes, including a 66-yarder to George Kittle, and the San Francisco 49ers seemingly fixed all their woes with a cross-country trip and a 34-3 drubbing of the Jacksonville Jaguars that ended a three-game skid Sunday.
Deebo Samuel returned from a three-game absence and added a 23-yard scoring run for the 49ers (6-3), who stopped Jacksonville’s five-game winning streak and re-established themselves as a Super Bowl contender following a bye week.
San Francisco dominated both lines of scrimmage and controlled the game from the opening drive. The Niners ran for 147 yards against one of the league’s top run defences and sacked Trevor Lawrence five times. Nick Bosa was a menace all game, and newly acquired defensive end Chase Young got in on one of the sacks.
The Jaguars (6-3), meanwhile, embarrassed themselves at every turn and looked nothing like a legit playoff contender. They had a five-possession stretch in which they fumbled, kicked a field goal, threw an interception, fumbled and threw another interception. Lawrence was responsible for three of the team’s four turnovers.
It was Jacksonville’s worst home loss since a 45-10 blowout to the Los Angeles Chargers in 2019.
BUCCANEERS 20, TITANS 6
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baker Mayfield threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns Sunday to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stop a four-game losing streak with a 20-6 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
Rachaad White turned a first-quarter screen pass into a 43-yard TD. Mike Evans redeemed himself from dropping a pass in the end zone with a 22-yard scoring catch and finished with six receptions for 143 yards for the Bucs (4-5).
A week after yielding five TD passes and a NFL rookie record 470 yards through the air to Houston’s C.J. Stroud, the Bucs’ defense fared much better against another first-year quarterback, Will Levis, who was sacked four times and intercepted once while failing to get his team into the end zone.
Mayfield completed 18 of 29 passes and shrugged off a first-quarter interception to end Tampa Bay’s longest skid since 2019.
Tennessee (3-6) lost for the fourth time in five games following a 2-2 start. The Titans have dropped eight straight on the road dating to last season.
STEELERS 23, PACKERS 19
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris combined for 183 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers edged the Green Bay Packers 23-19 on Sunday.
The Steelers (6-3) won their ninth straight game decided by eight points or less by following a formula that has become familiar. A little offence. A timely turnover and just enough of everything else to survive.
Pittsburgh used touchdown runs by their two backs — who have become essentially 1A and 1B — and Chris Boswell’s three field goals to head into a pivotal stretch with momentum.
Patrick Peterson blocked an extra point and added a tipped ball that turned into Keanu Neal’s interception in the end zone with 3:20 remaining. Green Bay got the ball back with 59 seconds to go and drove deep into Pittsburgh territory, but Jordan Love’s last-gasp throw to the end zone was picked off by Damontae Kazee.
Kazee returned it 30 yards before stepping out of bounds with time expired. Kazee was pushed by Green Bay lineman Zach Tom, leading to Kazee running over Steelers special-teams coordinator Danny Smith. A brief melee ensued before cooler heads prevailed.
