CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dak Prescott threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns, DaRon Bland tied an NFL record with his fourth pick-6 of the season and the Dallas Cowboys trounced the Carolina Panthers 33-10 Sunday for their fourth win in five games.
Tony Pollard ran for 61 yards and a touchdown, and CeeDee Lamb found the end zone again for Dallas (7-3) in front of a predominantly pro-Cowboys crowd.
Bryce Young was 16 of 29 for 123 yards, and the No. 1 draft pick threw the third pick-6 of his rookie season and also fumbled. The Panthers (1-9) are assured their sixth straight losing season since David Tepper took over as owner in 2018.
The Cowboys sacked Young seven times and limited the Panthers to 187 yards and 13 first downs in the first game since head coach Frank Reich resumed control of play-calling duties.
The Cowboys have averaged 33.6 points over the last five games, and Prescott entered Sunday with three straight games with at least 300 yards passing and three TDs. Dallas didn’t need his aerial exploits, as Pollard ran the ball well and the defence did the rest against a lacklustre Carolina offence.
The final two minutes of the first half served as a microcosm of Carolina’s mistake-plagued season.
After Carolina cut Dallas’ lead to 10-3, Eddy Pineiro sent the ensuing kickoff out of bounds, giving the Cowboys the ball at their own 40.
JAGUARS 34, TITANS 14
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence accounted for four touchdowns, including two perfectly thrown passes to Calvin Ridley, and the Jacksonville Jaguars followed their worst loss of the season with a 34-14 drubbing of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Ridley finished with seven catches for 103 yards, finding the end zone twice for the first time with the Jaguars (7-3). Lawrence also ran for two scores for the first time in his three NFL seasons, becoming the first player in franchise history with two TD passes and two rushing scores in the same game.
Jacksonville scored on five consecutive possessions and finished with 389 yards. The game would have been more lopsided had Lawrence and Co. not had to settle for two red zone field goals.
It was a much-needed performance for a team that had lost three of four at home and was embarrassed by San Francisco a week earlier.
Tennessee (3-7) had been looking for a similar rebound. Instead, the Titans encountered more road woes in their return to the Sunshine State.
Coach Mike Vrabel’s team, coming off a 14-point loss at Tampa Bay, fell to 0-6 away from home. The Titans have yet to top 16 points on the road.
TEXANS 21, CARDINALS 16
HOUSTON (AP) — Standout rookie C.J. Stroud threw for 336 yards with two touchdowns, and the Houston Texans overcame his season-high three interceptions to beat the Arizona Cardinals 21-16 on Sunday.
The Texans (6-4) have doubled their win total from last season and have won three games in a row for the first time since a nine-game streak in 2018.
The Cardinals (2-9) had a chance to win late. Kyler Murray threw a deep pass on fourth-and-8 that was intended for Marquise Brown, but Steven Nelson batted it down with 35 seconds left.
Houston didn’t score after halftime and Stroud was picked off on consecutive drives in the fourth quarter. He had thrown just two interceptions in his first nine games.
Houston rookie Tank Dell had a season-high 149 yards on eight receptions and set a franchise rookie record with his sixth touchdown catch.
LIONS 31, BEARS 26
DETROIT (AP) — David Montgomery’s go-ahead 1-yard touchdown run with 29 seconds left against his former team lifted the Detroit Lions to a 31-26 comeback victory over Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The NFC North-leading Lions (8-2) overcame four turnovers, including Jared Goff’s season-high three interceptions, and a 12-point deficit over the last 3:06 to rally for the win.
Detroit has its best record through 10 games since 1962, giving the franchise a shot to win a division title for the first time in three decades.
The Bears (3-8) blew chances to win consecutive games for the first time in nearly two years.
Fields mostly played well in his first game in a month, but slightly overthrew Tyler Scott on a deep pass late in the game. He also fumbled on his last snap when Aidan Hutchinson sacked him and the football went out of the end zone for a safety.
Field, who was out with a dislocated right thumb, threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore late in the third quarter. Cairo Santos made two of his four field goals in the fourth quarter to give the Bears a 26-14 lead with 4:15 remaining.
DOLPHINS 20, RAIDERS 13
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jalen Ramsey caught a game-sealing interception to help stifle Las Vegas’ fourth-quarter comeback, and the Miami Dolphins overcame three turnovers to hold off the Raiders 20-13 Sunday.
Ramsey, who also intercepted Aidan O’Connell earlier in the game, caught a pass in the end zone intended for Tre Tucker with 22 seconds left, ending a rare game in which Miami’s defence outshined its offence.
O’Connell, who finished 24 of 41 with 271 yards and three interceptions, also threw a pick on Las Vegas’ penultimate drive.
With his team down 7, O’Connell dropped back to pass on fourth down at Miami’s 38 when defensive tackle Christian Wilkins wrapped him up. O’Connell tried to force up a pass, and Jaelan Phillips came up with the ball for his first career interception.
Salvon Ahmed caught Tagovailoa’s other touchdown, an 11-yard score in the second quarter.
With 10:55 left, the Raiders got the ball at the 50 after a Dolphins punt but ended up turning the ball over on downs after a deep pass from O’Connell to Tucker on second-and-17 that was originally ruled a catch was overturned.
Las Vegas (5-6) had a two-game winning streak snapped, and the victory by Miami (7-3) strengthened its hold atop the AFC East.
GIANTS 31, COMMANDERS 19
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Sam Howell threw three interceptions among six Commanders turnovers, and Washington may have reached the low point of Ron Rivera’s tenure with a 31-19 home loss Sunday to the last-place New York Giants.
The Commanders (4-7) lost to the Giants (3-8) for the second time this season, this time to undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito, who picked up his first NFL win in his second start. Washington has lost seven of nine since opening with back-to-back victories, falling out of the playoff race despite a mediocre field of teams competing for three NFC wild-card spots.
After a late comeback bid was ended by Isaiah Simmons picking off Howell and returning it 54 yards for a touchdown with 16 seconds left, Rivera’s future, and that of the entire coaching staff and front office, is now squarely in the forefront in the first season since Josh Harris’ ownership group bought the team.
Favoured by more than a touchdown, the Commanders fumbled in nearly every possible way: Logan Thomas after a catch, Byron Pringle on a kickoff return and Chris Rodriguez Jr. on a run.
Inexplicable picks by Howell — lauded by players and coaches in recent weeks as the franchise’s potential QB of the future — came in the first and fourth quarters.
BROWNS 13, STEELERS 10
CLEVELAND — Dustin Hopkins kicked a 34-yard field goal with 2 seconds left after Cleveland rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed four straight clutch passes, giving the Browns a 13-10 win Sunday over the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
Making just his second NFL start, Thompson-Robinson rallied the Browns (7-3) just days after Deshaun Watson was lost for the season with a shoulder injury.
With the crowd chanting “D-T-R!” and Watson watching from Cleveland’s sideline in sweats, Thompson-Robinson, a fifth-round pick from UCLA, calmly completed his four passes for 29 yards to set up Hopkins.
Last week, Hopkins kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired to beat Baltimore 33-31.
The Browns have now beaten the Ravens and Steelers (6-4) in consecutive weeks for the first time in 15 tries. And Thompson-Robinson’s performance, though at times raggedy, has given Cleveland hope this season can still be special without Watson.
The Steelers were outgained for the 10th straight week and couldn’t do much going against Cleveland’s top-ranked defence.
PACKERS 23, CHARGERS 20
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love threw for 322 yards and found Romeo Doubs for a 24-yard touchdown with 2:33 left to give the Green Bay Packers a 23-20 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
Love went 27 of 40 and became the first Packer to throw for more than 300 yards since Aaron Rodgers had a 341-yard day against the Chicago Bears on Dec. 12, 2021. Love’s other touchdown pass was an 11-yarder to Christian Watson with 4 seconds left in the third quarter.
Los Angeles (4-6) lost another close one. Five of the Chargers’ six defeats have been decided by a combined 14 points.
The Chargers also suffered a major blow when star edge rusher Joey Bosa was carted off the field with a foot injury on the game’s opening series. Packers running back Aaron Jones was carted off with a shoulder injury late in the second quarter.
Justin Herbert threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen on third-and-9 to give the Chargers a 20-16 lead with 5:24 remaining. The Packers (4-6) answered on their next series, getting a boost when Los Angeles’ Asante Samuel Jr. was called for pass interference on a third-and-20 incompletion.
Love found Dontayvion Wicks for a 35-yard gain two plays later. Doubs made his touchdown catch two plays after that.
The Chargers had a final chance when they got the ball at their own 20 with no timeouts and less than 1 1/2 minutes left. Kenny Clark batted down a pass by Herbert on fourth-and-1 from the Los Angeles 35 to put the game away.
One play earlier, Quentin Johnson had his arms outstretched but couldn’t hang onto a pass deep in Green Bay territory.
Herbert was 21 of 36 for 260 yards with two touchdowns. He connected with Stone Smartt for a 51-yard score in the second quarter, less than three minutes after Green Bay’s Jayden Reed scored on a 32-yard rush.
