Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers continued their assault on the records books Sunday.
Brady surpassed Drew Brees for first on the career passing yardage record while Rodgers completed his 420th touchdown pass to tie Dan Marino for sixth all-time.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills blanked the Houston Texans in a rout, the undefeated Arizona Cardinals improved to 4-0 and both New York teams picked up their first victories of the season in OT.
Here is everything you need to know from Week 4 Sunday in the NFL.
Brady earns win, sets passing yards record in return to Foxborough
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady rallied the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 19-17 victory over the Patriots on a rainy Sunday night in his return to New England, with Ryan Succop hitting the winning 48-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.
Brady was 22 of 43 for 269 yards with no touchdowns, but engineered the fourth-quarter drive to beat his former team. Ronald Jones added an 8-yard scoring run for defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay (3-1).
Brady broke Drew Brees’ NFL career passing yardage record and became the fourth quarterback with victories against all 32 NFL teams, joining Brees, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.
New England had a chance to win, but Nick Folk’s 56-yard field-goal try hit the left upright with less than a minute to play. The Patriots are 1-3 for the first time since 2001.
Patriots rookie Mac Jones finished 31 of 40 for 275 yards and two touchdowns.
Rodgers-Cobb connection helps Packers beat Steelers
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb for two touchdowns and ran for another score as the Green Bay Packers won their third straight, 27-17 over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Cobb caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter to put the Packers (3-1) ahead for good and scored again on a 1-yard reception that made it 27-10 in the third period. That short throw was the 420th TD pass of Rodgers’ career, tying Dan Marino for sixth all-time.
Rodgers went 20 of 36 for 248 yards and scored the Packers’ first points on a 4-yard rush in his first home start against the Steelers, the only team he hadn’t faced at Lambeau Field.
Pittsburgh (1-3) has lost three straight, failing to top 17 points in each game, since a surprising season-opening win at Buffalo.
Surging Bills shut out Texans for third consecutive win
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds had the first of Buffalo’s four interceptions, and the Bills suffocated the offensively inept Houston Texans in a 40-0 win on Sunday.
Josh Allen finished 20 of 29 for 248 yards with two touchdowns — a 25-yarder and a 1-yarder, both to Dawson Knox — and an interception before giving way to backup Mitchell Trubisky with 8:03 remaining. Tyler Bass hit all four field-goal attempts — three from inside 30 yards — in a steady rain.
The Bills (3-1), coming off a 43-21 win over Washington, have won three straight since a season-opening loss to Pittsburgh, and are 3-1 or better through four games for the third consecutive season.
Houston (1-3) dropped its third straight, the skid coinciding with starter Tyrod Taylor being sidelined with a hamstring injury in a 31-21 loss at Cleveland in Week 2.
Kyler Murray keeps Cardinals unbeaten with rout of Rams
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kyler Murray passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 39 more yards in a virtuoso performance, and the Arizona Cardinals extended their longest unbeaten start since 2012 with a 37-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
A.J. Green caught a 41-yard TD pass, Chase Edmonds ran for 120 yards and James Conner rushed for two short scores for Arizona (4-0), which finally beat Sean McVay for the first time in nine tries.
Kliff Kingsbury’s Cards did it with style, lighting up the Rams’ defence for 465 total yards and scoring touchdowns after two early takeaways to affirm their arrival as a contender in the NFC West and beyond despite playing three of their first four games on the road.
Maxx Williams caught a TD pass from Murray, who went 24 for 32 and repeatedly frustrated the Rams’ defence. Arizona’s defence made several big plays, and it sealed the team’s first victory over the Rams since Jan. 1, 2017, by stopping Matthew Stafford and the LA offence on downs at the 1 with 12:05 to play.
Stafford went 26 of 41 for 280 yards and two touchdowns in his first ineffective performance with the Rams (3-1), who failed to start 4-0 for the first time since 2018 with an ugly home performance.
Russell Wilson rebounds to lead Seahawks past 49ers
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Russell Wilson overcame a shaky start to throw for two touchdowns and run for a third and the Seattle Seahawks rebounded from back-to-back losses by beating the San Francisco 49ers 28-21 on Sunday.
The Seahawks (2-2) went three-and-out on their first five drives of the game and appeared in danger of their first three-game losing streak in a season in nine seasons with Wilson at quarterback.
But he connected on a 12-yard TD pass to DK Metcalf late in the first half and then produced two touchdowns in a span of less than a minute in the third quarter with a 16-yard run and 13-yard pass to Freddie Swain around a fumbled kickoff by Trenton Cannon.
The 49ers (2-2) were unable to overcome it after losing starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a calf injury at halftime and playing without injured kicker Robbie Gould all game.
Patrick Mahomes throws 5 TD passes as Chiefs beat Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes three different ways, including three to Tyreek Hill, and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 42-30 on Sunday.
Andy Reid returned to Philadelphia and earned his 100th career win with the Chiefs, becoming the first coach in NFL history to win 100 games with two teams. Reid’s 140 victories with the Eagles are the most in franchise history.
Jalen Hurts threw for a career-high 387 yards and two TDs but Philadelphia (1-3) couldn’t keep up with Kansas City’s high-powered offence. The Eagles had three touchdowns negated by penalty and settled for field goals three times inside the red zone.
The two-time defending AFC champion Chiefs (2-2) snapped a two-game losing streak after entering with a losing record for the first time since they were 4-5 in 2015.
Prescott, Cowboys keep rolling with win over Panthers
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott threw four touchdown passes, Ezekiel Elliott had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season against the NFL’s No. 1 defence and the Dallas Cowboys beat the Carolina Panthers 36-28 on Sunday.
Elliott finished with 143 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries as the Cowboys (3-1) rolled up 245 yards on the ground after the Panthers allowed just 135 total in the first three games.
Leading the Panthers in their first full game without injured star running back Christian McCaffrey, Sam Darnold had two rushing touchdowns to become the first quarterback in NFL history with at least five TDs on the ground in the first four games.
It was a different story for Darnold behind the line of scrimmage before getting hot in the passing game with the Panthers (3-1) trying to erase a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter in their first loss.
Jets win first of season after Titans miss field goal in OT
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Matt Ammendola kicked a 22-yard field goal in overtime, and then Randy Bullock was wide left on a potential tying 49-yarder with 15 seconds left to give the New York Jets their first victory, 27-24 over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
After the Jets took the lead in the extra period but failed to seal it with a touchdown despite getting to the 1-yard line, Ryan Tannehill — playing without injured receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown — marched the Titans downfield with the help of two fourth-down conversions.
On second-and-five from the Jets 26, Anthony Firkser couldn’t hold onto a pass from Tannehill and then the Titans took a delay of game penalty. Tannehill threw incomplete to Jeremy McNichols, setting up the tying kick for Bullock — but the ball sailed wide of the left upright and sent the Jets (1-3) into a wild celebration.
Coach Robert Saleh got his first win as a head coach, getting a Gatorade shower on the sideline from Ryan Griffin.
The Jets had a chance to win it without giving the ball back to the Titans (2-2) when they got to the 1 on Tevin Coleman’s 8-yard catch — on which it was ruled he was out of bounds as he dived just short of the goal line. Zach Wilson took a 3-yard loss on third down, a rookie mistake, setting up Ammendola’s 22-yarder.
Ravens knock Broncos from unbeaten ranks with rout
DENVER — Lamar Jackson threw for 316 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown pass to a diving Marquis Brown, and the Baltimore Ravens used a relentless defence to swat the Denver Broncos from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 23-7 win Sunday.
The Ravens (3-1) won their third consecutive game following an overtime loss to Las Vegas in the opener. They were in danger of coming up just short of tying the Steelers’ NFL record for consecutive games with at least 100 yards rushing before Baltimore cornerback Anthony Averett intercepted Drew Lock in the end zone with 3 seconds left.
Instead of taking a knee in victory formation, Jackson took the shotgun snap from his 20 and hustled around left end for a 5-yard gain. That gave the Ravens 102 yards on the ground, their 43rd consecutive 100-yard rushing game, which tied the mark set by Pittsburgh from 1974-77.
The Ravens knocked Broncos starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater from the game with a concussion on his final pass of the first half. Rookie linebacker Odafe Oweh wasn’t flagged for hitting Bridgewater in the chin.
Jones, Barkley lead Giants past Saints in OT for first of season
NEW ORLEANS — Saquon Barkley ran for a 6-yard touchdown in overtime after Daniel Jones passed for a career-high 402 yards, and the New York Giants rallied for their first win of the season, 27-21 over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
The Saints, playing in New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Ida struck on Aug. 29, led 21-10 in the fourth quarter before Jones and Barkley combined for a 54-yard touchdown pass that ignited the Giants’ comeback.
Jones ran for a 2-point conversion to make it 21-18, then led the Giants to Graham Gano’s tying, 48-yard field goal with 31 seconds left in regulation.
After New York won the coin toss to start the extra period, Jones completed five passes for 67 yards to set up Barkley’s winning score, giving the Giants (1-3) a last-play victory for a change after they’d lost on game-ending field goals the previous two weeks.
Jameis Winston passed for 226 yards and a touchdown, and reserve quarterback Taysom Hill ran for two touchdowns for the Saints (2-2), who wilted in front of nearly 70,000 fans in the first game played in the Caesars Superdome without restrictions on crowd size since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fields, Bears bounce back to defeat winless Lions
CHICAGO — Rookie Justin Fields brushed off a nightmarish first start, and the Chicago Bears bounced back from one of the worst offensive performances the NFL has seen to beat the winless Detroit Lions 24-14 on Sunday.
Fields and the Bears (2-2) were in much better form coming off a brutal loss at Cleveland last week. They rang up 373 yards after being held by the Browns to 47, the ninth-lowest total in league history.
Fields looked more comfortable, completing 11 of 17 passes for 209 yards and an interception in his second consecutive start with Andy Dalton sidelined because of a bone bruise in his left knee. The No. 11 overall draft pick was sacked just once, after being taken down nine times for 67 yards while throwing for just 68 the previous week.
David Montgomery ran for 106 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with a knee injury. He scored on Chicago’s first two possessions, running it in from the 4 and 9 to make it 14-0, but hobbled off the field following a 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
The Lions (0-4) remained winless under coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes and lost their eighth straight since beating the Bears.
Browns defence dominates in win over Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS — Myles Garrett and the Cleveland defence produced another dominant performance, giving coach Kevin Stefanski a victory over his old team as the Browns beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-7 on Sunday.
Garrett was credited with one-half of Cleveland’s two sacks and four hits on Kirk Cousins, Greedy Williams became the first player this season to intercept Minnesota’s quarterback and the Browns (3-1) again leaned on their two-pronged rushing attack with predictable success.
Kirk Cousins hit Justin Jefferson for a touchdown pass to cap a commanding opening drive by the Vikings (1-3), who took possession 11 more times without scoring or even trying a field goal. The furthest they came was the 26-yard line, where they had one final play to tie the game. Cousins threw on the run into the end zone, where the ball fell incomplete.
Colts top sputtering Dolphins to claim first win of season
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Carson Wentz threw a pair of touchdown passes to Mo Alie-Cox, Jonathan Taylor rushed for 103 yards and a score and the Indianapolis Colts got their first win of the season by topping the sputtering Miami Dolphins 27-17 on Sunday.
Wentz completed 24 of 32 passes for 228 yards for the Colts (1-3), who avoided what would have been their first 0-4 start since 2011. They spent most of the day frustrating former Indianapolis quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who completed 20 of 30 passes but threw for 123 of his 199 yards in the final quarter.
It was the first two-TD game for Alie-Cox, who had a total of four scores in his first 43 NFL appearances entering Sunday.
Washington Football Team rallies for win over Falcons
ATLANTA — Taylor Heinicke ad-libbed a 30-yard touchdown pass to J.D. McKissic with 33 seconds remaining, rallying the Washington Football Team to a 34-30 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Returning to the metro area where he grew up, Heinicke completed 23 of 33 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns — two of them in the final 3:52 to pull it out for Washington (2-2).
Both were vintage Heinicke.
First, he eluded Dante Fowler Jr. and delivered an off-balance throw with another rusher in his face that Terry McLaurin, eluding two defenders, managed to catch in the back of the end zone for a 17-yard TD.
Two missed extra points by Dustin Hopkins left Washington still trailing. Heinicke threw high on the two-point conversion, preserving a 30-28 lead for the Falcons (1-3).
