It wasn’t a good afternoon to be an NFL quarterback.
Five starters in the early slate of games on Sunday exited with injuries.
Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings, Desmond Ridder of the Atlanta Falcons, Tyrod Taylor of the New York Giants, Kenny Pickett of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams all did not finish their respective games.
Here’s a look at all the Week 8 action.
JAGUARS 20, STEELERS 10
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Trevor Lawrence threw for 292 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and the Jacksonville Jaguars slugged their way past the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-10 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory.
The Jaguars (6-2) strengthened their hold on the AFC South behind a defense that kept Pittsburgh’s erratic offense in check and more than enough offense to overcome a series of mistakes that let the Steelers (4-3) hang around well into the second half.
Lawrence broke it open with a 56-yard strike to a streaking Travis Etienne with 5:14 left in the third quarter that helped Jacksonville build a 14-point lead as the Jaguars won at Acrisure Stadium for the sixth time in their last seven trips.
Etienne ran for 79 yards and caught three passes for 70 yards and the score, a play in which he streaked past rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and raced to the end zone. Evan Engram hauled in 10 receptions for 88 yards as Jacksonville heads into its bye week looking every bit the AFC South favorite it was expected to be.
Pittsburgh played the second half without quarterback Kenny Pickett, who exited late in the first half with a rib injury after getting drilled by defensive end Adam Gotsis. Mitch Trubisky came on and threw for 139 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens late in the third quarter that brought the Steelers within 17-10.
Trubisky, however, also threw two interceptions, including one in which he forced a pass into triple coverage early in the fourth quarter that ended up in the hands of Jacksonville’s Andrew Wingard to hand the momentum back to the Jaguars.
JETS 13, GIANTS 10 (OT)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Greg Zuerlein kicked a 35-yard field goal on the final play of regulation and added a 33-yarder with 6:09 left in overtime as the Jets staged an unlikely comeback in a defensive struggle to stun the Giants 13-10 Sunday.
The Jets (4-3) moved 46 yards in six plays with the game-winning kick set up by a pass interference penalty against Adoree Jackson that gave them a first down at the 15.
Coach Robert Saleh didn’t give his offense a chance to make a mistake and Zuerlein came out and put his kick just inside the left upright for the Jets’ third straight win.
The loss was disappointing for the Giants (2-6), who gave up the tying field goal by allowing the Jets to move 58 yards in four plays without a timeout in the final 24 seconds.
Zach Wilson hit Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard on consecutive 29-yard passes, allowing the Jets to spike the ball and stop the clock with 1 second to play.
Wilson was 17 for 36 for 240 yards. Garrett Wilson had seven catches for 100 yards.
Kayvon Thibodeaux had three sacks for the Giants.
Practice squad quarterback Tommy DeVito, who took over for an injured Tyrod Taylor (ribs) in the second quarter, had given the Giants a 10-7 lead with a 6-yard run to cap a 75-yard drive on the opening possession of the second half.
EAGLES 38, COMMANDERS 31
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jalen Hurts threw for four touchdowns while gutting through a knee injury, A.J. Brown had 130 yards receiving and the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Commanders 38-31 Sunday to improve to 7-1 this season.
Hurts was noticeably limping and reluctant to run because of his gimpy left knee, but that didn’t stop him from completing 29 of 38 passes for 319 yards and the TD passes to Brown twice, DeVonta Smith and Julio Jones. Before kneeling twice to end the game, his 7 yards rushing on two attempts were Hurts’ fewest since Dec. 26, 2021.
One of those rushes was a “Tush Push” attempt when Hurts fumbled at the Washington 1-yard line, one of two Philadelphia turnovers inside the 5. Kenneth Gainwell lost a fumble at the 4 in the first half.
With not much going on the ground, Hurts had plenty of options passing, starting with Brown, who became the first player in NFL history with 125-plus yards receiving in six consecutive games. Brown made a terrific one-handed grab on his first touchdown and caught the ball through double coverage on his second.
After allowing Sam Howell to complete 24 passes in the first half, Philadelphia’s defense responded down the stretch. Reed Blankenship intercepted Howell in the fourth quarter, and Haason Reddick sacked him with just over two minutes left — the Eagles’ first of the game — to set the stage for D’Andre Swift’s TD run.
VIKINGS 24, PACKERS 10
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Kirk Cousins threw a pair of touchdown passes before leaving with an Achilles injury in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Vikings beat the slumping Green Bay Packers 24-10 on Sunday.
Cousins walked gingerly to the sideline after getting sacked on consecutive plays during a series that ended with Green Bay’s Karl Brooks blocking Greg Joseph’s 44-yard field-goal attempt. Jaren Hall, a rookie fifth-round pick from BYU, took over for the rest of the game.
This marked the first Packers-Vikings matchup since 2006 in which both teams entered the game with losing records, but Minnesota got back to .500 on Sunday with its third consecutive victory.
Now the Vikings (4-4) must wonder whether they’re going to have to try continuing this surge without Cousins, who went 23 of 31 for 274 yards. Cousins has never missed a game because of injury in his 12-year career, though he did sit out a game at Green Bay during the 2021 season because of a positive COVID-19 test.
Minnesota’s T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison had touchdown receptions less than two minutes apart early in the third quarter. Cam Akers put Minnesota ahead for good in the opening period by giving the Vikings their first touchdown run of the season.
The Packers (2-5) lost their fourth straight and continued their penchant for slow starts. The Packers have been outscored 73-9 in the first half of their past five games and haven’t scored a touchdown before halftime in any of them.
COWBOYS 43, RAMS 20
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)– Dak Prescott threw two of his four touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb, DaRon Bland recorded his NFL-leading third interception return for a score and the Dallas Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams 43-20 on Sunday.
It was a rough-and-tumble homecoming for Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who was replaced by Brett Rypien late in the third quarter after injuring a thumb on a failed 2-point conversion pass and ending up with a bloody elbow after catching another.
Sam Williams blocked a punt for a safety before KaVontae Turpin returned the ensuing punt 63 yards to set up Lamb’s first TD grab, helping the Cowboys (5-2) to a 33-3 lead late in the first half in their 11th consecutive home victory.
The streak matches the club’s longest since an 11-game run at Texas Stadium in 1991-92, almost two decades before AT&T Stadium opened.
Stafford led scoring drives on either side of halftime to help the Rams (3-5) trim a 30-point deficit to 16. But the former Dallas high school standout, visiting his hometown team for the first time as a Super Bowl champion, sent the Cowboys on their way with an early mistake.
Stafford threw behind Cooper Kupp to a waiting Bland for an easy 30-yard return and a 17-3 Dallas lead in the first quarter. Bland brought an interception back 22 yards for a score against the New York Giants in the opener before a 54-yarder in Week 4 against the Patriots.
DOLPHINS 31, PATRIOTS 17
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns, Jalen Ramsey intercepted a pass in his Dolphins debut, and Miami beat the New England Patriots 31-17 on Sunday.
Miami won for the 16th time in its past 18 home games, and Tagovailoa moved to 6-0 in his career against Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The Dolphins, 6-2 for the first time since 2001, have a one-game lead over Buffalo for the AFC East lead.
Tagovailoa completed 30 of 45 passes and moved his league-leading yardage total to 2,416. Jaylen Waddle had seven catches for 121 yards and a touchdown, and Tyreek Hill had eight receptions for 112 yards and a score, becoming the first player in the Super Bowl era to top 1,000 receiving yards through eight games.
Mac Jones had another uneven day for the Patriots (2-6), throwing for 161 yards on 19-of-29 passing with two touchdowns and one interception.
The Patriots trailed 24-10 midway through the fourth quarter when they drove inside the Miami 3 and scored on fourth down. Jones connected with JuJu Smith-Schuster for the receiver’s first touchdown this season to get the Patriots within seven.
The Dolphins responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive, and Waddle waltzed into the end zone for an easy 31-yard score.
PANTHERS 15, TEXANS 13
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bryce Young outdueled C.J. Stroud in a battle of the NFL’s top two draft picks, and Eddy Pineiro made a 23-yard field goal as time expired to send the Carolina Panthers over the Houston Texans 15-13 on Sunday for their first win of the season.
Young, the No. 1 overall pick, threw for 235 yards and a touchdown. He led a winning 15-play, 86-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock in helping the Panthers (1-6) snap a 56-game losing streak in games they trailed at any point in fourth quarter, the longest in NFL since at least 1991.
Carolina’s last fourth-quarter comeback win was Oct. 21, 2018, against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Stroud, the second overall pick, was 16 of 24 for 140 yards and ran for a touchdown for Houston (3-4).
The ending was filled with drama with the Panthers lining up for three different field-goal attempts.
On a 38-yarder, Tavierre Thomas ran into the backfield early in an attempt to block the kick and ran into holder Johnny Hekker. That moved the Panthers 10 yards closer. Then Thomas was flagged again for unsportsmanlike conduct for trying to stop the clock by jumping offsides again, moving the ball another 5 yards closer.
Pineiro made his third attempt, even as another flag for offsides was thrown on the Texans.
TITANS 28, FALCONS 23
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Rookie Will Levis threw for 238 yards and four touchdowns in his NFL debut, and the Tennessee Titans scored their most points since 2021 in beating the Atlanta Falcons 28-23 on Sunday.
The Titans (3-4) capped an alumni weekend wearing Houston Oilers’ throwback uniforms down to an oil derrick logo at midfield with the old nickname in each end zone.
Levis became the seventh rookie quarterback to start this season, the most rookies to start in the first eight weeks since the NFL merger, excluding the 1987 strike season. Six rookie quarterbacks started in that span in both 1971 and 2021.
The Titans quarterback became the third rookie to start in the AFC South alone, joining Anthony Richardson and C.J. Stroud. Levis joined Marcus Mariota (2015) as the only quarterbacks to throw at least four TD passes in their NFL debuts — both for the Titans — since the merger in 1970.
Two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons had two of Tennessee’s six sacks, including a strip-sack of Desmond Ridder that the Titans turned into a touchdown. Harold Landry had two sacks as well.
Later, Ridder was evaluated for a concussion and replaced by Taylor Heinicke.
DeAndre Hopkins finished with 128 yards and three TDs on four catches to match his career high. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine caught Levis’ fourth TD pass, a 33-yarder in the fourth. Derrick Henry also ran for 101 yards.
Atlanta (4-4) came in atop the NFC South. The Falcons now have lost two of their past three and dropped to 1-3 on the road.
SAINTS 38, COLTS 27
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Derek Carr threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns in a bounce-back performance, Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara scored two TDs apiece, and the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-27 on Sunday.
The Saints (4-4) snapped a two-game skid with their fifth consecutive win in the series — a streak that began with their lone Super Bowl victory after the 2009 season — and moved into a share of the NFC South lead with Atlanta.
Carr, who went 19 of 27, spent this week answering questions about scolding teammates on the sideline and shouting at offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. Rashid Shaheed caught three passes for a career-best 153 yards and one TD, and for the second time this year, he helped seal the win with a long third-down catch in the final minutes.
Indy (3-5) has lost three straight and four of its five home games. Jonathan Taylor rushed for 95 yards, and Zack Moss added 66 yards rushing and a touchdown. Gardner Minshew went 23 of 41 for 213 yards, with two TDs and one interception.
While Indy’s second straight shootout was entertaining, Indy’s young, battered secondary struggled — and Carr took full advantage.
