FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady overcame New England’s shaky first three quarters by throwing for a pair of touchdowns in the fourth, and the Patriots defeated the New York Jets 30-23 on Sunday to remain unbeaten.
Brady completed 14 of 17 passes in the final quarter to overcome a 20-16 lead and give New England a two-game lead over the Jets in the AFC East. He was 34 of 54 for 355 yards overall — numbers that would have been even better if not for the 11 drops by his receivers, six by newly activated Brandon LaFell.
The Jets kicked a field goal on first down and then recovered the onside kick with 15 seconds left. But a false-start penalty on Brandon Marshall ended the game after a short pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick left the Jets 37 yards from the tying score.
PANTHERS 27,
EAGLES 16
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Cam Newton took another step toward rewriting the NFL record book, and the Carolina Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles to improve to 6-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Newton threw for a touchdown and ran for another score, marking the fourth time this season he has accomplished that feat in a game and 28th time in his career — three behind Hall of Famer Steve Young for the league record. Jonathan Stewart ran for 119 yards and Mike Tolbert scored two touchdowns for Carolina, which has won a franchise-record 10 straight regular-season games dating to last season.
The Eagles (3-4) were only able to convert three interceptions by Newton into six points. The Panthers held Sam Bradford to 205 yards passing and sacked him five times, including twice by Jared Allen.
GIANTS 27,
COWBOYS 20
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Dwayne Harris sped 100 yards with a kickoff return against his former Dallas teammates seconds after the Cowboys had tied the game, and New York moved atop the NFC East with a victory.
Harris spent four seasons in Dallas without running back a kickoff for a score. But he tied a Giants record set in 1994 by romping untouched to the end zone.
New York (4-3) snapped a five-game slide against Dallas (2-4) thanks to big plays by its defense and special teams. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had two interceptions, returning one 58 yards for a touchdown.
The Cowboys, losers of four in a row without injured offensive stars Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, got a big game from Darren McFadden. Starting running back Joseph Randle left early with a strained back, and McFadden rushed for 152 yards and a TD.
DOLPHINS 44,
TEXANS 26
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami became the first team since at least 1940 to score four offensive touchdowns of at least 50 yards in a half.
The Dolphins led 41-0 at halftime, making the drubbing even more emphatic than a 38-10 win at Tennessee a week earlier in Dan Campbell’s debut as head coach.
Now he’s the fifth interim coach of 26 since 2000 to win his first two games. Since the firing of Joe Philbin on Oct. 5, the Dolphins (3-3) have gone from notorious underachievers to contending for their first playoff berth since 2008.
The Dolphins had been 0-7 previously against Houston (2-5). Miami’s four long scores in the first half were the most in at least 75 years, according to STATS.
WASHINGTON 31,
BUCCANEERS 30
LANDOVER, Md. — Kirk Cousins threw three second-half touchdown passes, including the go-ahead score with 24 seconds left, to lead Washington to the largest comeback in franchise history.
Tampa Bay (2-4) was up 24-0 in the second quarter, before Cousins ran for an 8-yard TD to get Washington (3-4) on the board.
Cousins hadn’t completed more than one TD pass in any game all season. But he got a pair of 3-yard scores in the third quarter, sandwiched around an onside kick, to make things interesting.
Then, trailing 30-24, Washington got the ball at its 20 with a little less than 2½ minutes left in the fourth quarter. Cousins capped the drive with a 6-yard TD toss to Jordan Reed.
RAIDERS 37,
CHARGERS 29
SAN DIEGO — Derek Carr threw three touchdown passes, including a 52-yarder to Amari Cooper, and Oakland turned two interceptions of Philip Rivers into 10 points on their way to an easy victory in what could be the last game of the AFC West rivalry played in San Diego.
It was the first meeting of the Raiders (3-3) and Chargers (2-5) since their owners announced plans to build a $1.7 billion stadium in an industrial Los Angeles suburb if they can’t get new stadiums in their home markets.
Coming off a bye, the Raiders looked quicker and more efficient. Cooper, the first-round draft pick out of Alabama, caught a short pass from Carr on an inside screen and raced through the defense to give Oakland a 30-3 lead just before halftime.
San Diego made it close with three fourth-quarter touchdowns.
VIKINGS 28,
LIONS 19
DETROIT — Teddy Bridgewater threw for a season-high 316 yards and two touchdowns for Minnesota.
Adrian Peterson rushed for 98 yards as the Vikings (4-2) won an NFC North game on the road for the first time in three years.
The Lions (1-6) had an 11-point lead after Matthew Stafford threw TDs on their first two drives, but they blew it because they couldn’t protect the quarterback.
Minnesota had a season-high seven sacks, which also was a season worst for Detroit.
FALCONS 10,
TITANS 7
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Matt Ryan threw for 251 yards and a touchdown pass, and Devonta Freeman ran for 116 yards.
The Falcons (6-1) bounced back from their first loss by grinding out a road win and overcoming two interceptions. Freeman notched his third consecutive game with at least 100 yards, and Atlanta outgained Tennessee 378-256.
The banged-up Titans (1-5) lost their fifth straight overall. They played without rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota, who was replaced by Zach Mettenberger — intercepted by safety Robenson Therezie with 1:31 left to seal the win.
JAGUARS 34,
BILLS 31
LONDON — Blake Bortles threw a touchdown pass to Allen Hurns with 2:16 remaining and Jacksonville rallied in the game at Wembley Stadium.
Bortles’ second TD pass of the game came a short time after Buffalo safety Corey Graham intercepted a pass and returned it 44 yards to put the Bills ahead.
The Jaguars (2-5) won their first game in London after losing in each of the past two seasons at Wembley, the home of England’s national soccer team. The Bills (3-4) were playing in the British capital for the first time.
RAMS 24,
BROWNS 6
ST. LOUIS — Rookie Todd Gurley rushed for 128 yards and his first two touchdowns, helping St. Louis to the win.
St. Louis (3-3) had four sacks and recovered four fumbles.
The Rams scored 10 points off miscues on Cleveland’s first two series, a 17-yard fumble recovery by Rodney McLeod and a field goal after the first of William Hayes’ two sacks and strips of Josh McCown on the day.
Johnny Manziel got mop-up duty for the Browns (2-5) after McCown left favoring his right arm with about four minutes left.
CHIEFS 23,
STEELERS 13
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alex Smith threw for 251 yards and a touchdown, Cairo Santos kicked three field goals as Kansas City ended a five-game losing streak.
Charcandrick West added 110 yards rushing and his first career touchdown for the Chiefs (2-5), and Eric Berry intercepted his first pass since his cancer diagnosis last December.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs shut down Pittsburgh’s Landry Jones, who made his first NFL start in place of the injured Ben Roethlisberger and Mike Vick. Jones threw for 209 yards and a touchdown, but he was also picked off twice and lost a fumble.
SAINTS 27,
COLTS 21
INDIANAPOLIS — Drew Brees threw for 255 yards and one touchdown, Khiry Robinson ran for two scores and New Orleans held on for the victory.
New Orleans (3-4) has won three of its past four. Indy (3-4) still leads the AFC South despite losing its second straight.
Brees finished 28 of 44 and was helped by a running game led by Mark Ingram, who ran for 143 yards and one score as New Orleans took a 27-0 lead.
Andrew Luck threw TD passes of 87 and 46 yards to T.Y. Hilton, and an 8-yard TD pass to Donte Moncrief with 3:46 left to make it 27-21.
