Baltimore’s defense had five interceptions and four sacks, Lamar Jackson had another strong game to help his MVP candidacy and the Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers 33-19 in a Christmas Days showdown between conference leaders.
Brock Purdy, who entered the game as an MVP candidate, had the worst game of his career, throwing four interceptions and no touchdowns before he was replaced by Sam Darnold after the game was out of hand.
Kyle Hamilton intercepted two of Purdy’s passes, while Marlon Humphrey, Patrick Queen and Marcus Williams also came up with picks.
Baltimore led just 16-12 at halftime but outscored the 49ers 17-0 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Jackson threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and the dual-threat quarterback was the Ravens’ leading rusher with 45 yards as the Ravens (12-3) extended their winning streak to five games.
Christian McCaffrey was the lone bright spot for the 49ers, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown and adding six catches for 28 yards. He tied the Miami Dolphins’ Raheem Mostert for the NFL lead with 21 total touchdowns this season in the losing effort.
The loss dropped the 49ers (11-4) into a tie with the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles for the best record in the NFC with two weeks to play in the regular season.
Hurts, Swift help Eagles end 3-game skid
Jalen Hurts set a single-season quarterback record by scoring his 15th rushing touchdown and added 300 yards through the air as the Philadelphia Eagles rediscovered their early-season form with a 33-25 win over the New York Giants.
Hurts scored on a “tush push” sneak play in the first quarter and added a second-quarter passing touchdown to help the Eagles end a three-game losing streak and keep their hopes of an NFC East title alive.
D’Andre Swift had 92 of Philadelphia’s 170 rushing yards and scored from five yards out in his best performance since Week 3.
The Eagles led 20-3 at halftime, and the Giants benched former Cinderella story quarterback Tommy DeVito at the break for Tyrod Taylor. DeVito was 9 of 16 for 55 yards.
A 7-yard Saquon Barkley touchdown run and Adoree’ Jackson’s 76-yard interception return – and subsequent 2-point conversion – pulled the Giants to 20-18 at the end of the third.
New York never led, however, as Philadelphia rebounded with a 13-point fourth quarter.
The Eagles (11-4) stayed a full game ahead of Dallas in the NFC East after the Cowboys’ 22-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.
Raiders fluster Mahomes as Chiefs’ slump continues
Las Vegas scored defensive touchdowns on consecutive plays from scrimmage, Zamir White rushed for a career high 145 yards and the Raiders beat the slumping Kansas City Chiefs 20-14.
The Chiefs led 7-3 with five minutes remaining in the first half before Bilal Nichols returned an Isiah Pacheco fumble eight yards for a touchdown.
After the ensuing kickoff, Patrick Mahomes’ first-down pass was intercepted by Jack Jones and returned 33 for another score, giving the Raiders a 17-7 halftime lead.
Mahomes has struggled this month, going 1-3 in December and throwing five touchdowns to five interceptions.
Mahomes’ only touchdown of the day came on a 7-yard pass to Justin Watson with 2:42 remaining, but the Chiefs never got the ball back as White gained 43 and 15 yards on consecutive carries to clinch the game for Las Vegas.
The Raiders (7-8) snapped a six-game losing streak to the Chiefs (9-6), who failed to clinch an eighth consecutive AFC West title.
Giants releasing embattled quarterback Daniel Jones
The Daniel Jones era in New York has officially ended.
The Giants agreed to Jones’ request to be released Friday morning, ending a rocky partnership that lasted nearly six seasons.
Giants president John Mara said in a statement that Jones’ release “would be best for him and for the team.”
“Daniel has been a great representative of our organisation, first class in every way,” Mara said in the statement. “His handling of this situation yesterday exemplifies just that. We are all disappointed in how things have worked out.”
The Giants benched Jones in favour of Tommy DeVito during their bye week. On Thursday, Jones told reporters he takes “full responsibility” for not winning more as the captain of one of the NFL’s signature franchises.
After learning of his new role, however, Jones asked the team to be released.
Jones signed a four-year, $160million contract extension before the 2023 season. Jones will go through the waivers process, but teams are likely unwilling to pay the rest of that contract. If he clears waivers, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
The Giants will absorb a salary cap hit of around $20million by releasing Jones.
Jones was the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft and has started 69 games over the last six seasons.
The former Duke quarterback had his best season in a contract year in 2022, throwing 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions and adding 708 yards and seven scores on the ground.
Jones has thrown eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season for the 2-8 Giants and ranks 32nd among qualified quarterbacks with a 79.4 passer rating.
Browns score late touchdown to end Steelers' streak in snowy contest
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night, ending the Steelers' five-game winning streak.
Chubb's score came in his first game against the AFC North-leading Steelers (8-3) since the running back sustained a season-ending left knee injury on a carry last year at Pittsburgh.
The Browns (3-8) had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder.
With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland's Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barrelled into the end zone.
The Steelers had one last chance, but quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary on the final play was knocked down by Browns safety Grant Delpit in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration at Huntington Bank Field.
NFL: Texans bounce back, extend Cowboys' woes
Joe Mixon's 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns helped get the Houston Texans back on track with Monday's 34-10 win over the floundering Dallas Cowboys.
Houston (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak behind Mixon's powerful running and a defence that sacked Cowboys' fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush five times and forced two turnovers, including a fumble Derek Barnett returned 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 27-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Dallas (3-7) has now lost five straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row in 2015, and fell to 0-5 at home. The Cowboys have been outscored by 118 points (187-69) at AT&T Stadium, the third-largest negative differential through five home games in a season in NFL history.
Rush did throw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin in his second straight start subbing for an injured Dak Prescott, and finished with a career-high 354 passing yards with one interception while completing 32 of 55 attempts.
C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards with an interception for Houston, which extended its lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts to two games in the AFC South.
The Texans never trailed after Mixon ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, and the veteran running back added a 1-yard scoring plunge late in the first quarter to give Houston a 14-0 lead.
Turpin got Dallas on the board by taking a short pass from Rush and breaking free from the Houston defence nine seconds into the second quarter, but the Cowboys were shut out in the second half after pulling to within 17-10 on Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal with just under six minutes left before half-time.
Burnett's strip sack of Rush and return of the resulting fumble helped put the game away with 12:31 left, and Mixon tacked on his final touchdown of the night with 3:16 remaining to cap a 35-yard drive that began after the Texans stopped the Cowboys on downs.
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