NFL

Vikings beat Jets in London to improve to 5-0

By Sports Desk October 07, 2024

The Minnesota Vikings moved to 5-0 for the first time in eight years with a 23-17 victory over the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Sunday.

Minnesota built a 17-0 lead over New York (2-3) in the second quarter but needed an interception of Aaron Rodgers at the Vikings’ 26-yard line with 49 seconds left in the game to remain perfect on the season.

Andrew Van Ginkel put Minnesota up 10-0 late in the first quarter with a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown and Will Reichard kicked three field goals to lead the Vikings.

Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold, who was selected No. 3 overall by the Jets in the 2018 NFL Draft, went 14 of 31 for 179 yards with an interception.

Rodgers completed 29 of 54 passes for 244 yards while throwing two touchdowns and three interceptions. He became the ninth player in NFL history to pass for 60,000 career yards.

Minnesota and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are the last two unbeaten teams in the league. Kansas City (4-0) hosts the New Orleans Saints (2-2) to close out Week 5 on Monday.

 

 

Rookie QB Daniels leads Commanders to fourth straight win

Jayden Daniels passed for 238 yards and a touchdown and added 82 yards on the ground as the Washington Commanders routed the Cleveland Browns for their fourth straight win.

Washington moved to 4-1 for the first time since 2008 behind three rushing touchdowns, including two by Brian Robinson Jr., while Cleveland fell to 1-4 with its third consecutive defeat.

Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, has completed 77.1 percent of his passes this season for 1,135 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 300 yards and four TDs.

Terry McLaurin had four receptions for a season-high 112 yards, and Washington’s defence limited the Browns to 212 total yards.

Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson again failed to reach 200 yards passing in a game this season, throwing for 125 with a touchdown, and is near the bottom of the NFL with a 60.2 completion percentage. Despite his struggles, coach Kevin Stefanski said the team is "not changing quarterbacks."

The Browns have yet to record over 300 total yards in 2024 after doing so 13 times in 17 games last season while going 11-6 and reaching the playoffs.

 

 

Texans beat Bills on Fairbairn's 59-yard field goal as time expires

Ka′imi Fairbairn booted a 59-yard field goal as the clock struck zero to lift the Houston Texans to a 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills.

C.J. Stroud completed 28 of 38 passes for 331 yards with a touchdown and the Texans held on to improve to 4-1 after blowing a 20-3 lead in the third quarter.

They also overcame an injury to Nico Collins, who entered Week 5 with an NFL-leading 489 receiving yards. 

Collins exited early in the second quarter with a hamstring injury shortly after he scored a 67-yard touchdown, but Stefon Diggs stepped up in his first game against his former team, leading the Texans with six receptions for 82 yards.

Houston's defence frustrated Josh Allen nearly the entire game, and the Bills lost their second in a row after starting the season 3-0.

Allen threw three straight incomplete passes on Buffalo's final drive to give Houston a chance to win it, and he finished the game just 9 of 30 for 131 yards with a TD.

 

 

Prescott's late TD pass lifts Cowboys over Steelers

Dak Prescott found Jalen Tolbert just across the goal line for a four-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down with 20 seconds remaining to give the Dallas Cowboys a 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Prescott threw a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and drove the Cowboys 70 yards on the winning drive after the Steelers (3-2) went ahead on a six-yard TD pass from Justin Fields to Pat Freiermuth with 4:56 remaining.

The Cowboys (3-2) outgained the Steelers 448-227 in total yards with Prescott throwing for 352 yards and running back Rico Dowdle rushing for 90 yards and catching two passes for 27 yards with a TD.

Dowdle almost had a costly turnover, however. Two plays before the winning touchdown, he was stripped of the ball by Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts at the goal line but Prescott was able to jump on it and recover the fumble.

Tolbert, who got hurt the play before the winning score, led Dallas with seven receptions for 87 yards.

The game started nearly 90 minutes later than its scheduled start time because of a heavy thunderstorm producing lightning in the area. The game ended at 12:59 a.m.

 

 

Ravens pull out wild 41-38 overtime win over Bengals

Justin Tucker's 24-yard field goal in the final minute of overtime sent the Baltimore Ravens to a 41-38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

After both teams scored touchdowns early behind Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow, the game came down to the kickers.

Tucker sent the game to overtime with a 56-yard field goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation, and Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed a 53-yarder after a fumbled snap on Cincinnati's first possession of overtime.

On the very next play, Derrick Henry rushed 51 yards down to the Cincinnati six-yard line to set up Tucker's winning kick as Baltimore won its third straight game after opening 0-2.

Henry finished with 92 yards running and scored his 100th career rushing touchdown, while Jackson passed for 348 yards and four TDs without an interception.

Burrow threw five touchdown passes, while racking up 392 passing yards, but the Bengals dropped to 1-4.

 

 

Love-Kraft connection help Packers rally past Rams

Jordan Love threw a pair of touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft in the third quarter to help the Green Bay Packers to a 24-19 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

The Packers opened the scoring on Josh Jacobs' first touchdown with Green Bay, but then fell behind 13-7 just before the two-minute warning in the first half on Jaylen McCollough's four-yard interception return for a touchdown - the first pick-6 of Love's career.

Love responded by leading scoring drives on Green Bay's next three possessions - including touchdown passes of 66 and seven yards to Kraft.

Love threw for 224 yards in his second start after missing two games due to a knee injury, as the Packers (3-2) won for the first time in a game he started this season.

Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney intercepted Matthew Stafford in the third quarter to become the first player since the 1970 merger to have an interception in his first five games with a team.

Stafford also threw a touchdown and finished with 260 yards, while Kyren Williams rushed for 102 yards and scored for the eighth straight game for the Rams (1-4).

 

 

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    Joe Burrow said the Cincinnati Bengals are some way away from championship contention after a botched field-goal attempt saw them suffer a dramatic overtime defeat to the Baltimore Ravens.

    Burrow threw for five touchdowns and 392 yards – comfortably his best game of the season – in Sunday's huge AFC North matchup, but it was not enough to lead the Bengals to victory.

    They lost a thrilling encounter 41-38 in overtime, Evan McPherson missing a potential game-winning field goal before Justin Tucker did the honours for Baltimore at the other end.

    The defeat dropped the Bengals to 1-4, while the Ravens have now won three straight games after opening the season with surprising back-to-back defeats.

    Cincinnati's four losses this year have come by a combined margin of just 15 points, but Burrow does not feel their troubles can be explained merely by bad luck.

    "We're not a championship-level team right now," Burrow said. "We're not. 

    "I'd like to think that we'll come back and improve throughout the season to get to that point, but right now we are not and we have to get better.

    "I know exactly how we are 1-4. We're not making plays at the end of the game to go and win it. I'm definitely not in disbelief. I know exactly what's happening."

    Rookie punter Ryan Rehkow played a role in McPherson's decisive miss, his poor hold causing the kick to skew wide left. Head coach Zac Taylor, however, has backed his team to bounce back.

    "People can write us off if they really want to," Taylor said. "I'm not dumb enough to do that."

    The Ravens' game-winning field goal was teed up by a 51-yard dash by in-form running back Derrick Henry, who had 92 yards and a touchdown from 15 carries.

    Henry also brought up a personal milestone by passing 10,000 career rushing yards in the second quarter, becoming the 32nd player in NFL history to accomplish the feat and the first since Marshawn Lynch (2017). The former Tennessee Titans star also became the 14th running back in league history to reach 100 career scrimmage touchdowns.

    Asked what he saw on his huge overtime play, Henry replied: "Just green grass. Green grass and get it as close to the end zone as possible. 

    "I didn't get in, I should've probably stiff-armed him, but the GOAT got the field goal to win the game, and we're going home with a victory. That's all that matters.

    "This win is big because of what happened today. It puts us up two in the division, so we definitely needed this one. 

    "It was just as important for us as it was for them. We're glad we got the victory. With everything that happened, to show the resiliency of this team. We're going to keep on fighting to the end."

  • Cousins throws for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns in Falcons' OT win over Buccaneers Cousins throws for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns in Falcons' OT win over Buccaneers

    Kirk Cousins passed for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.

    After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27.

    Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. In all the confusion, the Falcons were called for delay of game as they lined up for a tying field goal, but it didn't cost them.

    Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime, one week after he made a 58-yarder with 2 seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints.

    The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and made sure Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again. Cousins connected with Drake London on a couple of passes before throwing one over the middle to Hodge, who split the secondary and raced untouched to the end zone to end the game.

  • Chiefs place top wide receiver Rice on injured reserve Chiefs place top wide receiver Rice on injured reserve

    Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media Thursday the team was waiting for swelling to go down on Rashee Rice's knee before performing additional tests.

    Three hours later, the Chiefs had enough information to know he'll be side-lined for at least one month.

    The Chiefs placed Rice on injured reserve later Thursday, meaning he will out for a minimum of four weeks.

    Rice was injured in last Sunday's 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and it was reported he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

    There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but a torn ACL would side-line him for the rest of the season.

    The second-year receiver was injured on a bizarre play when he collided with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who inadvertently dove into Rice's knee as the two team-mates were attempting to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton on an interception return.

    Rice was carted off to the locker room shortly after leaving the field and eventually ruled out of the game.

     

    His injury is the latest blow to a Kansas City team that is already without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco, who is recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in Week 2.

    It also leaves Mahomes without his top target, as Rice led the NFL with 24 receptions through this season's first three weeks.

    No other Kansas City player had double-digit receptions entering Week 4, though Travis Kelce finally took on a larger role in the offence.

    The veteran tight end had seven receptions for 89 yards against the Chargers after catching eight passes for 69 yards in the first three games.

    Despite losing two of their top play-makers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.

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