NFL Week 12 roundup: Bills hang on in sloppy 27-17 win over Chargers

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Tre’Davious White’s fourth-quarter interception set up Tyler Bass’ 43-yard field goal, helping the Buffalo Bills hold off the Los Angeles Chargers for a 27-17 win Sunday.

Josh Allen threw for a touchdown and ran for another score for the AFC East-leading Bills (8-3), who hung on after nearly blowing an 18-point third-quarter lead. Receiver Cole Beasley also completed a touchdown pass.

Buffalo turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions, but its defense limited Los Angeles to Michael Badgley’s 27-yard field goal during the key stretch.

Buffalo’s three drives ended with running back Devin Singletary losing a fumble at midfield, Allen muffing a snap at the Chargers 22, and then Allen throwing an interception to Michael Davis.

Two plays after the Chargers regained the ball at their 44, Justin Herbert faced third-and-6 when he forced a pass over the middle intended for tight end Hunter Henry, only to have White jump in front of the ball.

The Bills responded with a six-play, 40-yard drive that ended with Bass’ field goal with 3:26 remaining.

The Chargers dropped to 3-8.

Herbert finished 31 of 52 for 316 yards, upping his season total to 3,016 and joining Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes as the only players to top 3,000 yards passing in their first 10 career starts. Herbert was limited to one touchdown, a 5-yarder to Keenan Allen.

Los Angeles running back Austin Ekeler returned after missing six games with a hamstring injury. He finished with 44 yards rushing and 11 catches for 85 yards.

Allen finished 18 of 24 for 157 yards. He scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter.

A game between two of the NFL’s top young quarterbacks was instead overshadowed by defense.

Charger defensive end Joey Bosa had a career-best three sacks while also recovering a fumble. Bosa upped his career total to 47 1/2 and moved into fifth on the franchise list, a half-sack ahead of Junior Seau.

Buffalo linebacker A.J. Klein was credited with a team-best 14 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks.

The Chargers, who also scored on Josh Kelley’s 1-yard plunge, were limited to two touchdowns and a field goal on five drives that crossed midfield. That included Kelley getting stopped on fourth-and-1 at Buffalo’s 25 on the opening play of the fourth.

The final minute featured a comedy of errors in how the Chargers mismanaged the clock. They had the ball at the Buffalo 2 after Herbert completed a 55-yard pass to Tyron Johnson.

With no timeouts and the clock down to 25 seconds, the Chargers elected to run with Ekeler being stopped at the 1. The clock ran down to 6 seconds before Herbert threw an incompletion. The game ended with Herbert being stopped on a keeper up the middle.

The Bills were coming off their bye following a 32-30 loss at Arizona, which was decided on Kyler Murray’s 43-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins with two seconds remaining.

Buffalo’s defense once again was unable to prevent a late-minute deep pass, with Herbert finding Johnson on a pass that deflected off the hands of safety Jordan Poyer.

The Bills never trailed after Allen capped an opening drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox. Buffalo needed only four plays to march 63 yards in a drive that was aided by a 47-yard pass interference penalty against safety Rayshawn Jenkins, who was attempting to cover Stefon Diggs.

The Bills resorted to trickery for a second consecutive game, with Beasley getting a pitch from Allen and then lofting a 20-yard pass to wide-open rookie Gabriel Davis in the end zone early in the second quarter. It came after receiver Isaiah McKenzie completed a touchdown pass to Allen against Arizona.

Vikings 28, Panthers 27

MINNEAPOLIS — Chad Beebe caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left for Minnesota shortly after he muffed a punt that let Carolina pad its lead. Then Joey Slye missed a 54-yard field goal try with 1 second remaining that preserved a 28-27 victory by the Vikings over the Panthers on Sunday.

Kirk Cousins went 34 for 45 for 307 yards and three scores for the Vikings (5-6), hitting Justin Jefferson his second touchdown grab with 5:38 to go and finding Beebe for the winner to punctuate a seven-play, 75-yard drive that took 65 seconds.

There were 38 points scored by both teams in a dizzying second half that started with Panthers rookie Jeremy Chinn turning fumble recoveries into touchdown returns on consecutive plays from scrimmage. Sixty-nine seconds into the third quarter, the Panthers (4-8) suddenly were up 21-10 after Dan Bailey’s 53-yard field goal sent the Vikings into the locker room with the lead.

Teddy Bridgewater hit Robby Anderson for a 41-yard touchdown late in the second quarter and went 19 for 36 for 267 yards. Bridgewater’s first game as a starter against his original team also included an interception by Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks at the 7-yard line earlier in the first half.

After Beebe dropped his fair catch and Myles Hartsfield recovered at the 9, shortly before the two-minute warning, the Panthers played it safe with a pair of running plays. Bridgewater misfired for an open D.J. Moore on third down, and Slye — who had a short field goal blocked earlier — made a 21-yarder to push the lead to six points.

Cousins responded with the kind of late-game go-ahead drive that’s been mostly missing during his three seasons with Minnesota. Then Bridgewater nearly matched that against the team that drafted him in the first round in 2014. He connected with Curtis Samuel for 35 yards to near midfield with 28 seconds remaining, but a Vikings team that has two one-point losses this year came out on the winning side this time.

Falcons 43, Raiders 6

ATLANTA — Deion Jones returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown, Matt Ryan threw a pair of short scoring passes, and the Atlanta Falcons thoroughly dominated Derek Carr and the bumbling Las Vegas Raiders 43-6 on Sunday.

The Raiders (6-5) lost their second in a row and looked very much like a pretender in the AFC playoff race, producing a listless, mistake-filled performance against an Atlanta team that’s playing out the season under an interim coach.

Carr had a miserable day, fumbling the ball away three times in addition to delivering the pick that the Falcons linebacker returned for his fifth career TD.

Nathan Peterman finished out at quarterback for the Raiders, who took their worst loss of Jon Gruden’s most recent three seasons as coach.

Las Vegas had a season-worst five turnovers in all and was flagged 11 times for 141 yards, with one penalty wiping out an interception and another allowing the Falcons (4-7) to keep the ball after a missed field goal.

Atlanta wound up scoring a touchdown after Dallin Leavitt rolled into Younghoe Kim’s legs, taking him out for a roughing-the-kicker personal foul.

Gambling on fourth-and-3 at the Raiders 4, Ryan double-pumped to buy just enough time to find Calvin Ridley alone in the back of the end zone for the game’s first touchdown with 2:17 left in a tedious first half that took nearly two hours to complete.

Ryan, who was 22 of 39 for 185 yards, added another 4-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter, this one to Brandon Powell.

Ito Smith tacked on an 8-yard TD run after another Carr turnover, this one when Steven Means shoved left tackle Kolton Miller into his own quarterback, causing the ball to slip out of Carr’s hand just before his arm went forward for a throw.

Atlanta led 16-3 at halftime, and Jones sealed the game early in the third quarter.

Carr was swarmed by the pass rush and threw behind running back Devontae Booker on a short pass over the middle. The ball went right to Jones, who streaked all the way to the end zone with no one even close.

Carr saw the play unfolding while on his knees, slapping the turf in disgust when Jones made the pick.

Carr’s first two fumbles were both recovered by Atlanta’s Jacob Tuioti-Mariners. The backup defensive end showed exceptional athleticism on the second one, knocking it away from Carr and then scrambling to fall on the loose ball.

The Raiders cost themselves an interception when Nevin Lawson’s facemask penalty negated a pick by Nick Kwiatkoski.

For good measure, Atlanta was able to close the first half with the third of Koo’s five field goals, a 30-yarder helped along by Maliek Collins slamming into Ryan for another 15-yard roughing penalty.

Koo connected from 38, 39, 30, 29 and 54 yards, stretching his field-goal streak to 21 straight.

The Raiders were held to a pair of field goals from Daniel Carlson. Las Vegas managed 243 yards and 13 first downs.

Titans 45, Colts 26

INDIANAPOLIS — Derrick Henry carried the Tennessee Titans into the AFC South lead Sunday.

Now the defending rushing champion wants to finish the job with a division title and another deep playoff run.

Henry battered the NFL’s second-stingiest defense for 140 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, finished with 178 yards and led the Titans to a crucial 45-26 rout at Indianapolis.

The win gives Tennessee (8-3) sole possession of the division lead, a split in the two-game season series and a tie-breaking edge based on current division records of the teams. Henry also padded his lead as he chases a second straight rushing crown.

He has three straight 100-yard games and eight consecutive road games with 100 or more yards, tying former Titans running back Chris Johnson for the second-longest streak since the 1970 merger. Only Hall of Famer Barry Sanders (10 in 1996-97) had a longer streak.

With the Colts (7-4) missing three key starters — Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, starting linebacker Bobby Okereke and defensive end Denico Autry — Henry repeatedly broke tackles or eluded tacklers. He became the second player in franchise history with three straight seasons of 10 or more TD runs, joining Hall of Famer Earl Campbell.

And it didn’t take long for Henry to set the tone. He touched the ball on six of Tennessee’s first 10 plays and capped the opening drive with a 12-yard scoring run.

After the Colts tied the score at 7 with an 11-yard pass from Philip Rivers to Trey Burton, Ryan Tannehill hooked up with A.J. Brown on a 69-yard scoring play. When the Colts tied the score on Jacoby Brissett’s 1-yard TD run, Henry went back to work.

He scored on a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter, added an 11-yard TD run to make it 28-14, and was used as a decoy on Tannehill’s 1-yard TD run that gave Tennessee an insurmountable 35-14 halftime lead.

Patriots 20, Cardinals 17

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired, and the New England Patriots rallied in the second half to beat the Arizona Cardinals 20-17 Sunday.

James White rushed for two touchdowns for the Patriots (5-6), who earned seventh victory in their past eight meetings with the Cardinals. It was the second time this month that Folk hit a last-second game-winning field goal. His 51-yarder beat the New York Jets 30-27 on Nov. 9.

Arizona (6-5) hasn’t beaten New England since 2012.

Cam Newton struggled, finishing 9 of 18 for 84 yards and two interceptions. New England won the game despite finishing with 179 yards by taking advantage of Cardinals mistakes.

But New England’s defense was solid, holding Arizona’s top-ranked offense, which entered the game averaging 414 yards, to 298 yards. Kenyan Drake rushed for 78 yards and two touchdowns for Arizona.

Kyler Murray finished 23 of 34 for 170 yards and an interception. Murray had 31 rushing yards and was held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season.

Trailing 10-0 early, New England used a turnover in the third quarter to take its first lead of the game.

Facing third down, Murray’s pass intended for DeAndre Hopkins was deflected at the line of scrimmage by Adam Butler and intercepted by Adrian Phillips at the Arizona 31.

Six plays later, White scored on a 1-yard run to make it 17-10.

Following a Patriots’ punt, Arizona tied it up again in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard TD run by Drake with 8:02 remaining.

A promising drive by New England was then halted when Dre Fitzpatrick intercepted Newton’s short pass intended for Damiere Byrd with 4:37 remaining.

Arizona had a chance to take the lead, but Zane Gonzalez missed wide right on 45-yard field-goal attempt with 1:47 left.

Newton’s streak of four consecutive games without an interception ended just three plays into the Patriots’ opening drive.

Cardinals linebacker Jordan Hicks was unblocked on a blitz and hit Newton as he threw, allowing Markus Golden to come up with the easy pick.

Arizona took over on the New England 23 and used a 19-yard pass from Murray to Andy Isabella to set up a 1-yard TD run by Drake two plays later.

The Cardinals increased their lead to 10-0 in the second quarter when facing fourth-and-2 on the 7, White found the end zone on an option pitch from Newton.

Arizona appeared to increase its lead just before halftime on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Murray to KeeSean Johnson. But a review showed Johnson’s knee was down before he crossed the goal line.

The Cardinals went for it on fourth-and-1, but Drake’s run was stopped short by Akeem Spence and Ja’Whaun Bentley as time expired.

Dolphins 20, Jets 3

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes while starting in place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins kept the New York Jets winless with a 20-3 victory Sunday.

Tagovailoa was inactive with a left thumb injury, so Fitzpatrick stepped in against one of his many former teams.

He didn’t need to do too much against the lowly Jets.

The veteran quarterback was 24 of 39 for 257 yards with TD throws to tight ends Mike Gesicki and Adam Shaheen, helping the Dolphins (7-4) bounce back after having a five-game winning streak end last week.

New York got its starting quarterback back as Sam Darnold played after missing the last two games with a shoulder injury. But he was unable to get much going for the offense, with coach Adam Gase appearing to reclaim play-calling duties after offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains had done so the last three games.

Darnold was intercepted twice and the Jets (0-11) twice couldn’t take advantage of takeaways by the defense. Darnold was 16 of 27 for 197 yards.

Another poor offensive showing had speculation swirling again over whether New York could part ways with Gase, who was outscored 44-3 in two losses this season to his former team. The 11-game skid is the second-longest in team history, one game short of the losing streak by the 1995-96 teams under Rich Kotite.

After Miami went three-and-out to open the second half, New York moved the ball down the field — thanks to an impressive 27-yard grab by Breshad Perriman. But Darnold tried to make too much happen on third down at the Dolphins 32, throwing across his body on the run and into double coverage with Nik Needham making an easy interception.

The Jets didn’t muster much the rest of the way — although they had some chances.

The Dolphins began chewing up clock late in the third quarter by focusing on the run, but it cost them when Quinnen Williams popped the ball out of Matt Breida’s hands and Harvey Langi recovered to give the Jets the ball at Miami’s 45 with 4:09 remaining in the period.

But New York couldn’t do anything with the takeaway, going three and out.

The Jets’ defense came up big again on the Dolphins’ next drive, with Jordan Jenkins knocking the ball out of Patrick Laird’s hands and Neville Hewitt scooping it up and returning it to Miami’s 26.

But again, New York’s offense stalled. The Jets went for it on fourth-and-1 from the 17, but Frank Gore was stuffed by Elandon Roberts for a 1-yard loss.

Fitzpatrick drove the Dolphins down the field and sealed the win with a 7-yard touchdown toss to Shaheen to make it 20-3 with 6:54 left.

On both drives after the defense caused a turnover, Gase conservatively called runs on first down: the 37-year-old Gore got 1 yard on the first and 2 yards on the second.

49ers 23, Rams 20

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Robbie Gould made a 42-yard field goal as time expired and the San Francisco snapped its three-game losing streak, sweeping the season series against Los Angeles for the second straight year.

Nick Mullens passed for 253 yards and led two late scoring drives in his first victory as a starter since September for the defending NFC champion Niners (5-6), who stoked their flickering playoff hopes and became the first team to beat the Rams (7-4) at new SoFi Stadium.

After a game largely dominated by defense, Gould hit a 44-yard field goal with 3:11 left before San Francisco stopped Los Angeles near midfield. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk converted a fourth-and-1 with 28 seconds to play during a 56-yard drive in the final 2:10 to set up Gould, who nailed his third field goal of the day.

Rookie defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown as San Francisco forced four turnovers, including two interceptions and a fumble by Jared Goff in his latest erratic performance.

Aaron Donald forced a fumble and Troy Hill returned it 20 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter, but the Rams’ top-ranked defense couldn’t keep the Niners out of field goal range late.

Goff passed for 198 yards in a rough offensive game from the Rams, who slipped out of first place in the division.

Saints 31, Broncos 3

DENVER — Taysom Hill’s two touchdown runs led New Orleans past Denver, which was thrust into a quarterback quandary when its passers failed to wear masks as mandated by the NFL’s covid-19 protocols.

In a grind-it-out slugfest reminiscent of pro football’s early days, the Saints (9-2) won their second straight game with Hill subbing for the injured Drew Brees. Hill wasn’t nearly as sharp as a week earlier against the Falcons, when he completed 18 of 23 passes for 233 yards.

This time, he was 9 of 16 for 78 yards, no touchdowns, an interception and a paltry passer rating of 43.2. He also ran 10 times for 44 yards.

And that was much better than Broncos QB Kendall Hinton, a rookie receiver and former Wake Forest quarterback from their practice squad who made a shaky NFL debut by going 1 for 9 for 13 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Tight end Noah Fant’s 13-yard catch was Denver’s only reception.

Sometimes, the Broncos had their running backs take direct snaps. But the Broncos converted just once in 10 third-down tries.

Chiefs 27, Buccaneers 24

TAMPA, Fla. — Patrick Mahomes threw for 462 yards and three touchdowns to outplay Tom Brady and lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 27-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Tyreek Hill scored on receptions of 75, 44 and 20 yards, backflipping into the end zone on his second TD, and finishing with 13 catches for 269 yards — the last an 8-yard catch on third-and-7 to give Mahomes an opportunity to run out the clock.

The Chiefs (10-1) won their sixth straight game and clinched their seventh 10-win season in eight years under coach Andy Reid.

The reigning Super Bowl champions improved to 6-0 on the road and have won nine straight away from home going back to last year.

Brady was 27 of 41 for 345 yards, three touchdowns and a pair of second-half interceptions in falling to 2-2 in four career meetings against Mahomes, who built an early 17-0 lead and also had the Chiefs up by 17 entering the fourth quarter.

The Bucs made it close, with Brady throwing TD passes of 31 and 7 yards to Mike Evans, the latter trimming Tampa Bay’s deficit to 27-24 with 4:10 remaining.

The Bucs never got the ball back.

The Chiefs led 20-7 at halftime, with Hill having seven catches for 203 yards in the first quarter alone. The Bucs were fortunate they weren’t in a bigger hole at the break.

Kansas City ran 42 plays to Tampa Bay’s 22 in the first two quarters, outgaining the Bucs 377 yards to 131 with Mahomes throwing for 359 yards and Brady 117.

Three drives inside the Bucs 20, however, only netted a pair of short field goals. Shaquil Barrett sacked Mahomes, forcing a fumble that William Gholston recovered at the 14 with the Chiefs looking to build on a 17-0 lead.

Bashaud Breeland and Tyrann Mathieu had Kansas City’s interceptions off Brady. The Chiefs hurt themselves with a pair of roughing the passer penalties on the 10-play, 73-yard drive the six-time Super Bowl champion put together to close the gap to three points.