NFL Week 6 review: Watson, Hyde lead Texans over Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Deshaun Watson threw for 280 yards and a touchdown while running for two more, outdueling Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes in a matchup of former first-round picks and leading the Houston Texans to a 31-24 victory over Kansas City on Sunday.

Carlos Hyde added 116 yards rushing and a touchdown against the team that traded him to Houston (4-2) before the start of the season. DeAndre Hopkins hauled in nine passes for 55 yards.

None was bigger than his last, when the Texans star made a sliding grab on fourth-and-3 from the Kansas City 27 with just under 2 minutes to go. That allowed Houston to run out the clock and deal the Chiefs (4-2) their second consecutive loss — both at Arrowhead Stadium.

Mahomes, who was selected two spots ahead of Watson in the 2017 draft, finished with 273 yards passing and three touchdowns, though he also threw his first interception of the season.

Star wide receiver Tyreek Hill returned to action for the first time since Week 1, when he broke his collarbone, to catch five passes for 80 yards and two of the Chiefs’ scores.

It wasn’t a pretty game for either side. The teams combined for 21 penalties totaling nearly 150 yards, and that didn’t include close to a dozen flags that were offsetting, overruled or declined.

It was Kansas City that started hot, engineering drives of at least 90 yards twice in the first quarter. Hill finished the first with a 46-yard reception — the first TD throw in a first quarter by Mahomes since Week 1 — while Damien Williams finished the second with a 14-yard TD catch.

In between, Hyde coughed up the ball on Houston’s first offensive play.

But the big running back soon atoned for his mistake. Hyde battered the Chiefs’ porous run defense the rest of the game, punctuating a big first half with a short touchdown run.

The Texans then took the lead into the locker room after Mahomes was strip-sacked with 20 seconds left and Houston recovered, and Watson waltzed into the end zone on the very next play.

It wasn’t the last time he reached pay dirt.

Mahomes hit Hill again in the third quarter to give the Chiefs the lead back , but the Houston quarterback answered with a 12-play, 93-yard drive consuming more than 8 1/2 minutes. By the time he spun into the end zone and converted the 2-point try, the Texans had a 31-24 lead with 6:17 to go.

Kansas City went three-and-out on its next possession, and a defense that has been maligned for most of Andy Reid’s tenure with the Chiefs failed to make a stop once again.

Saints 13, Jaguars 6

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Teddy Bridgewater found Jared Cook for a 4-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and New Orleans held on to beat Jacksonville and improve to 4-0 without injured starter Drew Brees.

Coming off a 300-yard, four-touchdown performance against Tampa Bay, Bridgewater was less effective against the Jaguars (2-4). But he did enough for New Orleans’ defense.

Gardner Minshew was sacked twice, hurried often and threw his first interception as a starter. The rookie sensation completed 14 of 29 passes for 163 yards and was held without a touchdown for the first time this season.

Bridgewater was 24 of 36 passing for 240 yards for the Saints (5-1).

Michael Thomas had eight receptions for 89 yards, and Alvin Kamara finished with 31 yards rushing while playing through an ankle injury.

Vikings 38, Eagles 20

MINNEAPOLIS — Kirk Cousins threw to Stefon Diggs for three of his four touchdowns, racking up a season-high 333 passing yards as Minnesota ravaged Philadelphia’s secondary.

Diggs scored on plays in the first half that covered 51 and 62 yards, becoming the first player since Randy Moss in 2000 to post two touchdown receptions of 50-plus yards in one game for the Vikings (4-2).

His most important catch came late in the third quarter, a double toe tap in the back of the end zone from 11 yards out that pushed the lead to 11 points after Carson Wentz and the Eagles (3-3) had pulled within 24-20 with 17 straight points.

Cousins went 22 for 29 with one sack and one interception on a deflected ball.

The Eagles have been badly missing starting cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Avonte Maddox, and Cousins took full advantage with a first half that looked at times like passing drills against the scout team.

Panthers 37, Buccaneers 26

LONDON — Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns and Carolina turned five interceptions by Jameis Winston into 17 points as the Panthers beat Tampa Bay.

After starting the season with two straight losses with hobbled Cam Newton at quarterback, the Panthers (4-2) have been on a roll with Kyle Allen at quarterback thanks to McCaffrey’s big plays and an opportunistic defense that had a franchise record-tying seven takeaways on the day.

Both of those factors came up big on Carolina’s first trip to London in front of a large contingent of Panthers fans for what was designated as a home game for the Bucs (2-4).

Winston did most of his damage after the game got out of hand late, throwing for 400 yards with a 10-yard TD pass to Cameron Brate in the fourth quarter that gave him 100 touchdown passes in his career.

Redskins 17, Dolphins 16

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Rookie Terry McLaurin caught two touchdown passes and Washington stopped Miami’s two-point conversion attempt with 6 seconds left in a matchup between winless teams.

Adrian Peterson more than doubled his season rushing total with 118 yards for Bill Callahan in his first game as interim coach. Washington intercepted Josh Rosen twice and sacked him five times before he was benched at the start of the fourth quarter with the Dolphins trailing 17-3.

Rosen’s replacement, Ryan Fitzpatrick, sparked a rally and led two touchdown drives, including a 75-yard march that began with 2:02 left. But after Fitzpatrick hit DeVante Parker for an 11-yard score to cut the deficit to one point, rookie coach Brian Flores decided to go for two.

Running back Kenyan Drake dropped Fitzpatrick’s quick pass with several defenders between him and the goal line.

Washington (1-5) looked like a different team after firing coach Jay Gruden, but the caliber of the opposition had something to do with that. The Dolphins (0-5) remained winless under Flores but helped their chances of securing the No. 1 draft pick in April.

49ers 20, Rams 7

LOS ANGELES — Jimmy Garoppolo passed for 243 yards and ran for a touchdown, and San Francisco remained unbeaten with a dominant defensive performance against struggling Los Angeles.

George Kittle had eight catches for 103 yards for the Niners (5-0), who held Los Angeles’ once-unstoppable offense to 157 yards in coach Kyle Shanahan’s first victory over Rams coach Sean McVay in a game in which both of these NFC West rivals were playing their starters.

These longtime coaching colleagues’ teams are going in opposite directions after this one-sided showdown at the Coliseum. San Francisco used its possession offense and a sturdy defense to stay alongside New England as the NFL’s only unbeaten teams, while the Rams (3-3) are on their first three-game losing streak of McVay’s 2½-year tenure.

Tevin Coleman rushed for an early touchdown for San Francisco, while Garoppolo was mostly effective despite two turnovers. The Niners didn’t score a touchdown in the final 27 minutes, but they’re off to their fourth 5-0 start in franchise history, and their first since 1990.

Jets 24, Cowboys 22

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Sam Darnold gave the Jets’ struggling offense a huge boost by throwing two touchdown passes in his return from mononucleosis, and New York held on to beat Dallas for its first win of the season.

The Jets led 21-9 in the fourth quarter, but Dak Prescott and the top-ranked Cowboys offense stormed back — and had a chance to tie in the closing moments.

Prescott ran for a 4-yard touchdown with 43 seconds left, making it a two-point game. Going for the tie, Prescott dropped back and was quickly met by a blitzing Jamal Adams and his pass on the conversion try fell short of Jason Witten in the end zone.

The Cowboys (3-3) tried an onside kick, but Demaryius Thomas recovered for the Jets (1-4), who won for the first time under coach Adam Gase. It was the third straight loss for Dallas.

Darnold, who missed three games while recovering from mononucleosis, finished 23 of 32 for 338 yards — including a 92-yard touchdown toss to Robby Anderson and a 5-yarder to Ryan Griffin.

Broncos 16, Titans 0

DENVER — Denver’s swarming defense sent Marcus Mariota to the bench and Tennessee to its fourth loss in five games.

The Broncos (2-4) had seven sacks in a game for the first time since their 2015 Super Bowl season and they picked off three passes.

Chris Harris Jr. and Justin Simmons intercepted Mariota, who was sacked three times and was replaced by Ryan Tannehill after Simmons’ interception led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Phillip Lindsay that made it 13-0. Tannehill was sacked four times and picked off by Kareem Jackson on Tennessee’s final drive, which reached the Denver 5-yard line before two offensive penalties and a sack pushed the Titans back to the 30-yard line.

Both Denver and Tennessee (2-4) were 2 of 14 on third down, leading to 17 punts.

Cardinals 34, Falcons 33

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Kyler Murray threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and Arizona built a big lead over Atlanta, lost it, and then rallied to win.

Atlanta looked like it would tie the game with 1:53 left after Matt Ryan hit Devonta Freeman on a 12-yard touchdown pass, but 44-year-old Matt Bryant missed left on the extra point, and the Cardinals ran out the clock from there.

The Cardinals (2-3-1) took a 34-27 lead with 5:12 remaining on David Johnson’s 14-yard touchdown catch from Murray. Johnson made a great adjustment to his route on the slightly underthrown ball, catching the ball between two defenders.

The Cardinals won at home for the first time since last Oct. 28.

The Falcons (1-5) have lost four straight games.