NFL Week 6 roundup: Kirk Cousins throws TD pass in OT; Vikes beat Panthers

CHARLOTTE — Kirk Cousins completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to K.J. Osborn on the first possession of overtime to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a wild 34-28 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Cousins threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns against the league’s top-ranked pass defense, Dalvin Cook ran for 140 yards and a score and the Vikings finally solved their second-half offensive woes. Adam Thielen had a number of big catches, finishing with 11 receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown.

KIRK COUSINS TO K.J. OSBORN WALK OFF TD ????

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/BgUGJnEnD3

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 17, 2021

The Vikings (3-3) had not scored a second-half touchdown in their previous four games, but Cook broke the streak with a 16-yard touchdown run to give the Vikings the lead and Cousins added a 5-yard touchdown pass to Thielen.

But two missed field goals by Greg Joseph kept the Panthers (3-3) in it.

Sam Darnold finished 17 of 41 for 207 yards with one touchdown and two turnovers and nearly pulled off a wild comeback.

After Joseph missed a 50-yard field goal, Zane Gonzalez connected on a short field goal to cut the lead to 8.

Darnold hit Ian Thomas down the seam for a 41-yard gain on fourth-and-10 from the Carolina 4. Then Darnold found D.J. Moore, who had dropped a pass on the previous play, for a 25-yard gain down the left sideline to keep the drive alive. Darnold capped the drive with a 7-yard TD pass to Robby Anderson and threw a shovel pass to Tommy Tremble for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 28 with 42 seconds left.

But the Vikings won the coin toss and Cousins quickly moved his team into scoring range, finding Osborn, who beat safety Sean Chandler and reached the ball across the goal line to score the winner.

The Panthers might have known it was going to be a tough day when Darnold threw downfield to Anderson on a comeback route on the first play from scrimmage and was intercepted by Bashaud Breeland.

It was the first of many Carolina miscues.

Carolina’s first half was marred by dropped passes, mental errors and poor clock management. On their final drive of the second quarter, the Panthers were called for a delay of game after taking a timeout to set up a play. Darnold tried to call a second timeout as the play clock wound down, but NFL rules prohibit back-to-back timeouts. The comedy of errors continued on the next play as the Panthers were flagged for holding, costing them a chance at a go-ahead field goal.

Chiefs 31 Washington 13

LANDOVER, Md. — Teammates approached Patrick Mahomes after his second interception in the first half and maybe the worst of his NFL career. They told him to keep being himself.

Mahomes found himself in the second half, engineering three touchdown drives to make up for the giveaways, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a 31-13 comeback victory at Washington on Sunday that got them back to .500.

“In the second half, I kept doing stuff,” said Mahomes, who threw for 397 yards and two touchdowns. “I kept throwing across my body and doing a lot of different type of stuff because I know those guys believe in me, and I’m going to keep being that and keep fighting to the end.”

.@patrickmahomes airs it out @demarcus for the SCORE!!! ????

????: #KCvsWAS on CBS pic.twitter.com/OVkxT6P4Hq

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 17, 2021

Leaving his seventh and eighth picks of the season behind, Mahomes connected with Tyreek Hill on a 2-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter. He put the game out of reach with a 24-yarder to Demarcus Robinson with 3:14 left in the fourth period.

In between, new starting running back Darrel Williams rushed for his second TD of the game to help Kansas City (3-3) avoid what would have been an embarrassing loss.

“We just executed better,” Mahomes said. “Guys relied on each other, believed in each other, and we were able to find a way to get a win.”

The defense also finally played its part, holding an opponent under 29 points for the first time this season, forcing a fumble and picking off Taylor Heinicke to seal the win. Washington (2-4) finished with 276 yards and its lowest points total of the season.

“We didn’t handle adversity in the second half the way we needed to,” Washington coach Ron Rivera said. “When you have a chance, you’ve got to take advantage of it. And we didn’t.”

The Chiefs flirted with disaster for much of the first half, turning the ball over three times: a ball that bounced off Hill’s hands, a fumble by receiver Mecole Hardman, and an inexplicable heave by Mahomes. They trailed 13-10 at halftime before things clicked offensively.

Kansas City now has committed an NFL-worst 14 turnovers this season, a worrying trend for the defending AFC champion.

“We got to get out of this cycle,” coach Andy Reid said. “I’m not sure I’ve been around quite this many, but we’re here, so it needs to change. But we were heading the right direction that second half.”

Unlike losses to the Ravens, Chargers and Bills, the offense made up for the giveaways. Mahomes was 32 of 47 through the air, rushed for 31 yards and led touchdown drives of 95, 68, 45 and 96 yards.

“The way we did it, even though it wasn’t pretty in the first half, hopefully it will get us rolling,” said Mahomes said. “How this season’s gone and the adversity we’ve dealt with, it could have spiraled. “But I thought the guys, it was a lot of mental toughness to go back and to battle.”

Packers 24 Bears 14

CHICAGO — Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, leading the Green Bay Packers to a 24-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

The Packers (5-1) beat the Bears (3-3) for the 20th time in 23 games counting the playoffs and improved to 22-5 with Rodgers as the starter against Chicago. They also prevented Chicago from tying them for the NFC North lead.

Rodgers shook off a sluggish start, throwing a 1-yard touchdown to Allen Lazard in the second quarter and a 12-yarder to Aaron Jones in the third, making it 17-7.

Rodgers put away the Bears after Justin Fields threw a 5-yard touchdown to Darnell Mooney, cutting the lead to three with 8:44 left. He scored from the 6 to cap a 75-yard drive, bumping the lead back up to 10. He then turned toward the crowd and yelled, “I still own you! I still own you!”

“I STILL OWN YOU!”

Aaron Rodgers to Bears fans ????

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/PacXCtnqaC

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 17, 2021

It was hard to argue after Rodgers finished 17 of 23 for 195 yards and a 128 passer rating.

Davante Adams caught four passes for 89 yards. Aaron Jones ran for 76 yards and caught four passes for 34, helping the Packers remain unbeaten since a season-opening 38-3 loss to New Orleans in Jacksonville.

Mason Crosby made his lone field goal and all three extra points coming off a shaky outing. A week earlier against Cincinnati, he missed three field goals and an extra point before booting the winning 49-yarder in overtime.

Fields led the Bears on an 80-yard touchdown drive on their first possession, only to cool off after that. The No. 11 overall draft pick was 16 for 27 for 174 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Khalil Herbert, a rookie, ran for a season-high 97 yards with David Montgomery (sprained knee) on injured reserve and Damien Williams on the reserve/covid-19 list. He scored from the 1 on the game’s opening drive.

Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn and Akiem Hicks each had a sack. But after beating Detroit and Las Vegas, the Bears lost again to their rivals.

Rams 38 Giants 11

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Matthew Stafford threw three of his four touchdown passes in a 28-point second quarter, and the Los Angeles Rams rolled to a 38-11 victory over the injury-plagued and error-prone New York Giants on Sunday.

Stafford connected with prime target Cooper Kupp on scoring passes of 3 and 13 yards. He also found Robert Woods for a 15-yard score and running back Darrell Henderson on a 25-yarder.

Stafford, who has 16 TD passes in six games, finished 22 of 28 for 251 yards in three-plus quarters. The Rams (5-1) took advantage of two short fields provided by their defense for easy TDs in breaking the game open early against New York (1-5).

Kupp, who was tied for second in the league with 37 catches entering the game, added nine more receptions for 130 yards. Safety Taylor Rapp had two interceptions to account for half of Los Angeles’ four takeaways.

Henderson also scored on a 2-yard TD run in the big second quarter and Matt Gay kicked a 32-yard field goal as the Rams beat the Giants for the third time in five seasons.

A week after sustaining a concussion in a loss to Dallas, Daniel Jones started at quarterback for the Giants. He led the offense to a 27-yard field goal by Graham Gano on the opening series, but the Rams picked him off three times and recovered a fumble on a strip-sack by Ogbonnia Okoronkwo.

Jones finished 29 of 51 for 242 yards playing without running back Saquon Barkley and receiver Kenny Golladay. Playmaking rookie wide receiver Kadarius Toney (ankle) was lost on the first series, contributing to New York totaling 261 yards of offense, most of it late.

Eli Penny scored on a 4-yard run and Jones threw a 2-point conversion to Kyle Rudolph after the Rams built a 38-3 lead.

After being stopped on their first two series, the Rams broke the game open in the second quarter. Stafford capped a quick 66-yard drive with his TD pass to Woods. The strip-sack of Jones led to Kupp’s short, fourth-down TD catch on a 12-yard possession. Henderson’s touchdown run came after Rapp’s interception return to the Giants 14. His scoring catch came in the final minute of the half.

Colts 31 Texans 3

INDIANAPOLIS — Carson Wentz threw two touchdown passes, Jonathan Taylor ran for two more and the Indianapolis defense held up in the second half Sunday as the Colts blew out Houston 31-3.

Indy rebounded from an embarrassing fourth-quarter collapse at Baltimore by winning for the second time in three weeks. The Colts can now move within one game of the AFC South lead — if Buffalo beats Tennessee on Monday.

Houston has lost five straight overall and six of the last seven against the Colts.

And this one changed quickly in the second half — in the exact opposite direction of the Monday night fiasco.

Two-time All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard picked off rookie quarterback Davis Mills on Houston’s first play of the third quarter. Wentz capitalized two plays later with a 28-yard TD pass to Mo Alie-Cox to make it 17-3.

Taylor started Indy’s next series with an 83-yard run and capped it with a 4-yard TD rush to make it 24-3, and the reeling Texans spent the rest of the game futilely playing catch-up and getting nowhere.

Taylor added an 11-yard touchdown run with 4:47 left to make it 31-3. He finished with 14 carries for 145 yards while Wentz was 11 of 20 for 223 yards.

Mills was 20 of 43 with 243 yards and two interceptions. Mark Ingram II had 18 carries for 73 yards and Brandin Cooks caught nine passes for 89 yards.

Jaguars 23 Dolphins 20

LONDON — The Jacksonville Jaguars ended their 20-game losing streak when Matthew Wright kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired in a 23-20 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in London.

Trevor Lawrence connected on a short slant pass to Laviska Shenault Jr. and the Jags (1-5) called timeout with 1 second remaining after the Dolphins (1-5) gambled on a fourth-and-1 from their 46 and came up short.

Lawrence threw for 319 yards and a touchdown as he and coach Urban Meyer finally earned their first NFL victories — even if it required a trip to Europe to get it done in a “home” game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Dolphins lost their fifth consecutive game, spoiling the return of Tua Tagovailoa, who made his first start in a month. The second-year quarterback threw two touchdown passes to Jaylen Waddle.

Wright had tied the game at 20 on a 54-yard field goal with 3:40 remaining.

The Dolphins took a 20-17 lead when Tagovailoa finished a seven-play, 91-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Waddle with 10:22 left in the game. Waddle caught the ball and stuck it over the goal line as cornerback Nevin Lawson tackled him.

Jacksonville grabbed a 17-13 lead early in the third quarter on James Robinson’s 1-yard run after he rumbled 24 yards on the previous play. The drive included a 29-yard reception by Jamal Agnew and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Miami safety Jevon Holland.

Tagovailoa and the Dolphins offense started hot, scoring on their first drive, but squandering two other chances from inside the Jacksonville 10, settling for field goals both times.

On the opening drive, Tagovailoa completed eight of 10 passes and finished a 75-yard opening drive with a 6-yard slant to Jaylen Waddle to put Miami ahead 7-0. They converted three third downs including a 20-yard reception by tight end Mike Gesicki and Tagovailoa’s 7-yard scramble to the 6, setting up Waddle’s touchdown.

The Jaguars answered with big plays of their own, when Lawrence connected with Agnew for a 24-yard gain on their first play from scrimmage. The drive stalled, though, when Dan Arnold dropped a third-down pass at the 16-yard line. The Jags settled for a 40-yard field goal from Matthew Wright — their first field goal of the season — to make it 7-3.

After field goals of 33 and 24 yards by Jason Sanders, the Jaguars forced a three-and-out and got the ball back on the Miami 49 with 1:45 left in half, down 13-3.

Lawrence then finally exploited Miami’s depleted secondary, launching a perfect pass to Marvin Jones Jr. in the end zone for a 28-yard TD pass with backup cornerback Noah Igbinoghene in coverage to make the score 13-10 with 40 seconds left in the half.

Miami played without starting cornerbacks Xavien Howard and Byron Jones, who were both out injured.

Raiders 34 Broncos 24

DENVER — Derek Carr sliced up the Denver defense for 341 yards and two touchdowns, Maxx Crosby made three sacks and the Las Vegas Raiders started the post-Jon Gruden era with a 34-24 thrashing of the bewildered Broncos on Sunday.

The Raiders (4-2) gave longtime special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia a win in his debut as interim head coach and offensive coordinator Greg Olson was masterful in his first play-calling duties for Las Vegas since Carr’s rookie season in 2014.

The Raiders began by ending an 11-game streak without a score on their opening drive. They never let up, burning the Broncos’ beleaguered secondary that couldn’t keep up with Carr and his targets.

Nor could Denver’s deficient offense keep pace. Teddy Bridgewater threw a season-high three interceptions and lost a fumble, negating his 334 yards passing and three TDs.

The Broncos (3-3) lost their third consecutive game, but the other defeats came at the hands of Ravens and Steelers and their veteran head coaches John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin.

This one had to sting coach Vic Fangio, whose Broncos have a short week before a Thursday night game at Cleveland with the possibility they’ll fall below .500 just 25 days after starting 3-0.

Moreover, the Broncos’ humiliation came on a day they inducted former coach Mike Shanahan into their Ring of Fame and honored Steve Atwater’s long-awaited entrance into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Raiders appeared to have a season on the brink after Gruden resigned Monday night when it was revealed emails he sent before being hired in 2018 contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments directed at several people in the NFL.

But the Raiders didn’t seem one bit bothered by the chaos as they moved into a tie atop the AFC West with the Chargers, who were throttled 34-6 by Baltimore.

Crosby was in on four sacks — he had two himself and two he shared — one of which came just before halftime, right after the Raiders took a 17-7 lead on Carr’s 31-yard touchdown toss to running back Kenyon Drake. Linebacker Alexander Johnson never turned his head as Drake hauled in the pass and tiptoed down the Raiders sideline, capping a five-play 82-yard drive that took just 31 seconds.

Drake’s 18-yard touchdown run made it 24-7 in the third quarter, essentially ending any doubt Bisaccia’s head coaching debut after spending two decades as a special teams coordinator would be a success.

Las Vegas opened the scoring on a 48-yard pass from Carr to Henry Ruggs III, who sped past cornerback Ronald Darby, playing for the first time since pulling a hamstring in the opener. The Raiders failed to score on their first possession in the previous 11 games for the longest active drought in the NFL.

The Broncos had gone even longer without scoring a TD on their first possession, the last one coming on Dec. 8, 2019, against Houston. They ended their 24-game streak when Bridgewater found Tim Patrick on a 23-yard pass to tie it.

Daniel Carlson’s 50-yard field goal put Las Vegas up 10-7, but he hit the right upright on a 43-yarder as the Raiders failed to capitalize on cornerback Brandon Facyson’s interception at midfield.

Cowboys 35 Patriots 29

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Dak Prescott threw 35-yard touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb in overtime, and the Dallas Cowboys survived a wild finish to beat New England 35-29 on Sunday, their first win over Bill Belichick’s Patriots.

Dallas hadn’t won at New England since 1987 and was 0-5 against Belichick. The Cowboys (5-1) have won five straight, their longest winning streak since 2016.

The Cowboys led 17-14 entering the fourth quarter, and that’s when the fun began. The teams traded five scores in the period, three in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

New England (2-4) was clinging to a 21-20 lead when sensational Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs intercepted Mac Jones and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown — his seventh pick and second pick-6 of the season — to put Dallas ahead 26-20. On the next play from scrimmage, Jones hit Kendrick Bourne for a 75-yard score. Jones hooked up with Jakobi Meyers for the 2-point conversion.

But Prescott led the Cowboys on a 40-yard drive and Greg Zuerlein’s 49-yard field goal sent it to overtime. Dallas ended it after New England punted on its first possession as the Patriots dropped to 0-4 at home for the first time in Belichick’s 22 years as coach.