NFL Week 7 roundup: Lions stun Falcons 23-22 after letting Atlanta score late TD

ATLANTA — The Lions let the Falcons score a touchdown. It worked — and Atlanta found another stunning way to lose.

Matthew Stafford connected with T.J. Hockenson on an 11-yard touchdown pass as time expired and Matt Prater booted a 48-yard extra point to give Detroit an improbable 23-22 victory over Atlanta on Sunday. The Lions (3-3) won their second in a row — their first winning streak since early in the 2019 season.

This was about as strange as it gets.

Trailing 16-14, the Falcons (1-6) were positioned to run down the clock and kick a chip-shot field goal for the win when they picked up a first down at the Lions 10 with just over a minute remaining.

Detroit had used up all its timeouts on the drive, so there was no further way to stop the clock. Knowing their only chance was to allow a quick TD, the Lions made no attempt to stop Todd Gurley after he took a handoff from Matt Ryan.

Gurley burst through an intentionally gaping hole, with only one defensive player, safety Will Harris, even putting a hand on the runner. Gurley realized what the Lions were doing — but too late. He started to fall but landed on the goal line with 1:04 remaining.

The Falcons converted a 2-point conversion to make it 22-16, but the Lions still had a chance against a team that had already become the first in NFL history to lose two straight games when leading by at least 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Stafford drove his team 75 yards in eight plays, connecting with Hockenson on a 13-yard pass, Danny Amendola for 22 yards and Kenny Golladay for a 29-yard gain to the Falcons 11. The Lions ran down the field and spiked the ball with 3 seconds left, only to have the replay booth official decide to take a look at Golladay’s catch to make sure he didn’t trap the ball.

After the catch was upheld, the Lions lined up quickly and spiked the ball with 2 seconds to go, setting up the final play. Stafford was pressured in the pocket, rolled to his left and spotted Hockenson breaking free across the end zone.

Touchdown, Lions.

Adding one last bit of drama to a bizarre final quarter, Detroit was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct during the celebration. That backed up the extra point to the 30-yard line, but Prater knocked through the kick to win the game.

Stafford finished 25 of 36 for 340 yards. Golladay had six catches for 114 yards.

Ryan was 31 of 42 for 338 yards and a touchdown, while Gurley ran for a pair of touchdowns.

He’d love to have that second one back.

Bills 18, Jets 10

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Josh Allen and the Bills were held out of the end zone for the first time this season, but Tyler Bass tied a franchise record with six field goals to help Buffalo snap a two-game skid with an 18-10 victory over the winless New York Jets on Sunday.

It was the third game in 13 days for the Bills (5-2), who lost to Tennessee and Kansas City before their ugly win against the league-worst Jets (0-7).

The Bills fell behind 10-0 early and looked sluggish for most of the game, and the victory marked their first without getting a touchdown since they beat Washington 17-16 in 2007 on five field goals by Rian Lindell and a safety.

It was also the first time the Jets lost without giving up a touchdown since a 9-6 loss to the Rams in 2016, which was Jeff Fisher’s last win as an NFL head coach.

Bass kicked a 40-yarder with 1:56 left after also making kicks of 53, 48, 46, 37 and 29 yards. He also missed from 45 and 37 yards, but made enough to tie Steve Christie’s team mark set against New York in 1996.

New York had a chance late after Micah Hyde was called for an unnecessary hit on Breshad Perriman, who appeared unconscious for a few moments. The penalty put the ball at the Jets 32. But Sam Darnold was intercepted by Jerry Hughes on a tipped pass to seal it.

The Jets dropped to 0-7 for the first time since the 1996 team opened 0-8 en route to a 1-15 season.

New York coach Adam Gase said the team was looking for anything that might help it get a victory. So he handed off playcalling duties on offense to coordinator Dowell Loggains — and it seemed to give the Jets an early spark.

Darnold, making his first start since missing two games with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, marched New York down the field before the drive stalled in the red zone. Sergio Castillo booted a 29-yard field goal — his first NFL kick in place of the injured Sam Ficken — to give the Jets a 3-0 lead.

Packers 35, Texans 20

HOUSTON — Aaron Rodgers threw for 283 yards and four touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers rebounded from their first loss with a 35-20 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Rodgers played a near-flawless game and tied his season high for TD passes. The performance came after he threw two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, with no TDs in a 38-10 loss to Tampa Bay last week.

Despite being without leading rusher Aaron Jones and left tackle David Bakhtiari, Green Bay (5-1) had no such trouble handling the woeful Texans (1-6) on Sunday as the Packers built a 21-0 lead by halftime.

Green Bay’s strong day on offense was aided by a career-high 196 yards receiving by Davante Adams, who had touchdown receptions of 3 and 45 yards.

Davante Adams had a SPECIAL day ? @brgridiron

13 rec
196 yards
2 TDs pic.twitter.com/7082o1ERVe

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 25, 2020

Green Bay made it 35-13 when Jamaal Williams scored on a 1-yard run with about four minutes to go.

Deshaun Watson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller with about 90 seconds left before the Texans recovered an onside kick. But David Johnson fumbled after a reception on the next play and the Packers ran out the clock.

The home crowd, which was limited to 13,000, because of coronavirus restrictions, was filled with Green Bay fans in the team’s first trip to Houston since 2012. The stands were so overrun by Packers fans that players on Green Bay’s defense raised their arms to hype up the crowd when the Texans started a drive at their 2 in the second quarter.

After failing to move the ball effectively in the first half, the Texans finally got on the board when Watson threw a 3-yard pass to Johnson to cut the lead to 21-7 early in the third quarter.

But Green Bay pushed its advantage to 21 again later in the third when Adams got in front of the defense to grab a 45-yard reception. It is the second game for Adams this season with at least 150 yards receiving and two touchdowns, making him just the third player in franchise history to have two such games in one year and the first since Antonio Freeman in 1998.

The Texans added a field goal early in the fourth quarter and got another one following a blocked punt that got them within 28-13 with about 10 minutes left.

Saints 27, Panthers 24

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns without two top receivers and the Saints quarterback rushed for another score to lead New Orleans to a 27-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The Panthers had driven across midfield in the final minutes when Marcus Davenport’s sack of Teddy Bridgewater led coach Matt Rhule to send out kicker Joey Slye for a 65-yard field goal on fourth-and-19. The kick fell just short of the crossbar and the Saints (4-2) were able to run out the final 1:55 while the Panthers (3-4) dropped their second straight game.

Brees completed 29 of 36 passes to eight targets despite not having receivers Michael Thomas (hamstring) and Emmanuel Sanders (covid-19) in the lineup. His decision making and accuracy also helped New Orleans convert 12 of 14 third downs.

On their only two third-down failures, Wil Lutz came through with field goals of 41 and 43 yards.

Brees’ touchdown passes went or 4 yards to Jared Cook, who completed the catch after bobbling the ball in tight coverage, and 4 yards to Deonte Harris 2 seconds before hafltime.

Alvin Kamara gained 148 yards from scrimmage, with 83 coming on 14 rushes.

That was just enough to overcome a strong showing by Bridgewater in his first game against the Saints since serving as Brees’ backup in New Orleans the past two seasons.

Bridgewater was 23 of 28 for 254 yards and two touchdowns, including a 74-yarder to DJ Moore, who also had a 7-yard catch-and run around the right end for a score. Curtis Samuel ran for a 5-yard touchdown that tied the game at 24 at the end of the third quarter.

But Carolina managed just 37 yards rushing against one of the NFL’s top run defenses.

Washington 24, Cowboys 3

LANDOVER, Md. — Washington’s defense finally clamped down on a struggling opponent, piling up six sacks, an interception and a forced fumble that became a safety in a 25-3 blowout of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday that snapped a five-game skid.

Montez Sweat led Washington (2-5) with 2 1/2 sacks, Cole Holcomb had one to go along with a red zone interception and Landon Collins knocked the ball out of Andy Dalton’s hands for an early safety before leaving with an ankle injury. Dalton was under siege all day behind a patchwork offensive line before being knocked out of the game in the third quarter on a shoulder-to-head hit from Jon Bostic, who was ejected.

Dalton was 9 of 19 for 75 yards before being injured and walking off under his own power to undergo concussion evaluation.

Washington allowed 142 total yards to win a game by double digits for the first time since November 2018.

Dallas (2-5) lost back-to-back games after Washington held Ezekiel Elliott to 45 yards rushing on 12 carries and rookie receiver CeeDee Lamb dropped a handful of passes thrown his way.

A dominant defensive performance combined with rookie Antonio Gibson’s first 100-yard rushing game and a touchdown and a well-managed game by Kyle Allen were enough to put Washington back in the thick of the race in the dreadful NFC East.

Allen was 15 of 25 for 194 yards with TD passes to Terry McLaurin and Logan Thomas in his third consecutive start since taking over as starting quarterback. Coach Ron Rivera thought Allen gave Washington a better chance to win than 2019 first-round pick Dwayne Haskins, who was demoted to third string.

The Cowboys were forced to turn to rookie Ben DiNucci after Dalton’s injury. He was 2 of 3 for 39 yards after the game was out of hand. Dallas dug a deep hole after becoming the first NFL team since at least 2000 to allow 20-plus points in the first half in six games in a row.

Chargers 39, Jaguars 29

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Justin Herbert got his first NFL win, throwing for 347 yards and three touchdowns as well as running for a score as the Los Angeles Chargers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 39-29 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Herbert, the sixth overall pick in April’s draft, completed 27 of 43 passes. He also rushed for 66 yards, a single-game high for a Chargers QB.

Herbert joined Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow as the only rookie quarterbacks in NFL history with 300 yards, at least three passing TDs, and one rushing in a game. Burrow did that earlier Sunday in the Bengals’ 37-34 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

More importantly for Herbert, was that first win as an NFL starting quarterback despite Los Angeles blowing another large lead.

Jacksonville (1-5) tied an NFL record by allowing 30 or more points in six consecutive games.

The Chargers jumped to a 16-0 second-quarter lead but squandered a double-digit advantage for the fourth time in five games. Jacksonville scored 21 straight points to go up by five early in the third quarter.

Jacksonville was ahead 29-22 late in the third quarter when Los Angeles regained control. Herbert connected with Jalen Guyton for a 70-yard touchdown up the right sideline to tie it. Four plays after Tevaughn Campbell forced Dede Westbrook’s fumble the ensuing kickoff — Troymaine Pope recovered at the Jaguars 19 — Herbert scrambled around right end from 5 yards to put the Chargers in front 36-29.

Tight ends Donald Parham and Virgil Green also caught touchdowns for the Chargers, while Keenan Allen had 10 receptions for 125 yards.

James Robinson led Jacksonville with 119 rushing yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Gardner Minshew completed 14 of 27 throws for 173 yards and a pair of TDs.

Chiefs 43, Broncos 16

DENVER — The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t need the usual heroics from Patrick Mahomes to rout the Denver Broncos 43-16 Sunday for their 10th straight win over their AFC West rivals.

The Chiefs (6-1) found other ways to dominate Denver (2-4) on a snowy afternoon that began with a temperature of 14 degrees at kickoff.

Kansas City took a 24-9 halftime lead even though Mahomes completed just one pass in the second quarter, a 5-yarder, and had just 99 yards through the air in the first half.

Mahomes finally extended his NFL-leading streak to 17 consecutive games with a touchdown throw when he hit Tyreek Hill from 10 yards with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

That made it 37-9 and compelled Broncos pass rusher Bradley Chubb to blow up at his teammates on the sideline.

Mahomes’ TD throw to Hill followed the Chiefs’ fourth takeaway, an interception by Tyrann Mathieu when rookie KJ Hamler let Drew Lock’s pass bounce off him and right into the arms of the Chiefs star cornerback.

Mahomes finished a methodical 15 of 23 for 200 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions and four sacks.

A week after the Chiefs ran more times than they threw it for the first time in Andy Reid’s eight seasons in Kansas City, it was K.C.’s ground game, special teams and defense that did the damage in Denver in the NFL’s first snow game of 2020.

In the first half, the Chiefs scored touchdowns on Byron Pringle’s 102-yard kickoff return and Daniel Sorensen’s 50-yard interception return to go with Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 11-yard run in which he broke five tackles.

Edwards-Hilaire carved his way through a wall of Denver defenders to open the scoring on a snowy, freezing afternoon.

Running up the middle, the rookie plowed through linebacker Alexander Johnson and defensive backs Kareem Jackson, Bryce Callahan, Justin Simmons and Michael Ojemudia like a bowling ball knocking down pins.

The Broncos responded with Lock’s first career touchdown run, from 2 yards, but Brandon McManus missed the extra point, leaving Kansas City ahead 7-6.

Sorensen jumped the route and picked off Lock’s throw to tight end Noah Fant at midfield and trotted into the end zone for a 17-6 lead.

After McManus’ 43-yard field goal, Pringle took the kickoff 2 yards deep and ran trough Denver’s poor coverage to make it 24-9.

49ers 33, Patriots 6

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jeff Wilson Jr. rushed for a career-high three touchdowns and 112 yards before leaving with an ankle injury and the San Francisco 49ers dominated in a 33-6 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo finished 20 of 25 for 277 yards with two interceptions in his first game against his former team. San Francisco (4-3) has followed back-to-back losses with two wins and is 3-0 on the road.

The Patriots’ 27-point loss was their largest at home under Bill Belichick, according to Elias Sports Bureau. They had gone 286 games without a three-game losing streak, the longest span between three-game slides in NFL history. New England fell to 2-4 for the first since coach Belichick’s first season in 2000, when the Patriots went 5-11.

New England was outgained 467-241 in total yards.

San Francisco’s Brandon Aiyuk had six catches for 115 yards and Deebo Samuel had five catches for 65 yards before leaving the game with a hamstring injury.

Patriots quarterback Cam Newton struggled throughout, completing 9 of 15 passes for 98 yards and three interceptions before being replaced by Jarrett Stidham in the fourth quarter. Stidham was 6 of 10 for 64 yards and an interception.

Newton was out of sync from the outset, making poor reads and poorer throws. But Garoppolo was successful in spreading out New England’s defense with a steady diet of passes behind the line scrimmage and jet sweeps to get the ball in the hands of Wilson, Samuel and George Kittle.

San Francisco dominated the first half, taking a 23-3 lead, holding the ball for 22:30, and racking up a 301-59 advantage in total yards. The Patriots also managed just four first downs to the 49ers’ 18.

The Niners took just over five minutes and nine plays to march 75 yards and take a 7-0 lead on 3-yard run by Wilson. It was the first time the Patriots have allowed a touchdown on an opponents’ opening drive at home since Week 4 of 2016 against Buffalo.

Following a Patriots punt, San Francisco was pinned inside its 15. Long completions by Garoppolo helped erase some early penalty losses before he missed high on a pass for Kittle and was intercepted by Devin McCourty.

Buccaneers 45, Raiders 20

LAS VEGAS — Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes to move past Drew Brees for the most in NFL history and ran for another to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 45-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski in the second quarter and on a perfectly placed 33-yarder to Scotty Miller later in the first half. He then helped seal the game with the throw to Chris Godwin that put the Bucs (5-2) up 31-20 over the Raiders (3-3) midway through the fourth quarter.

Brady added a fourth to rookie Tyler Johnson with 3:08 to play to give him 559 in his career, passing Brees for the most ever. Brees threw two earlier in the day for New Orleans.

The 4-yard pass to Godwin was part of a key stretch when it appeared the Raiders were in position for a comeback after cutting the deficit to 24-17 on Derek Carr’s second TD pass of the game.

The Raiders then got a stop and were driving for the potential tying score before coming up 1 yard short of a first down on a third-and-4 pass to Darren Waller. Coach Jon Gruden opted for a field goal to make it 24-20.

Brady then engineered another TD drive to make it an 11-point game and the Bucs put it away when Carr threw an interception on Las Vegas’ next play to set up Ronald Jones’ 1-yard run.

Brady finished 33 for 45 for 369 yards, while also running for Tampa Bay’s first score on a 1-yard sneak in the first quarter.

Carr went 24 for 36 for 284 yards, two TDs and one interception as the Raiders were unable to build on a big win at Kansas City before the off week.