NFL Week 7 roundup: Titans rout Chiefs; Patriots blister Jets

NASHVILLE — Ryan Tannehill threw for 270 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for a score and the Tennessee Titans routed the Kansas City Chiefs 27-3 Sunday for their fifth win in six games.

This also was the second victory in six days for the Titans (5-2) over teams that played for the AFC championship in January.

They edged Buffalo 34-31 on Monday night and followed that by simply dominating the two-time defending AFC champs as Tennessee jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead.

The Chiefs (3-4) have lost two of three and dropped to 1-4 in the AFC this season. They also were held to their fewest points since a 38-3 loss to Denver on Dec. 30, 2012.

A.J. Brown makes the TOUGH catch for the TD

Titans up 14-0 on KC
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(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/ZSaswZnCbs

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 24, 2021

This was the first time Patrick Mahomes had trailed by 27 at halftime and the third-largest halftime deficit for the Chiefs since 1991. It was the worst since the Chiefs trailed Pittsburgh 29-0 at the half on Oct. 2, 2016, and only the eighth time in franchise history that Kansas City had trailed by 27 or more at the half.

The Titans forced three turnovers — two by Mahomes — that they turned into 10 points. Denico Autry had two of the Titans’ four sacks.

Mahomes was slow to get up after taking a knee to his head on the fourth sack by Autry. He went to the medical tent and didn’t return with Chad Henne replacing him late. He finished with 206 yards passing and 35 yards rushing.

Kansas City won the toss and deferred. The Titans didn’t look back despite three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan sitting out with a concussion.

The Titans went up-tempo with Tannehill spreading the ball around to 2020 Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown and seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Julio Jones. Derrick Henry, the NFL’s rushing leader, finished the drive out of the wildcat, throwing a 5-yard pass to tight end MyCole Pruitt for the 7-0 lead.

DERRICK HENRY PASSING TD ????

(via @Titans) pic.twitter.com/cK5IHZeDai

— ESPN (@espn) October 24, 2021

Outside linebacker Bud Dupree, Tennessee’s biggest free agent signee, got his first sack this season to end the Chiefs’ opening drive.

Tannehill drove the Titans 97 yards on the ensuing drive, highlighted by a 46-yard throw to Brown initially ruled an incompletion. Titans coach Mike Vrabel won his challenge, and Tannehill finished the drive with a 24-yard TD pass to Brown, who had been dealing with food poisoning all week.

After linebacker Rashaan Evans’ interception, Tannehill ran for a 2-yard TD and a 24-0 lead. Randy Bullock added his second field goal off Mahomes’ fumble for the 27-0 lead.

Patriots 54, Jets 13

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Mac Jones threw two touchdown passes in his first 300-yard game, Damien Harris and J.J. Taylor ran for two TDs each and the New England Patriots won for the first time at home this season, rolling past the New York Jets 54-13 on Sunday.

The Patriots earned their 12th straight victory and sixth consecutive season sweep over the Jets, who played most of the game without rookie quarterback Zach Wilson after the second overall draft pick left with 12:31 remaining in the second quarter with a knee injury.

Wilson was hit by Patriots linebacker Matt Judon, who fell on the back of Wilson’s legs after he released a pass that fell incomplete for Keelan Cole. Wilson initially was down for several minutes as he was examined by the training staff before eventually being able to walk off the field on his own power. He did not return and was replaced by Mike White — who hadn’t previously taken an NFL regular-season snap.

Jones finished 24 of 36 for 307 yards, and Harris rushed 14 times for 106 yards to lead a Patriots offense that gained a season-high 551 yards. Safety Kyle Dugger and J.C. Jackson both added interceptions.

The 54 points are the most allowed by the Jets since losing 55-21 at New England on Oct. 29, 1978. It is the fourth-most points ever allowed by New York.

White eventually finished off the drive following Wilson’s injury with a 3-yard TD pass to Corey Davis to pull New York within 17-7. White ended the day 20 of 32 for 202 yards and two interceptions.

The Patriots dominated the rest of the period, scoring twice more to take a 31-7 lead into halftime. The Jets have been outscored in the first half 106-20 this season.

New England went to their bag of trick plays on the game’s opening drive to take a 7-0 lead just 2:17 into the game.

Jones threw a pass behind the line of scrimmage to receiver Kendrick Bourne, who faked the run before stopping and tossing a 25-yard touchdown pass over the top to a wide-open Nelson Agholor. It was the first career NFL pass for Bourne. The Patriots covered 65 yards in just four plays.

.@PATRIOTS DOUBLE PASS.

Bourne to Agholor for the TD! #ForeverNE

????: #NYJvsNE on CBS
????: NFL app pic.twitter.com/i8j4LnI3ij

— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2021

After a Jets punt, New England moved quickly again, getting into the red zone after just five plays courtesy of a 32-yard run by Harris.

Harris capped it off two plays later with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Falcons 30, Dolphins 28

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Matt Ryan passed for 336 yards, nearly half of them going to rookie tight end Kyle Pitts, and Younghoe Koo made a 36-yard field goal as time expired to give the Atlanta Falcons a 30-28 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Pitts had seven catches for 163 yards, the last 28 of those on a sideline route with just under 2 minutes left to get the Falcons into field goal range. Koo’s third field goal of the game saved Atlanta after the Falcons wasted a 13-point fourth-quarter lead.

Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage caught touchdown passes for the Falcons (3-3). Ryan completed 25 of 40 passes.

Tua Tagovailoa threw for 291 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, the last of them going to Mack Hollins with 2:27 left for Miami, which has dropped six straight. Tagovailoa completed 32 of 40 passes and had two interceptions — both of which led to Atlanta scores.

Mike Gesicki, Myles Gaskin and Isaiah Ford had the other touchdown receptions for Miami (1-6).

The Dolphins were down by six early in the fourth quarter when Xavien Howard stripped a catch from Ridley, then corralled the ball on his left hip for an interception as he fell to the turf. That gave Miami the ball on the Atlanta 32 and a chance to reclaim the lead.

But on Miami’s ensuing play, Tagovailoa tried to force the ball to Jaylen Waddle. Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun made an easy interception and returned the ball 56 yards to the Miami 14. Three plays later, Cordarrelle Patterson ran in from the 3, and the Falcons were up 27-14.

Tagovailoa’s 7-yard pass to Gaskin made it a one-score game again, capping a 90-yard drive. After another Atlanta turnover midway through the fourth, Tagovailoa found Hollins to give the Dolphins the lead.

They just couldn’t hold it.

Tagovailoa — as he has in three of his four starts this season — began on a roll. He was 7 of 8 for 52 yards on Miami’s opening drive, 4 of 4 on third downs and capped the possession with a 10-yard scoring toss to Ford.

Just like that, the Dolphins were up 7-0. That also ended Miami’s first-half highlights. A red-zone interception by Tagovailoa helped Atlanta take a 13-7 lead into the half.

The Falcons went three-and-out on their first possession, then scored on their next four. A three-play, 77-yard drive to open the second half was capped by a 49-yard touchdown pass from Ryan to Gage that made it 20-7 Atlanta.

Giants 25, Panthers 3

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Daniel Jones threw a 5-yard touchdown pass and made a spectacular one-handed 16-yard catch on the game’s only meaningful touchdown drive in leading the New York Giants to a 25-3 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Jones touchdown pass went to Dante Pettis and survived a very long replay review in helping the Giants (2-5) hand Carolina (3-4) its fourth straight loss with star running back Christian McCaffrey sidelined.

Pettis coincidently threw the slightly overthrown pass on the flea flicker which Jones caught with the finger tips of his throwing hand. Jones finished 23 of 33 for 203 yards and had six carries for 30 yards.

Graham Gano kicked field goals of 49, 53 and 44 yards against his former team as the Giants struggled to score touchdowns with wide receivers Kenny Golladay (knee), Kadarius Toney (ankle) and Sterling Shepard (hamstring) and running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) all inactive. Devontae Booker added a 19-yard TD run with under five minutes to play.

New York’s much-maligned defense had its best game of the season, limiting Carolina to 173 yards, forcing a safety on an intentional grounding, and getting an interception from James Bradberry, another former Panther. Rookie linebacker Azeez Ojulari had 2 1/2 of New York’s six sacks. Carolina was 2 of 15 on third downs.

The three points and 173 total yards are team lows since coach Matt Rhule took over last year.

The Panthers looked good on the opening series of the game. Former Jet Sam Darnold drove them 46 yards on 13 plays before settling for a 45-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez that hit the upright but went through.

That’s was basically it for the game. Darnold, traded to Carolina in the offseason, was lifted in the fourth quarter after hitting 16 of 25 passes for 111 yards and the pick. PJ Walker finished up.

The Giants, who got their first home victory in four tries in 2021, thought they had a 2-yard TD pass from Jones to Kyle Rudolph in the second quarter. Replay showed the tight end short of the end zone and New York failed on three attempts from inside the 1-yard line.

New York did manage to get two points when Darnold was called for intentional grounding on a pass from the end zone under heavy pressure.

After the ensuing free kick, Jones hit Pettis on a 27-yard slant to set up Gano’s 49-yard field goal for a 5-3 edge that eventually gave New York its first halftime lead.

Packers 24, Washington 10

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes and the Green Bay Packers defeated Washington 24-10 on Sunday for their sixth consecutive victory.

Washington outgained Green Bay 430-304 but had had five scoreless trips inside the Packers 30-yard line, including back-to-back series that ended inside the 5. Before Sunday, Packers opponents had scored touchdowns every time they reached the red zone.

The Packers (6-1) haven’t lost since falling 38-3 to New Orleans on the season’s opening Sunday. Green Bay now enters the toughest stretch of its schedule with games at Arizona on Thursday night and at Kansas City on Nov. 7.

With their win today, the Packers became the first team in NFL history to win 6 straight games following a season-opening loss by 35+ points.

Over Green Bay’s current 6-game win streak, Aaron Rodgers has thrown 15 Pass TD to 1 interception. pic.twitter.com/Iu09CLQOYK

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 24, 2021

Washington (2-5) has lost three straight.

Rodgers went 27 of 35 for 274 yards with touchdown passes to Davante Adams, Allen Lazard and Robert Tonyan.

Washington’s Taylor Heinicke was 25 of 36 for 268 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for a game-high 95 yards on 10 carries.

After both teams scored touchdowns on their opening drives, the game remained tied at 7 until Green Bay took the lead for good with 15 seconds left in the first half on Lazard’s 10-yard reception. Lazard, who entered the day with just 10 catches for 124 yards, had five receptions on that drive.

Green Bay extended the lead early in the third quarter when a turnover set up Rodgers’ 20-yard touchdown pass to Tonyan. The touchdown came three plays after Rashan Gary sacked Heinicke and forced a fumble that Dean Lowry recovered at Washington’s 27.

Washington then wasted numerous chances to get back into the game.

Heinicke ran for an apparent 3-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Heinicke, who grew up a fan of Brett Favre, even did a Lambeau leap afterward. But the touchdown was overturned after replays showed his knee hit the ground just before his arm crossed the goal line on his dive into the end zone.

On a fourth-and-goal sneak attempt from half a yard away, Heinicke fumbled and couldn’t cross the goal line after he regained possession.

Washington’s next drive ended when Heinicke couldn’t connect with Ricky Seals-Jones on fourth-and-2 from the 3. Heinicke’s third-down pass on that series bounced off the upper body of a diving Terry McLaurin, who had a 40-yard touchdown reception earlier in the game.

On Washington’s next series, Heinicke got the offense to Green Bay’s 12 before Chandon Sullivan intercepted a pass on third-and-8 in the end zone.

Rams 28, Lions 19

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Matthew Stafford passed for 334 yards and three touchdowns against his former team, and Jalen Ramsey made an end zone interception with five minutes left in the Los Angeles Rams’ 28-19 victory over Jared Goff and the winless Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Goff passed for 268 yards and nearly led the Lions (0-7) to an upset win in his first meeting with the Rams (6-1), who traded him for Stafford in a blockbuster deal last winter.

The Rams led 25-19 when Goff drove the Lions to the Los Angeles 12 in the waning minutes while converting four third downs on an excellent drive. But Ramsey came up with his latest game-changing play on his 27th birthday when he picked off an errant throw by Goff, who was being hit by the Rams’ other 2020 All-Pro, Aaron Donald.

Cooper Kupp had 10 catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams, including the go-ahead score with 13:59 to play. Van Jefferson also caught a scoring pass from Stafford, who has 19 TD throws in his first seven games on the West Coast.

D’Andre Swift made a 63-yard catch-and-run TD on the opening possession for the Lions, who lost their 11th straight game despite jumping to a double-digit lead in a rare strong start. Kalif Raymond had six catches for 115 yards.

Austin Seibert kicked four field goals in a superb special teams game for the Lions, who also recovered an early onside kick and ran two successful fake punts.

But the Rams kept Goff’s offense out of the end zone in the final 57 minutes as they rallied from an early double-digit deficit and improved to 42-0 with a halftime lead under coach Sean McVay.

Goff still hasn’t won an NFL start without McVay as his head coach, falling to 0-14.

The Lions had gone scoreless in the first half three times in their last four games, but their opening drive produced their first touchdown in the first half since Week 2. Goff read a blitz and threw a short screen pass to Swift, who scampered through the Rams’ secondary for his TD.

Detroit then got to snap the ball with a lead for the first time all season when it embarrassed the Rams’ special teams on two fakes, recovering an onside kick three plays before punter Jack Fox completed a fourth-down pass.

When Stafford finally got to touch the ball, he efficiently led three scoring drives in the first half capped by TD throws to Jefferson and Kupp, who had seven catches for 78 yards before halftime.

Detroit took a 19-17 lead late in the third quarter after stopping the Rams’ offense on downs, but Stafford converted two long third downs before finding Kupp for a TD early in the fourth. Robert Woods, who had six catches for 70 yards, took in the 2-point conversion for a 25-19 lead.

Raiders 33, Eagles 22

LAS VEGAS — Derek Carr threw for 323 yards, completing 31 of 34 pass attempts with one touchdown, and the Las Vegas Raiders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-22.

The Raiders (5-2) outgained Philadelphia 443-358 in a dominating performance that saw Las Vegas score on five straight possessions after its first series ended with Carr being intercepted inside the Eagles 5-yard line.

It was Las Vegas’ second straight win since former coach Jon Gruden resigned Oct. 11 because of offensive emails he sent before being hired in 2018.

Under interim coach Rich Bisaccia, the Raiders have outscored Denver and Philadelphia 67-46 collectively, and outgained both 869-779.

The Eagles (2-5) lost their second straight and for the fifth time in six games.

The Raiders were without Carr’s top target, tight end Darren Waller, who was inactive. Las Vegas lost running back Josh Jacobs to a chest injury after he ran for 29 yards on six attempts, including one touchdown.

Stepping up in the Pro Bowlers’ places were tight end Foster Moreau, who had a career-high six receptions for 60 yards, and running back Kenyan Drake, who rushed for 69 yards on 14 attempts, including one touchdown.

Prior to Carr’s second red-zone interception of the season, which tied with Patrick Mahomes and Trevor Lawrence for most in NFL, the Eagles marched 62 yards in eight plays on the game’s opening drive. Jalen Hurts found rookie running back Kenneth Gainwell over the middle for a 13-yard score.

Las Vegas scored the first of its points during a 30-0 run on its second possession early in the second quarter. Carr hit Moreau for an 18-yard touchdown. Jacobs added an 8-yard TD when he scampered around the left edge on the Raiders’ next possession.

Four different Raiders scored touchdowns as Drake and Bryan Edwards found the end zone in the third quarter.

And while the Raiders’ offensive line was carving out its best performance of the season - it didn’t allow any sacks - Las Vegas’ pass rush continued to haunt quarterbacks. Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue had two sacks, the 12th multi-sack game of his career and second such performance this season.

After its touchdown, the Eagles’ next six possessions ended with a punt, punt, fumble, end of the first half, punt and a fumble.

Philadelphia added a late score when Hurts hooked up with Jalen Reagor for a 17-yard touchdown.

Buccaneers 38, Bears 3

TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady became the first player to throw 600 career touchdown passes, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routed the Chicago Bears 38-3 on Sunday for the best seven-game start in franchise history.

The defending Super Bowl champions won their fourth straight game, improving to 6-1 and avenging one of their five regular-season losses from a year ago, with Brady completing 20 of 36 passes for 211 yards and four TDs.

The Tampa Bay defense did its job, too, limiting the offensively challenged Bears (3-4) to Cairo Santos’ second-quarter field goal and sacking rookie Justin Fields four times, forcing two fumbles. Dee Delaney had one of the Bucs’ three interceptions, a first-quarter pick that led to Brady’s 599th career TD pass.

With Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski sidelined by injuries, Mike Evans had big day receiving for the Bucs, finishing with six catches for 76 yards and three TDs, including a 9-yarder that gave Brady No. 600 with six seconds remaining in the first quarter.

6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ for @TomBrady. #GoBucs

????: #CHIvsTB on CBS
????: NFL app pic.twitter.com/aK7YvheN3m

— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2021

Evans also had scoring receptions of 2 and 8 yards as the Bucs built the lead to 35-3 at halftime. Chris Godwin had eight catches for 111 yards and a 5-yard reception set up by Delaney’s interception. Rookie Jaelon Darden’s 43-yard punt return led to Leonard Fournette’s early 2-yard TD run.

Fields, meanwhile, fell to 2-3 as the Bears starter. The first-round draft pick finished 22 of 32 for 184 yards and three interceptions. He also lost two fumbles and has now been sacked a league-leading 22 times.

Brady improved to 7-1 all-time against Chicago, the lone setback a 20-19 loss in a game last October that’s best remembered for ending with the seven-time Super Bowl champion losing track of downs with Tampa Bay trying to move into position to attempt a potential winning field goal.

The Bucs didn’t leave anything to chance this time.

Safety Antoine Winfield Jr., back in the lineup after missing two games with a concussion, sacked Fields on the second play of the game, forcing a fumble Chicago recovered. The Bears weren’t as fortunate when Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul got to the rookie, creating a pair of first-half turnovers that added to the young quarterback’s frustration.

Brady played into the fourth quarter, finally leaving after turning Fields’ third interception into a field goal that put the Bucs up 38-3. Backup Blaine Gabbert finished up, entering the game with 7:58 remaining.

In addition to boosting his regular-season career TD pass total to 602, the 44-year-old Brady has now thrown at least 20 TD passes in a season a record 19 times. He’s followed on the list by Drew Brees (17), Peyton Manning (16), Philip Rivers (15) and Brett Favre (15), who are all retired.

Rookie Khalil Herbert rushed for 100 yards on 18 carries for the Bears.

Cardinals 31, Texans 5

GLENDALE, Ariz. — DeAndre Hopkins caught a touchdown pass against his former team, Zach Ertz caught a touchdown pass for his new team and the Arizona Cardinals scored 31 unanswered points to roll past the Houston Texans 31-5 on Sunday.

The Cardinals remain the NFL’s only undefeated team and improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1974. The Texans (1-6) — who looked totally overmatched for three quarters — have lost six straight games.

Arizona fell into an early 5-0 hole after a slow offensive start, but recovered to win easily. The Cardinals were a 20.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel, which is a massive spread for an NFL game.

Kyler Murray completed 20 of 28 passes for 261 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. The interception was his first since Week 3, but it was one of the rare bad moments in another solid day. James Conner added an 18-yard touchdown run and Ertz had a 47-yard touchdown reception, which was the longest of his career.

James Conner just makes it look easy...@JamesConner_ x #RedSea pic.twitter.com/lgR9nLvAZ5

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 24, 2021

It was the first time Hopkins and J.J. Watt had played against Houston, which is where both grew into stars before coming to the Cardinals. Watt signed with Arizona during the past offseason while Hopkins was acquired by the Cardinals in a trade in 2020.

Both had good moments on Sunday. Hopkins caught a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter while Watt added a tackle for loss.

The Texans jumped out to a 5-0 lead after a terrible offensive start for the Cardinals.

Houston earned a safety and a 2-0 advantage late in the first quarter when Murray tried to scramble out of the end zone and was sacked by Jacob Martin. Murray was shaken up on the play and briefly went into the sideline medical tent for evaluation before returning for the next drive.

Houston’s Ka’imi Fairbairn added a 53-yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter for a 5-0 lead.

The Cardinals restored order in a hurry, responding with two touchdowns and a field goal before the break for a 17-5 halftime advantage. The second touchdown was set up by a beautiful throw and catch from Murray to A.J. Green down the sideline that went for 41 yards on third-and-24. Murray found Christian Kirk for a 5-yard touchdown two plays later.

Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury was back on the sideline Sunday after eight days away from the team because of a positive covid-19 test. The 42-year-old, who is fully vaccinated, was cleared early Sunday morning, several hours before the game.