KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Harrison Butker matched a career long with a 54-yard field goal to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, then drilled a 44-yarder as time expired to give the Kansas City Chiefs a thrilling 26-23 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
The first person to greet Butker in celebration? Patrick Mahomes, the reigning league MVP, who missed his second consecutive game as he recovers from a dislocated kneecap.
Mahomes looked just fine rushing onto the field to party.
Matt Moore started in his place and threw for 275 yards and a touchdown without a pick, and he made the crucial plays when they mattered. Moore hit favorite target Tyreek Hill to convert a crucial third down and set up the tying field goal, then hit him again to make the winner more manageable.
Hill finished with six catches for 140 yards for the Chiefs (6-3), including a spectacular TD grab, while Damien Williams ran for 125 yards — most of it on a 91-yard touchdown run.
Kirk Cousins threw for 220 yards and three touchdowns for the Vikings (6-3), though he struggled to deal with the Chiefs’ blitzes late in the game. Dalvin Cook was held to 71 yards rushing while top wide receiver Stefon Diggs had a single catch for four yards.
The win also snapped the Chiefs’ three-game skid at Arrowhead Stadium.
They largely controlled the first half, building a 10-7 lead with the ball in the closing minutes. But they proceeded to go three-and-out, the Vikings marched downfield for a tying field goal, then got the ball back when Mecole Hardman fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half .
Suddenly, it was the Vikings who had taken control.
They needed just five plays to punch it into the end zone, despite a holding penalty setting them back. Amir Abdullah finished it with a 17-yard catch in which nobody was within 10 yards of him.
Hardman hurt the Chiefs again by failing to call a fair catch on a punt downed at their 3. But that flub was rendered irrelevant when Williams took a handoff, found a gaping hole on the left side of the line and made the only safety in front of him miss on a 91-yard touchdown run.
Minnesota answered in the seesaw affair.
Leaning heavily on Cook, the league’s leading rusher, the Vikings marched 75 yards without facing third down until the final play. That’s when Cousins hit Kyle Rudolph from 3 yards out for the score, taking advantage of a Kansas City defense with just 10 players on the field.
After trading punts, the Chiefs put together another drive. Moore hit Hill to convert a key third down, and Butker matched his career long with a 54-yard field goal with 2:30 to go.
It was a monumental kick — and he had another coming a couple minutes later.
Panthers 30, Titans 20
CHARLOTTE — Christian McCaffrey had 166 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns, and the Carolina Panthers bounced back from an embarrassing defeat with a 30-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Kyle Allen, who threw three interceptions in last week’s 51-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, threw TD passes of 7 yards to McCaffrey and 12 yards to Curtis Samuel to improve to 5-1 this season as Carolina’s starting QB.
Carolina’s defense forced three turnovers and sacked Ryan Tannehill four times one week after allowing the 49ers to run for 232 yards and four touchdowns.
The momentum of the game turned midway through the third quarter when the Panthers (5-3) converted a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from their 36-yard line. The decision came after the Titans had opened the second half with an impressive touchdown drive to cut Carolina’s lead to 17-7 and then stopped the Panthers on three plays to force a punting situation.
But when Colin Jones took the direct snap and ran for the first down on the fake punt it ignited the Panthers.
McCaffrey completed the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run and then added a 58-yard burst midway through the fourth quarter for his 13th touchdown of the season. However, he hit his head after being dragged down as he crossed the goal line. He was evaluated for a concussion and medically cleared to return, but never did.
Dolphins 26, Jets 18
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes, two of them to rookie Preston Williams, and the Miami Dolphins got their first win of the season by beating former coach Adam Gase and the New York Jets 26-18 on Sunday.
The Dolphins avoided what would have been the second 0-8 start in franchise history, joining 2007. The win leaves Cincinnati (0-8) as the NFL’s lone winless team this season, and for now the frontrunners to win the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL draft.
Fitzpatrick completed 24 of 36 passes for 288 yards, and led the Dolphins to their highest point total of the season. It was also Miami’s fourth straight win over the Jets — the first three of those coming with Gase being the coach on the winning side.
Not this time. The Jets went 11 plays on the first drive of the game for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead, and their highlights were few and far between the rest of the day. The Jets (1-7) actually fell below Miami in the AFC East standings based on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
It was the Dolphins’ first win since the “Miami Miracle” over New England last season — which was followed by three straight losses to end 2018, making this a 10-game losing streak in all.
Eagles 22, Bears 14
PHILADELPHIA — Carson Wentz threw for 239 yards and one touchdown, Jordan Howard ran for 82 yards and a score and the Philadelphia Eagles held on for a 22-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The Bears had just 9 yards in the first half and trailed 19-0 before David Montgomery had a pair of 1-yard TD runs to make it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter.
But Philadelphia put it away with 16-play, 69-yard drive capped by Jake Elliott’s 38-yard field goal. Wentz completed all four of his third-down passes on the drive for first downs.
The Eagles (5-4) have won two in a row after a pair of lopsided losses.
The Bears (3-5) have lost four straight.
Mitchell Trubisky was 10 of 21 for 125 yards and was sacked three times.
Texans 26, Jaguars 3
LONDON — Deshaun Watson’s most impressive completion won’t even count as one.
With a pair of defensive linemen dragging him to the ground, the escape artist who doubles as a quarterback made a backward flip to running back Carlos Hyde that set up Houston’s first touchdown. The play said all that needed to be said about Watson, Hyde and the Texans in their 26-3 runaway over Jacksonville on Sunday.
They were very hard to stop.
Watson’s rugby-style pitch was spot-on perfect for a game in London, where the locals are still recovering from England’s 20-point loss in the World Cup final on Saturday, and now must deal with the added insult of watching their adopted home team, the Jaguars (4-5), getting hammered just as badly.
Jaguars linemen Yannick Ngakoue and Taven Bryan had Watson all but wrapped up in the second quarter with the Texans on the move. Twisted around 180 degrees and facing his own end zone, Watson saw no one but Hyde, who caught the lateral and took it to the Jacksonville 7.
Bills 24, Redskins 9
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Rookie Devin Singletary had 95 yards rushing, including a 2-yard touchdown, and the Buffalo Bills are off to their best start since 1993 following a 24-9 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
Josh Allen had a touchdown pass and scored on a 1-yard plunge for the Bills, who improved to 6-2 — a record built on victories over some of the NFL’s worst teams.
The Bills’ wins have come against teams that entered this weekend with a combined record of 7-31. And their latest came against a team that’s already fired its coach and was down to its third quarterback, with rookie first-round pick Dwayne Haskins making his first career start. Washington (1-8) matched its worst start since 1998.
Singletary took advantage of his most playing time this season, appearing to displace Frank Gore as Buffalo’s featured running back.
With three catches for 45 yards, Singletary had a team-leading 140 yards from scrimmage. Allen went 14 of 20 for 160 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Cole Beasley.
With its two losses coming against AFC-leading New England and Philadelphia, Buffalo is enjoying its best first half of the season since a 7-1 start in 1993.
Chargers 26, Packers 11
CARSON, Calif. — Melvin Gordon scored two touchdowns, Michael Badgley kicked four field goals and the Los Angeles Chargers dominated the Green Bay Packers 26-11 on Sunday.
Los Angeles (4-5) snapped a three-game home losing streak in what was easily its best game of the year. The offense moved the ball consistently in Shane Steichen’s first game as coordinator, and the defense kept Aaron Rodgers and the Packers out of the end zone until midway through the fourth quarter.
Steichen, who was promoted after Ken Whisenhunt was fired last Monday, called a good game as the Chargers weren’t faced with many third-and-long situations. Gordon, who came in averaging only 2.5 yards per carry, had 80 yards on 20 carries, including a pair of 1-yard TDs off left guard in the third and fourth quarters. Austin Ekeler added 70 yards as the Chargers rushed for a season-high 159 yards and averaged 4.2 yards per carry.
“We established the run and committed to it. It was giving them enough opportunities,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “Shane did an outstanding job. I thought he was aggressive when he needed to be. He prepared well all week and the players have confidence in him. Everyone stepped up and did what they had to do.”
Philip Rivers completed 21 of 28 passes for 294 yards and Mike Williams had his first 100-yard receiving day in his three-year career with three receptions for 111 yards. Hunter Henry had 84 yards on seven catches.
Raiders 31, Lions 24
OAKLAND, Calif. — Derek Carr and the Raiders gave their football-starved fans quite a show in their first game back in Oakland in seven weeks.
Carr threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to rookie Hunter Renfrow with 2:04 remaining and Karl Joseph broke up a fourth-down pass in the end zone with 3 seconds left to give the Raiders a 31-24 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday in their first game back in Oakland since Week 2.
“I love this place. It’s special,” Carr said. “To come home in front of them and get a win, especially the way we did it. It would be nice to win something 40-0 some time. But when you win one like this, it does so many good things for a team.”
After surviving an odyssey that forced them to travel about 20,000 miles for four road games and a neutral site game in London, the Raiders (4-4) came back home for the first time since losing to Kansas City on Sept. 15. They put on quite a show for the fans who are hoping the Raiders can put together a successful season before their planned move to Las Vegas next year.
Carr’s clutch pass to Renfrow gave Oakland the win to start the crucial three-game homestand. Carr also connected with rookie Foster Moreau on a 3-yard score opening seconds of the fourth quarter and another rookie, Josh Jacobs, ran for 120 yards and two scores . It was the first time since the merger that the Raiders got four TDs from rookies in a single game.
Matthew Stafford threw for 406 yards and three touchdowns but came up short at the end as the Lions (3-4-1) lost for the fourth time in five games.
Seahawks 40, Buccaneers 34
SEATTLE — Russell Wilson hit Jacob Hollister on a 10-yard touchdown on the opening possession of overtime, and the Seattle Seahawks rallied for a 40-34 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Wilson continued his brilliant season, tying his career high with five touchdown passes as Seattle (7-2) overcame Jason Myers’ missed 40-yard field-goal attempt on the final play of regulation and never gave Tampa Bay a chance in the extra session. Wilson was 5 of 8 for 70 yards in overtime, capping the winning drive by hitting the reserve tight end across the middle for his second touchdown of the game.
Wilson finished 29 of 43 for 378 yards. It was his third career game with five TD passes and capped Seattle’s wild second half after trailing 21-7 midway through the second quarter.
Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston was nearly Wilson’s equal throwing for 335 yards and two touchdowns. Winston led Tampa Bay (2-6) to a tying score in the final minute of regulation on Dare Ogunbowale’s 1-yard run, but never got his hands on the ball in overtime.
Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)