NFL Week 9 roundup: Chiefs escape with win when Panthers field goal is wide right

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill each went over 100 yards receiving, and the Kansas City Chiefs held on to beat Carolina 33-31 on Sunday when Panthers kicker Joey Slye missed a 67-yard field-goal attempt wide right on the final play.

The Chiefs (8-1) were left clinging to the lead when Christian McCaffrey, just back from his ankle injury, scored from a yard out with 1:26 to go. The Panthers’ onside kick was recovered by Kansas City, but they used their three timeouts to get the ball back, and Teddy Bridgewater’s 23-yard pass to Curtis Samuel with 9 seconds remaining gave them hope.

Carolina (3-6) tried to get a bit closer with a pass to McCaffrey, but the incompletion brought on Slye, who had plenty of leg with the wind behind him. His kick dropped just outside the uprights, though, allowing the Chiefs to escape.

Slye also missed a 65-yard attempt late in a 27-24 loss to New Orleans in Week 7.

McCaffrey finished with 18 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown while catching 10 passes for 82 yards and another score. Bridgewater threw for 310 yards and two TDs with Samuel catching nine balls for 105 yards and the other score.

Kelce had 10 catches for 159 yards and Hill had nine for 113 and a pair of scores, helping the pass-happy Chiefs climb out of an early 14-3 hole and head into their bye with a bunch of new milestones and a big surge of momentum.

The win was the 230th for Andy Reid, breaking a tie with Hall of Fame coach Curly Lambeau for fifth most in NFL history. It was the 23rd straight game the Chiefs have scored at least 23 points, breaking their own NFL record, and Mahomes beat Hall of Famer Dan Marino’s mark for fewest games to 100 career touchdown passes. Mahomes did it in 40 games, Marino needed 44.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule said all week that McCaffrey would get a full load if he was able to take the field.

It was clear from the game’s first series that Rhule meant it.

Starting alongside Mike Jones, the Panthers’ workhorse during his six-game absence, McCaffrey carried four times and caught two passes in helping Carolina mount a 75-yard scoring drive. It took nine plays and consumed nearly nine minutes before McCaffrey reached the end zone, keeping the potent Kansas City offense on the sideline.

The Panthers drilled deep into the playbook, too. There was a hook-and-ladder play that set up a field goal late in the first half, and a fake punt that gave Carolina a first down and ultimately led to a touchdown and a 14-3 lead.

The Chiefs probably should have been ready for that one. Not only did the Panthers pull off a fake against the Falcons last week —that was Jeremy Chinn taking a direct snap rather than punter Joseph Charlton throwing to wide receiver Brandon Zylstra on Sunday — but Kansas City also executed a faked punt of their own against the New York Jets in Week 8.

The Panthers still led 17-13 after the teams traded missed field goals to start the second half, but the Chiefs finally hit their offensive stride. Mahomes hit Kelce for a big gain to set up Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s TD catch late in the third quarter, then Hill baffled the Carolina secondary to get wide open for a 28-yard touchdown catch to start the fourth.

Bridgewater answered for Carolina by running for 15 yards on fourth-and-14, a scramble that ended with his cart-wheeling dive for a first down, then taking a quarterback draw 4 yards for a touchdown to get within 26-24 with 10:22 to go.

Rather than kick it deep, though, the Panthers tried an onside kick and recovered it too early. That gave the Chiefs a short field, and a couple of third-down conversions to set up another TD pass to Hill that stretched the lead again.

Bills 44, Seahawks 34

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen regained his early-season groove by throwing three touchdown passes and scoring one rushing, and the Buffalo Bills beat the Seattle Seahawks 44-34 on Sunday.

Buffalo’s defense played a major role in rattling Seattle’s Russell Wilson, who was sacked five times, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.

Buffalo (7-2) matched its best record through nine games since 1993, a season that ended with the Jim Kelly-led Bills making their fourth consecutive, and final, Super Bowl appearance.

Allen finished 31 of 38 and equaled a career best set earlier this season with 415 yards passing, becoming the first Bills player to top 300 yards four times in one season since Drew Bledsoe did it seven times in 2002. The Bills offense came alive after Allen combined for just 846 yards passing and five touchdowns — including one rushing — in splitting the previous four games.

The Seahawks (6-2) blew an opportunity to match to match their best record through eight games. They were 7-1 in 2013.

Seattle became the NFL’s sixth team to score 25 or more points in each of its first eight games, but was undone by turnovers and a defense that surrendered 420 yards.

The 44 points allowed were the most in coach Pete Carroll’s 11 seasons in Seattle and the most for the franchise since a 48-10 loss at Green Bay on Dec. 27, 2009. It was just the eighth time since Week 9 of the 2011 season the Carroll-led Seahawks have lost by 10 points or more.

Wilson has turned the ball over seven times in his past three games, after throwing a season-worst three interceptions in a 37-34 overtime loss to Arizona two weeks ago.

He finished 28 of 41 for 390 yards with two touchdowns.

Though Buffalo never trailed, the game was decided in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Bills scored touchdowns over a span of 2:49 to open a 41-20 lead. Zack Moss scored on a 1-yard run, one play after Allen converted a third-and-16 by hitting John Brown on a 33-yard catch-and-run.

Facing third and 25 on Seattle’s next possession, Wilson threw his second interception. Tre’Davious White broke off covering tight end Jacob Hollister to jump in front of a pass intended for DK Metcalf. White returned it to the Seattle 3, and Allen scored on a sweep on the next play.

Wilson provided the Seahawks a breath of life with a 55-yard touchdown pass to David Moore. But on Seattle’s next possession, linebacker A.J. Klein burst around the left side of the line untouched and blindsided Wilson to force the fumble, which he recovered at Seattle’s 19 with 6:30 remaining.

Allen carved up a Seahawks defense that entered allowing 28.5 points per game and had already surrendered 500 yards of offense three times this season.

Set up by Andre Roberts’ game-opening 60-yard kickoff return, Allen needed three plays to hit Isaiah McKenzie for a 25-yard touchdown.

On the next possession, the Bills faced third down just once on a 10-play, 75-yard drive Allen capped by hitting tight end Tyler Kroft in the back of the end zone.

Buffalo’s third touchdown drive featured Allen going 5 of 5 for 75 yards, including a 4-yard TD pass to a wide-open Gabriel Davis over the middle.

Falcons 34, Broncos 27

ATLANTA — Matt Ryan took advantage of Denver’s thin secondary to throw three touchdown passes and the Atlanta Falcons turned back Denver’s bid for a second consecutive comeback to beat the Broncos 34-27 on Sunday.

Ryan completed 25 of 35 passes for 284 yards with one interception. Atlanta (3-6) improved to 3-1 under interim coach Raheem Morris.

Atlanta led Denver (3-5) 20-3 at halftime. Drew Lock, trying to lead another fourth-quarter comeback, threw two touchdown passes and ran for a 10-yard score in the final quarter that made it 34-27. With Atlanta leading by seven points, the Broncos took the ball at their 20 with 44 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Following three incompletions by Lock, a fumbled snap ended the possession.

One week after throwing three fourth-quarter touchdown passes to lead Denver to a 31-30 comeback win over the Chargers, Lock tried to spark another rally. With Atlanta leading 27-6, Lock threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Jerry Jeudy early in the fourth quarter, On Denver’s next possession, Lock was under pressure when he overthrew Jeudy and was intercepted by Ricardo Allen, who returned the ball 20 yards to the Denver 12.

Two plays later, Todd Gurley’s 4-yard scoring run extended Atlanta’s lead to 34-13. Lock answered with a 9-yard scoring pass to Tim Patrick with less than four minutes remaining.

Lock completed 25 of 48 passes for 313 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Denver lacked an effective running game to help Lock. Phillip Lindsay had eight carries for 23 yards.

The Falcons scored on their first four possessions, thriving on Ryan’s ability to find holes in the Broncos’ depleted secondary. Denver’s starting cornerbacks, A.J. Bouye and Bryce Callahan, were held out with a concussion and ankle injury, respectively.

Atlanta converted six of seven third downs in the first half. The offense had no difficulty overcoming the absence of starting receiver Calvin Ridley, who was held out with a mid-foot sprain. The Falcons’ backups moved up to complement Julio Jones.

Olamide Zaccheaus beat Davontae Harris for a 51-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Zaccheaus made the catch for his first touchdown of the season even though Harris was called for pass interference on the play.

Zaccheaus added a 42-yard catch in the second quarter to set up Ryan’s 9-yard scoring pass to Brandon Powell. It was the first career touchdown for Powell, Atlanta’s top return specialist.

Texans 27, Jaguars 25

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Deshaun Watson had touchdowns passes of 57 and 77 yards, the second one appearing to come after the play clock expired, and the Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-25 on Sunday for their sixth straight win in the series.

Jacksonville (1-7) lost its seventh straight and barely avoided making NFL history. The Jaguars would have become the first to allow at least 30 points in seven consecutive games in a single season. Instead, they will share the record with the 1968 Denver Broncos and the 1984 Minnesota Vikings.

Jacksonville had a chance to tie it late, but rookie Jake Luton’s 2-point conversion pass to DJ Chark landed at his feet. Luton, a sixth-round draft pick making his NFL debut in place of Gardner Minshew, scrambled for 13 yards to make it a two-point game with 1:39 remaining.

Luton stiff-armed rookie Jon Greenard and then spun away from Keion Crossen and into the end zone. Crossen recovered an onside kick that helped Houston (2-6) ice the game.

Both of Houston’s victories this season came against the Jaguars.

Watson was instrumental in each. He threw for 281 yards and two scores in this one, which came three weeks after his 301-yard, two-touchdown passing performance in Houston.

He found Brandin Cooks on a crossing pattern on Houston’s first series. Cooks turned it up the sideline and outran defenders for 57 yards. Watson’s deep pass to Will Fuller was considerably tougher. Fuller stopped, cut inside CJ Henderson and then ran untouched the rest of the way to put the Texans (2-6) up 27-16 in third quarter.

Jaguars players screamed at officials just before Watson snapped the ball, saying the play clock was at zero, and coach Doug Marrone was livid afterward. Replays showed it was a blown call.

Nonetheless, it will go down as another awful play for a defense that’s setting new franchise marks for futility.

Jacksonville wasn’t much better on the other side of the ball.

Luton threw a touchdown pass on his second attempt. He found Chark streaking past Vernon Hargreaves for a 73-yard score that gave the Jags a 7-0 lead.

But Luton did little the rest of the way. He completed 26 of 38 passes for 304 yards, with the TD, an interception and a fumble that a teammate recovered.

Chark finished with seven catches for 146 yards, and had a costly drop late.

James Robinson scored for the fourth time in three games, finding the end zone on a 1-yard plunge in the second quarter. He ran 25 times for 99 yards.

Titans 24, Bears 17

NASHVILLE — Ryan Tannehill threw two touchdown passes, and the banged-up Tennessee Titans never trailed in snapping a two-game skid by beating the Chicago Bears 24-17 Sunday.

The Titans (6-2) avoided their longest skid since Tannehill took over as starting quarterback and stayed atop the AFC South going into Thursday night’s division showdown against Indianapolis.

They got a big help from an undermanned and struggling defense missing three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Jadeveon Clowney with an injured knee days after the Titans released linebacker Vic Beasley Jr. and starting cornerback Johnathan Joseph.

Cornerback Desmond King picked up a fumble and ran 63 yards for a TD only days after the Titans picked up the 2018 All-Pro from the Chargers for a sixth-round pick. King didn’t join Tennessee until Saturday after clearing covid-19 testing protocols and put the Titans up 17-0 late in the third quarter.

The Bears (5-4) came in trailing Green Bay in the NFC North dealing with their own injuries and covid-19 issues. Chicago lost its third straight despite the defense coming up with three sacks and holding the NFL’s fifth-best offense averaging 407 yards a game to a season-low 228.

Nick Foles made it interesting with a pair of TD passes within the final minutes. Amani Hooker recovered the Bears’ onside kick attempt for Tennessee with about a minute left.

Tennessee came in as the NFL’s worst on third downs by a big margin but stopped the Bears on their first nine third downs. The Titans also were among the NFL’s worst sacking the quarterback, and they sacked Foles three times. They recovered two fumbles.

This was the first game for punter Ryan Allen in Tennessee, reunited with his former Patriots teammate Stephen Gostkowski with three-time Pro Bowl punter Brett Kern put on injured reserve Saturday. Matt Overton also took over as long snapper after Tennessee also made a change at that position.

Foles was playing behind an offensive line missing center Cody Whitehair currently on the reserve/covid-19 list. Foles threw for 335 yards.

The Titans’ defense got a big confidence boost on Chicago’s first drive. Foles hit Allen Robinson II for a 4-yard pass, but Robinson was marked out just shy of the first-down marker. The Titans stopped David Montgomery for no gain, sparking a big celebration by Tennessee defenders.

They gave the NFL’s sixth-best scoring offense time to shake off a sluggish start.

Tennessee settled for a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter from Gostkowski. Then the Titans started their best drive by giving the ball to Derrick Henry five straight times, and they converted four third downs on a 12-play, 91-yard drive.

Vikings 34, Lions 20

MINNEAPOLIS — Dalvin Cook kept his brilliant season rolling by rushing for a career-high 206 yards and two scores on 22 carries, leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 34-20 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Kirk Cousins threw for three touchdowns — two to tight end Irv Smith Jr. — in his second straight turnover-free performance for the Vikings (3-5), who averaged 8.9 yards per play on the way to their first home win this season.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who didn’t practice all week due to coronavirus exposure protocols, left the game in the fourth quarter for concussion evaluation after taking a knee to the head during a sack. He was picked off on consecutive possessions in the third quarter, first at the Minnesota 12 and then in the end zone. Chase Daniel threw another interception after taking over.

The show again belonged to Cook, though, with his predecessor Adrian Peterson watching from the opposite sideline. Cook, whom Peterson admiringly called “a lethal weapon” this week, has 478 yards and six touchdowns from scrimmage in two games since missing one with a groin injury.

Peterson had eight carries for 29 yards while again dropping behind rookie D’Andre Swift in the pecking order for the Lions (3-5), who lost their ninth straight division game and are 2-13 against the NFC North under coach Matt Patricia. He’s 0-5 against the Vikings.

The Vikings entered the game ranked second in the league in yards per play (6.34) and more than doubled that average on their first two possessions to quickly take command.

Cook, who has an NFL-leading 12 rushing touchdowns, scored first. Then, after Matt Prater’s 46-yard field-goal attempt went wide left — the only missed kick of any type in 43 attempts against the Vikings this season — Cousins hit Smith for a score to cap a second consecutive five-play drive.

The dagger came in the closing seconds of the first half, another blemish against a defense that has been consistently underwhelming under Patricia. The Vikings went 87 yards in six plays and 64 seconds, pushing their lead back to 10 points after former Lions running back Ameer Abdullah took a screen pass 22 yards to the end zone.

Considering he wasn’t allowed to practice with the team all week and was missing leading receiver Kenny Golladay to a hip injury, Stafford was plenty sharp early. He completed 16 straight passes in the first half, all on underneath routes with the Vikings giving their inexperienced cornerbacks continued insurance with a heavy dose of two-deep safety looks. Marvin Jones Jr. caught a touchdown pass in the second quarter that cut the lead to 13-10.

Then it all fell apart. Linebackers Eric Wilson and Eric Kendricks had the backbreaking interceptions for the Vikings, sandwiched around a blocked punt by Austin Bryant. Romeo Okwara blocked a punt in the fourth quarter, too, but that came after Cook’s 70-yard touchdown run on a simple off-tackle play as he powered straight through the arms of defensive tackle John Penisini.

Giants 23, Washington 20

LANDOVER, Md. — Daniel Jones completed his longest pass of the season, didn’t turn over the ball for the first time, and the New York Giants held on to beat Washington 23-20 Sunday for their second victory this season.

Jones was 23 of 34 for 212 yards, including a 50-yard connection with Austin Mack and a touchdown pass to Evan Engram to build a 17-point halftime lead. The Giants (2-7) attempted to run to run things out in the second half and survived a couple of touchdown drives led by Alex Smith, who replaced injured Washington quarterback Kyle Allen.

Smith connected with Terry McLaurin on a 68-yard score, his first TD pass in 728 days, to cut New York’s lead to 23-20 in the fourth quarter. But Smith threw two interceptions in the final 2:18 to end the threat for Washington (2-6). Both Giants wins are against Washington.

Before things got hairy for the Giants, Wayne Gallman rushed for a touchdown, and Graham Gano made three field goals to extend his streak to 18 in a row.

Allen injured his left ankle late in the first quarter, forcing Smith into just his second NFL game since gruesomely breaking his right leg in November 2018. Allen’s left leg bent the wrong way on a sack by Peppers, who was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and there was an air cast on it as he was carted off.

Smith was 24 of 32 for 325 yards, the TD and three interceptions.

Dolphins 34, Cardinals 31

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The first professional matchup of Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray certainly lived up to the hype.

The two young quarterbacks traded pinpoint passes, timely scrambles and other big plays in a dazzling show of the league’s future. In the end, it was the rookie who came out with the win.

The 22-year-old Tagovailoa threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns in just his second NFL start as the Miami Dolphins rallied in the fourth quarter for a 34-31 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“That was awesome. It was fun for the fans as well, not just us competing,” Tagovailoa said of the duel with Murray. “You know what you’re going to get when it comes to Kyler. You know the kind of explosive player he is. He might be the fastest player in the NFL right now. Oh my gosh, he’s faster than me.”

But Tagovailoa was the winner. He’s 2-0 since taking over for Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter following the team’s bye week.

Miami (5-3) has won four straight games. The Cardinals (5-3) had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Murray, the 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year, finished with 283 yards passing and three touchdowns, adding 106 yards rushing on 11 carries in another stellar performance. He was obviously frustrated the Cardinals couldn’t score in the fourth quarter and watched the Dolphins score 10 unanswered points for the victory

Arizona’s Zane Gonzalez was short on a 49-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game with 1:53 left.

Murray paused for several seconds before answering a few postgame questions, struggling for a response.

“We came out here and laid an egg,” Murray said.

Raiders 31, Chargers 26

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Justin Herbert’s pass to Donald Parham Jr. for a 4-yard touchdown on the final play of the game was overturned after a replay review, and Las Vegas held on to beat Los Angeles.

Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes for Las Vegas (5-3), which improved to 4-1 on the road. Herbert was 26 of 42 for 326 yards and two touchdowns for the Chargers (2-6), all of whose losses have come by seven points or less.

This time, Los Angeles got the ball on its 25 with 4:37 remaining and drove to the Las Vegas 4. Herbert found Parham in the right corner of the end zone, but after a replay review, the touchdown was overturned when it was determined the tight end did not maintain possession throughout the catch.

The Raiders trailed 17-14 at halftime but scored on their first two drives of the second half. Carr hit Nelson Agholor for a 45-yard TD and then Darren Waller had a 3-yard score to give Las Vegas a 28-17 advantage with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.

Michael Badgley’s second field goal brought the Chargers within 28-20. On LA’s next possession, Herbert threw a screen pass to Gabe Nabers for a 4-yard touchdown, but the 2-point conversion attempt failed with 9:12 remaining.

The Chargers forced a three-and-out, but Las Vegas’ Kyle Wilber recovered KJ Hill’s muffed punt at the LA 31. The Raiders took advantage on Daniel Carlson’s 31-yard field goal with 4:42 left.