Around the league, as Bill Pennington writes, “Through four weeks of the 2020 season, the average combined score of a game is 51.3 points, an increase of 16 percent over the same period a year ago and a roughly 20 percent increase in the average score of games since 2000.”
Oddsmakers expect Sunday’s late game between the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks to be the day’s barnburner. But before then, a handful of teams will see if they can get the number one in the win column, as the Falcons (0-4) face the Panthers at home, Dak Prescott and the Cowboys (0-4) get the Giants in Dallas, and the Texans (0-4) greet the Jaguars in Houston.
Here’s what you need to know:
Cowboys win over Giants, potentially lose Dak Prescott.
The apparently serious, and potentially season-ending, right leg injury to Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott may overshadow the result of the game, but the visiting Giants and Cowboys dueled to the final second of the contest. On the game’s final play, Dallas place-kicker Greg Zuerlein kicked a 34-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 37-34 victory. Dallas improved its record to 2-3 and the Giants remain winless at 0-5.
Zuerlein tied the game, 34-34, with a 40-yard field goal at the two-minute warning.
The Giants were forced to punt on the ensuing drive with Dallas taking possession at its own 12-yard line. Quarterback Andy Dalton advanced the Cowboys upfield on receptions by Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup on back-to-back plays. Dallas then moved deep into Giants territory on a 38-yard catch by Gallup that set up Zuerlein’s winning kick. Both Gallup receptions were along the right sideline with Gallup barely getting two feet in bounds – catches verified by officials after a video replay.
The Browns are 4-1. Send tweet.
The Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts had a lot to play for coming into their game on Sunday. The Browns, off to their best start in decades, are trying to keep pace with the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-0) and Baltimore Ravens (4-1) in the A.F.C. North. Yes, that’s right, the Browns are in contention.
The Colts, too, were trying to keep up with the Tennessee Titans, who are 3-0 heading into their game* against the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday.
Colts vs. Browns had a little bit of everything. Pick sixes, kick off returns for touchdowns, a safety and a lot of tough defense on both sides.
After all the theatrics, the Browns came out on top, winning 32-23, to go to 4-1. They have now won four straight and are having their best start since 1994, when they were coached by, um, Bill Belichick.
The Colts dropped to 3-2.
The Colts had the best defense in the league coming into the game, but it was the Browns defense that held serve, keeping Colts quarterback Philip Rivers off balance all game. Under pressure for most of the afternoon, Rivers was 19 of 31 for 247 yards and two interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown. In the 4th quarter, under pressure in his own end zone, Rivers was called for intentional grounding and the Browns were awarded two points.
Oh yeah, Cody Parkey, famous for his double-doink missed field goal for Chicago in 2019, iced the game for the Browns with a field goal that first hit the left upright before bouncing through for three points.
Giants capitalize on Dalton’s fumble to take brief lead.
On the first play after Graham Gano kicked a 28-yard Giants field goal to trim the Dallas lead to 31-26, Cowboys quarterback Andy Dalton fumbled the snap from center. Dalton, who entered the game after Dak Prescott injured his right ankle, dove toward the fumble but it was recovered by the Giants linebacker Blake Martinez at the Dallas 17-yard line.
Evan Engram gained six yards on a rush around end then wide receiver Darius Slayton caught a 9-yard pass to set up the Giants with a first down at the Dallas 4-yard line. Two plays later, the Giants regained the lead when Devonta Freeman bulled his way into the end zone despite being initially held up at the line of scrimmage. On a 2-point conversion attempt, quarterback Daniel Jones threw to rookie left tackle Andrew Thomas, who was left unguarded in the end zone. Thomas bobbled the pass at first but held on to give the Giants the 34-31 lead.
Dolphins smack down 49ers.
Wipeout. That’s the only way to describe the Dolphins-49ers game.
Miami (2-3) destroyed the 49ers (2-3) from the opening drive, winning 43-17 in a game that saw San Francisco Coach Kyle Shanahan bench quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo after a dismal first half.
Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was 22 of 28 for 350 yards and three touchdown passes with a 154.5 passer rating. DeVante Parker, Preston Williams and Adam Shaheen were on the receiving ends of those passes.
Garoppolo, who is coming back from an ankle injury, was taken out after the first half, when he was 7 of 17 for 77 yards and two interceptions. C.J. Beathard replaced him in extended garbage time.
Things don’t get easier for the injury-riddled 49ers, who got all the way to the Super Bowl in February but are now in last place in the N.F.C. West. They now face the Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints.
Prescott carted off the field.
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott appeared to sustain a serious lower right leg injury when he was tackled while scrambling in the third quarter. Prescott was attended to on the field as players from both teams knelt on the field. Television replays of the play showed Prescott’s right foot or ankle turn sideways awkwardly as he was pulled to the ground by a Giants defender.
Prescott was transported off the field on a cart and raised his left fist as the home crowd cheered him. Backup quarterback Andy Dalton replaced Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott finished the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to put the Cowboys up, 31-23.
In a game that has already seen multiple twists and turns on both sides of the line scrimmage, the Giants, who already had a touchdown nullified by a penalty on a first-half fake field goal, had a second touchdown taken off the board by an official’s flag early in the third quarter. Then, a penalty on the Cowboys turned a Giants punt into a Giants field goal.
In order: Trailing Dallas, 24-20, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones threw down the right sideline to Darius Slayton for an apparent 31-yard touchdown. The score was nullified by an offensive pass interference call on Giants wide receiver Damion Ratley who collided with a Cowboys defender as he began his pass route. The penalty also resulted in the Giants having to forgo a field-goal attempt, but when they punted, the Cowboys were whistled for having 12 men on the field. That allowed the Giants place-kicker Graham Gano to successfully convert a 54-yard field goal that cut the Dallas lead to one point, 24-23.
And a Colts safety makes BINGO.
The Browns-Colts game has had it all. Flea flickers, kick off returns for touchdowns, interceptions returned for touchdowns. Add a safety to the list.
Starting a drive deep in their own zone to start the fourth quarter, Colts quarterback Philip Rivers threw the ball away rather than take a sack in the end zone. The pass sailed well out of bounds and the Colts were called for intentional grounding. The referees awarded the Browns 2 points and possession of the ball after the Colts punted.
The Browns made nothing of it, but still lead, 29-20.
Colts’ kickoff return is one wild swing among many.
The weirdness in Cleveland continues in a matchup of 3-1 teams.
To start the second half, the usually steady Colts quarterback Philip Rivers threw a pick-six as Browns cornerback Ronnie Harrison returned the pass for a touchdown that put the Browns up, 27-10.
The Colts have relied on the run most of the season, notably on rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, who has stepped in for the injured Marlon Mack. But the Browns have defended the run well so far today, allowing only 46 yards on the ground, forcing Rivers to throw.
But on the ensuing kickoff, the Colts’ Isaiah Rodgers returned the ball 101 yards for a score to close the deficit to 27-17. Rogers tiptoed past several Browns defenders, nearly stepping out of bounds before slashing to the left and running diagonally toward the end zone untouched.
On the Browns next possession, Baker Mayfield threw his first interception of the day on a second-and-14 pass from his own 38-yard line.
Giants and Cowboys trick plays yield different results.
In the closing minute of a topsy-turvy first half in the Giants-Cowboys game, a trick play gave Dallas a 24-20 lead as quarterback Dak Prescott handed off to Ezekiel Elliot who lateraled the ball to wide receiver Cedrick Wilson, who threw to Prescott for an 11-yard touchdown in the right corner of the end zone.
Just seconds earlier, it appeared the Giants had pulled ahead of the Cowboys on a fake field goal, with Giants punter/holder Riley Dixon throwing a 27-yard touchdown to tight end Evan Engram. But the score was nullified by an illegal shift penalty and the Giants settled for a 50-yard field goal that put them ahead, 20-17. Earlier in the second quarter, the Cowboys had the Giants reeling, scoring two touchdowns in 86 seconds.
Cleveland is playing … sound football?!
As if 2020 hasn’t been weird enough, the 3-1 Cleveland Browns — yes, the Browns — went into halftime ahead, 20-10, over the Indianapolis Colts, who have the league’s top defense.
The Browns, who have scored the fourth-most points in the N.F.L. through four weeks, lost their top running back, Nick Chubb, last week. But quarterback Baker Mayfield has been managing Browns possessions admirably, going 19 of 28 for 228 yards and two touchdowns while finding Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry for big plays.
Even better, Mayfield’s clock-chewing drives have kept Colts quarterback Philip Rivers on the sideline for long stretches. The Colts only ran 20 plays in the first half.
Browns receivers continue to throw passes, too. Just before halftime, Mayfield pitched to Kareem Hunt who pitched to Odell Beckham, Jr., who tossed an 18-yard pass to tight end Austin Hooper.
Not bad for a team that has historically cycled through quarterbacks faster than they can be issued jerseys.
And just like that, the Cowboys are back in it.
Trailing 17-3, the Dallas Cowboys finally came to life midway through the second quarter and tied the game with two touchdowns on back-to-back possessions. The first score was a 1-yard touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott. The score culminated a 14-play drive that featured nine rushing carries by Elliott.
On the ensuing Giants possession, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was sacked by DeMarcus Lawrence who forced a fumble recovered by Dallas’ Anthony Brown. Brown returned the turnover 29 yards for a touchdown.
The Giants had taken a 14-point lead earlier in the quarter on a 55-yard field goal by Graham Gano. The score was set up by a 12-play drive during which running back Devonta Freeman continued to make an impressive contribution to the offense. Freeman had 12 rushing yards on the possession and caught a 9-yard pass.
Fitzmagic has hit the West Coast.
Ryan Fitzpatrick and the one-win Miami Dolphins are throttling what passes for the healthy 49ers in Santa Clara, 27-7, late in the first half.
Fitzpatrick, who is now playing for his eighth N.F.L. team, has shredded the 49ers defensive backs, completing 14 of 18 passes for 243 yards and two touchdown scores, hitting DeVante Parker and Adam Shaheen. Running back Myles Gaskin ran for another score.
Fitzpatrick, 37, has been picking on 49ers cornerback Brian Allen. The Niners are playing without cornerbacks Dontae Johnson, Emmanuel Moseley and K’Waun Williams.
After the 49ers were forced to punt when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo fumbled on second-and-6 from the Miami 40-yard line, the Dolphins made yet another trip to the red zone thanks to a 70-yard pass from Fitzpatrick to Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki.
The drive stalled, but the Dolphins added a field goal to go up by 17 points. They kicked another field goal just before the end of the first half.
Not bad for the Dolphins, 8-point underdogs coming into the game, and the ageless Fitzpatrick.
The Browns’ offense is feeling out the Colts’ defense.
What happens when one of the league’s best offenses meets one of the best defenses? Points.
The Cleveland Browns, fourth in scoring coming into this weekend, notched a field goal on its opening drive against the Indianapolis Colts, the best defense in the league. The key gain was a 32-yard pass from quarterback Baker Mayfield to receiver Jarvis Landry to cross midfield. That completion came after Colts Coach Frank Reich used a challenge in the first minute of the game, questioning the spot of the ball on a 6-yard run by Browns running back Kareem Hunt to the Cleveland 43. Reich lost.
The Colts came right back, converting a 4th and 2 yards, to keep their drive alive. Quarterback Philip Rivers completed five passes for 67 yards and a touchdown score to rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, putting the Colts up, 7-3. On the next Cleveland drive, Baker Mayfield found Hunt in the back of the end zone for a 2-yard score. The extra point made it 10-7, Browns advantage.
The Browns are 3-1 for the first time in nearly 20 years. The Colts (3-1) are a half-game behind the Tennessee Titans (3-0) in the A.F.C. South.
The Giants finally found the end zone against Dallas.
The visiting, winless Giants, who hadn’t scored a touchdown in their two previous games, scored two touchdowns in 65 seconds as they took a 14-3 early lead on the Dallas Cowboys. The second Giants score came on the Cowboys’ second possession when Giants linebacker Kyler Fackrell intercepted Dak Prescott and returned the pick 46 yards for a touchdown.
On an aggressive first possession, the Giants scored their first touchdown in 21 drives when tight end Evan Engram took an end around and dashed three yards into the left corner of the end zone as the Giants took a 7-3 lead at Dallas. It was the Giants first lead since their season-opening game.
The Giants seemed eager to try anything to finally get a touchdown, running a flea flicker and a deceptive screen pass. Devonta Freeman factored significantly in the possession with effective power rushes and a crucial, 18-yard pass reception one play before Engram’s touchdown.
Chase Claypool’s historic day pushes Steelers to 4-0.
In the long, venerable history of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an organization founded in 1933 and that has won six Super Bowls, only two players before Sunday had scored four touchdowns in a game, according to Pro Football Reference: Ray Mathews in 1954 and Roy Jefferson in 1968.
Chase Claypool joined them on Sunday. One play after an Eagles interception was overruled by instant replay — the ball clearly hit the turf — Ben Roethlisberger zipped a 35-yard touchdown up the seam to Claypool, who may or may not have laughed when he saw a linebacker, Nate Gerry, trying to cover him.
On Sunday, Claypool, who had six catches for 151 yards in his first three games, has nearly equaled that receiving output Sunday with seven receptions for 110 yards. This isn’t, however, even the first time Claypool has scored four touchdowns in the last calendar year: In Notre Dame’s 52-20 win against Navy last season, he also had four.
Chiefs comeback attempt goes pffffft.
After a high-scoring first half, the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders went quiet in a somnolent, scoreless third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, the visiting Raiders erupted with 16 unanswered points. The Chiefs, meanwhile, awoke late as Patrick Mahomes threw a touchdown pass to Travis Kelce and the Chiefs converted the two-point conversion to narrow the Raiders lead to eight points with roughly two minutes left in the fourth quarter. But the Raiders ran out the clock for a 40-32 victory.
Derek Carr threw for 347 yards with three touchdowns while completing 22 of 31 passes with one interception. Mahomes completed 22 of 43 passes for 340 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Kyler Murray is a force to be reckoned with.
The Arizona Cardinals found their stride early and kept it up, flexing versatility while logging touchdowns from Murray, Chase Edmonds, Kenyon Drake and DeAndre Hopkins.
Murray ended the day with a career-high 380 passing yards after a 37-yard touchdown connection with Hopkins, putting him at over 300 yards in a game for the sixth time in his career. No other quarterback in Cardinals history has had more than four games with over 300 passing yards in his first two N.F.L. seasons, according to the franchise’s spokesperson.
The Arizona Cardinals squashed the Jets, 30-10.
Meanwhile, Jets quarterback Joe Flacco found someone to connect with in wide receiver Jamison Crowder in the second half. He threw a 52-yard catch-and-run to Crowder and an 11-yard pass to Crowder again midway through the third quarter for their first — and last — touchdown of the game.
Crowder has completed a catch in each of the last 87 games he’s played, which is the eighth-longest active streak in the N.F.L. And today, locking in 116 yards, he became the third Jet receiver in the last 52 seasons with 100 receiving yards in three or more consecutive games, following his performance in the season opener and against the Denver Broncos. He was forced to sit out the Jets’ second and third games of the season due to a hamstring injury.
“I just want to get out there and make plays and do what I can to get a win,” he said before the Oct. 1 game. “I’m just going out there and trying to do what I can.”
The Cardinals play the Cowboys on Oct. 19; the Jets’ next game is against Miami next Sunday after some leaguewide reshuffling.
Mahomes picked off in the fourth quarter.
Trailing by nine points, the Chiefs went for it on a fourth-and-seven at their own 28-yard line with a little less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of their game with the Raiders. Mahomes, under pressure and struggling throughout the second half, threw carelessly over the middle and had his pass intercepted by the Raiders Jeff Heath who returned the turnover to the Kansas City two-yard line. One play later, Josh Jacobs vaulted over the line for the touchdown that put the Raiders ahead, 40-24.
Eagles gambits pay off, sorta.
A thousand kudos to the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the more analytically-inclined organizations in the N.F.L., for a gambit that improved their chances for a comeback. By going for 2 points (and then, of course, converting) when trailing by 17, they created the possibility of going ahead with a field goal later, if they could only stop the Steelers. Pittsburgh still leads — but only by 31-29— after a marvelous 80-yard drive highlighted by the contributions of noted N.F.L. stars Jalen Hurts and Travis Fulgham, an undrafted second-year receiver out of Old Dominion, who capped it with a 4-yard touchdown.
Hurts, the rookie quarterback taken four spots after Pittsburgh chose Chase Claypool, came in to complete an 18-yard pass to Richard Rodgers at the start of the fourth quarter. Fulgham, meantime, who caught the Eagles’ game-winning touchdown last Sunday at San Francisco, has torched the Steelers’ secondary for 152 yards on 10 receptions.
The Eagles, after recovering a Pittsburgh fumble, got precisely what they wanted — a go-ahead field-goal attempt. But Jake Elliott’s 57-yard attempt sailed just wide with 3 minutes 18 seconds remaining.
After leading the Chiefs on four first-half scoring drives against the Raiders, the highlight of Patrick Mahomes’s second half so far has been the bright sun keeping him warm on the bench at Arrowhead Stadium. The teams combined for 38 points in the second quarter, which ended tied 24-24, but Mahomes has largely been kept off the field since then. He completed just two of four passes in the third quarter – he’s 16 of 31 in the game for 259 passing yards (237 in the first half) and one touchdown. The Raiders defense in the second half has been smothering the Kansas City running backs and keeping Mahomes on the move when he has dropped back to pass.
To start the fourth quarter, Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs bulled in from seven yards for a touchdown but the extra point was missed as the Raiders took a 30-24 lead.
Raiders’ long drives keeping ball Mahomes sidelined.
After leading the Chiefs on four first-half scoring drives against the Raiders, the highlight of Patrick Mahomes’s second half so far has been the bright sun keeping him warm on the bench at Arrowhead Stadium. The teams combined for 38 points in the second quarter, which ended tied, 24-24, but Mahomes has largely been kept off the field since then. He completed just two of four passes in the third quarter — he’s 16 of 31 in the game for 259 passing yards (237 in the first half) and one touchdown. The Raiders defense in the second half has been smothering the Kansas City running backs and keeping Mahomes on the move when he has dropped back to pass.
To start the fourth quarter, Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs bulled in from seven yards for a touchdown but the extra point was missed as the Raiders took a 30-24 lead. Las Vegas
Raiders and Chiefs take feet off the gas.
The Raiders and Chiefs combined for more than 600 yards of offense in a first half that ended tied, 24-24. With about five minutes left in the third quarter, each team has punted twice. Perhaps the teams are still catching their breath from the first half. Patrick Mahomes has completed only 2 of 4 passes in the third quarter. Derek Carr has completed 5 of 9 passes.
Everyone, meet Chase Claypool.
Chase, this is everyone.
The Steelers excel at scouting receiving talent, and Claypool, a rookie from Notre Dame, seems the latest example. Following the likes of Santonio Holmes and Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders and JuJu Smith-Schuster, Claypool on Sunday has accounted for the Steelers’ first three touchdowns.
Somehow, they later managed to score without his help, on a James Conner 1-yard run that extended their lead to 31-14. The Eagles responded by cutting the deficit to 31-22, on Carson Wentz’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Greg Ward and subsequent 2-point conversion.
The last Steeler to score three touchdowns was Brown, in 2017, according to Pro Football Reference. Brown, by that stage of his career, ranked among the best receivers in the league. Claypool, meantime, is playing his fourth N.F.L. game.
For the uninitiated, Claypool grew up in British Columbia. He was drafted 49th over all in April. He also is, according to ESPN Stats & Information, the first Pittsburgh rookie with rushing and receiving touchdowns in the same game since Franco Harris in 1972.
Raiders countering Chiefs in Kansas City.
In a wild game that would have been at home during the Raiders-Chiefs high-scoring rivalry in the American Football League half a century ago, the two teams each had more than 300 offensive yards in the first half, which ended in a 24-24 tie.
A 72-yard bomb from Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr to rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs vaulted the Raiders to a 24-21 lead late in the second quarter after Kansas City twice led by 11 points. In the first quarter, Patrick Mahomes rushed for one touchdown and threw for another as Kansas City took a 14-3 lead. Carr led the Raiders back with a 59-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor but Mahomes responded with a sidearm throw on the run to Sammy Watkins in the end zone to put the Chiefs ahead, 21-10.
Las Vegas needed only four plays to cut into that lead with Carr finding tight end Darren Waller in the middle of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown. After a Kansas City punt, Ruggs, the Raiders first-round draft pick this year, split the defenders in the Chiefs secondary, caught Carr’s pass over the middle and ran untouched into the end zone.
Jets trail Cardinals despite Le’Veon Bell’s return.
The Jets went into the second half against the Arizona Cardinals down, 17-3, after Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray landed a rushing touchdown. Murray leads N.F.L. quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns this season with five.
But Le’Veon Bell, coming back from a hamstring injury sustained in their season opener, took flight where the rest of the Jets did not. He gained 44 rushing yards, more than half of the Jets’ 82-yard total.
Putting Bell back into play was no question for Coach Adam Gase this week as the Jets are scrambling for their first win of the season. Or at least to come within nine points of a victory.
“He did a good job of, one, getting healthy and then staying in good shape,” Gase said of Bell on Thursday. “I think he feels even better now than he did when we kind of hit that first game.”
Tension between Bell and Gase rose as he pulled the running back from practice in August when his hamstring was tight. Since then, the pair seemed to have put their differences aside, however the prolonged hiatus and rocky relationship is just the latest in Bell’s troubles with the Jets. Bell, who earned a league-high 321 carries for 1,291 yards and made 85 catches for 655 yards in 2017 as a Steeler, saw his worst season for many of his stats in his first year as a Jet in 2019, including a mere four touchdowns.
Despite the loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1, Bell rushed the ball six times for 14 yards and caught two passes for 32 yards before the injury.
Alex Smith made his return to the field.
Alex Smith did not have to play a single down this season to be considered a favorite to win the league’s comeback player of the year award. Just by returning from a gruesome knee injury that jeopardized not only his career but his life, Smith demonstrated remarkable resilience and strength.
Our Bill Pennington was at FedEx Field on Nov. 18, 2018, and he described the scene thus: “Smith was sacked by two charging Houston Texans, and in a grisly sequence reminiscent of Theismann’s injury, Smith’s right leg crumbled and twisted, fracturing both the tibia and fibula bones. Television replays showed Smith’s leg buckle and give way. Lying on the ground, with his lower leg bowed, Smith at first tried to pull his jersey over his head to hide his anguish.”
Smith had 17 total surgeries and four hospital stays over nine months. Against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Smith was active for the first time since hurting his knee, and when starter Kyle Allen went out after absorbing a helmet-to-helmet hit, Smith came on to lead Washington’s offense.
Smith ran three plays — Aaron Donald welcomed him back with a third-down sack — before Washington was forced to punt.
In Pittsburgh, it is Chase Claypool 2, Miles Sanders 2.
After showcasing his breakaway speed on his earlier touchdown, Sanders flaunted his power on his second, pushing back the Steelers’ line enough to cross the goal line from one yard out, tying the score at 14-14. A 41-yard field goal from Chris Boswell made the score 17-14 before halftime.
Pittsburgh, which entered Sunday allowing a league-low 54 rushing yards per game, has given up 85 through the end of the second quarter.
Claypool gooses Steelers offense with his second score.
On Sunday, the Steelers extended the league’s longest active streak without a touchdown on their opening drive to 22 games, per Fox. Big deal, considering they scored on their next two.
Pittsburgh answered the Eagles’ touchdown with another score by the rookie Chase Claypool, a receiver in the mold of Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf: big, strong, tall and fast. Crossing the middle, Claypool caught a pass in stride from Ben Roethlisberger, shed one tackler and ran untouched to put Pittsburgh ahead by 14-7 early in the second quarter.
Carolina goes ahead in Atlanta.
Hey, look, if it’s a day that ends in Y, the Falcons must be losing again. They have, yet again, methodically relinquished a lead. Carolina, which once trailed by 7-0, stacked a touchdown — a 57-yard catch-and-run by D.J. Moore — with two Joey Slye field goals to take a 13-7 lead in Atlanta.
The Ravens are starting to make it look too easy.
Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, who has been running for his life all afternoon, threw an interception in his own 43-yard line. An unnecessary roughness penalty on Cincinnati’s Carlos Dunlap — he gave Lamar Jackson a one-handed shove near the sideline — and a 14-yard pass reception by Mark Andrews quickly helped move the Ravens to the Bengals’ 2-yard line. Jackson rolled to his right and on the run whistled a touchdown pass to Marquise Brown that put the Ravens ahead, 17-0.
Eagles’ Sanders scores a homecoming TD.
Miles Sanders played in his first N.F.L. contest at Heinz Field on Sunday, but it was far from his first game there. A Pittsburgh native, Sanders was a running back for the Swissvale Golden Flashes, according to The Athletic, and scored a touchdown during halftime of a Steelers game. He played at Heinz twice at Woodland Hills High School, and twice more again as a running back at Penn State.
On Sunday, Sanders added to his fond memories at Heinz by running for the longest touchdown by a Philadelphia Eagle since 2000. On his 74-yard scoot, Sanders evaded a tackle at the line of scrimmage, then one more 50 yards downfield, to even the score at 7-7. It was the Eagles’ longest touchdown run since Brian Mitchell went for 85 on Oct. 1, 2000, according to Pro Football Reference.
Lamar Jackson is still lethal in the red zone.
In his career, Lamar Jackson has yet to throw an interception inside an opponent’s 20-yard line. Jackson extended that streak with a 5-yard touchdown to tight end Mark Andrews late in the first quarter that gave the Ravens a 10-0 lead over the Bengals.
The score came after the Cincinnati defense had been giving the Ravens some trouble, especially when it came to disrupting the running game and putting pressure on Jackson’s passing. But a nifty third-down, 9-yard pass from Jackson to Andrews picked up a first down at the Bengals 9-yard line. Two Mark Ingram rushes moved the ball to the 5-yard line. Andrews did a good job sealing off his defender in the end zone and after waiting patiently in the pocket for a few seconds, Jackson fired a bullet to Andrews.
Steelers take advantage of pass interference call.
The Steelers, aided by a questionable pass-interference call on Philadelphia cornerback Darius Slay, went up 7-0 after a possession that consumed nearly half the first quarter. A 2-yard run by rookie receiver Chase Claypool capped a 14-play series that featured dink after dunk after dink by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who completed 5 of 7 passes for 36 yards on the drive. On his lone long attempt, from second-and-16 on the Philadelphia 28-yard line, Roethlisberger overthrew James Washington, whom Slay blanketed downfield. But the official threw a late flag, and instead of facing third-and-16, Pittsburgh had first down inside the 10 and scored four plays later.
Jets trail in Flacco’s first start in nearly a year.
With starting quarterback Sam Darnold out with a shoulder injury, backup Joe Flacco made his first start in an N.F.L. game in almost a year; the Oct. 1 loss to the Broncos, Flacco’s former team, was his first appearance as a Jet. Flacco himself has only had minimal practice due to a neck injury in the off-season, which already doesn’t bode well for the Jets who haven’t won with a backup since Dec. 2016, when Bryce Petty scraped together a win against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Jets were hopeful, however, that a changeup on the field would rejigger their odds against the Arizona Cardinals, who are coming off two losses and stand at 2-2 for the season.
Halfway through the first quarter, it was clear that it would not. The Jets started with the ball only to lose it. And the Cardinals made good use of their time: A 29-yard rushing touchdown by running back Chase Edmonds allowed Arizona to take an early lead, putting them up, 7-0.
Falcons, gulp, are playing with a lead.
Among the league’s worst offenders at blowing leads — looking at you, Detroit — the Atlanta Falcons raced out to a 7-0 lead against Carolina on a 35-yard run by Todd Gurley.
The Falcons messed up double-digit advantages in consecutive games, but must have realized Monday night in Green Bay that they couldn’t surrender a lead if they never took one at all. <headtap.gif>
Now let’s see how the Falcons handle prosperity.
Lamar Jackson looks rusty.
The Ravens looked dominant in their first drive, which featured a devilish misdirection wide receiver reverse for 42 yards by Devin Duvernay. But Lamar Jackson, who spent the entire week listed as questionable for both a knee injury and an illness, looks a little rusty so far. He bypassed an open receiver that would have picked up a first down and threw behind another receiver. Those miscues led to a 46-yard field goal attempt that Justin Tucker, of course, converted with a kick down the middle for a 3-0 Baltimore lead. Tucker hasn’t missed a field goal or extra point this season.
Broncos-Patriots has been delayed indefinitely.
The N.F.L. has indefinitely postponed Monday’s game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, the latest reshuffling of the league’s schedule to accommodate the rash of positive tests for the coronavirus.
The league had already pushed back the game from Sunday to Monday after Stephon Gilmore, the team’s star defensive back, tested positive. The team returned to practice Saturday, but another presumptive positive test Sunday forced the league to act before the Broncos left Denver for Foxborough, Mass.
The league has not said when or if the game will be made up. Because this week will now serve as the bye week for both teams, there are no other openings on their schedule unless other games are moved, or the league adds an additional week to the season for makeup games. The Patriots were originally scheduled for a bye in Week 6, and the Broncos had a bye in Week 8. Read the full story here.
From 0-1 to 3-1.
Proving that an 0-1 start isn’t so bad, the Colts and the Browns have both followed up their opening-week disappointment with three consecutive wins, each of which came in convincing fashion. Indianapolis is powered by its defense and running game — and quarterback Philip Rivers is fitting in well as he climbs the career touchdown list — while Cleveland has finally found its offensive mojo, with Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr. and the rest of the team clicking in the way everyone thought they would last season.
So what happens when the Colts’ defense tries to slow down the Browns’ offense? The answer might give a solid indication of which of these teams is a real contender and which one is just beating up on lesser competition.
Complicating matters for Indianapolis is linebacker Darius Leonard being questionable with a groin injury. He wasn’t able to practice on Wednesday or Thursday, and if he were to miss the game that would open up the middle of the field for the Browns.
Las Vegas thinks these games will be boring.
The Ravens and Chiefs are both predicted to win their games (against Cincinnati and Las Vegas, respectively) by 13 or more points. The Cowboys are predicted to beat the Giants by at least 9.5. So are these games going to be snoozers? You shouldn’t count on that.
For Baltimore, scoring on Cincinnati’s defense should be easy — really easy — thanks to the Bengals being weakest against the run. But Cincinnati has looked reborn on offense thanks to No. 1 over all draft pick Joe Burrow, and last week running back Joe Mixon hit his stride with a monster game. Expecting them to win on the road would be silly, especially since they’re likely to allow 200 or more rushing yards, but Burrow’s adjustment to the N.F.L. has been so smooth that he should make the game exciting even if he loses in convincing fashion.
The Chiefs are huge favorites, which might be a bad thing considering how little they seem to concentrate against lesser competition. Add in Las Vegas having an offense that can score in a hurry and this game could easily go sideways, forcing Patrick Mahomes to pull off one of his epic comebacks.
As for the Giants … being 9.5-point underdogs is probably accurate and expecting that game to be anywhere near close would be overly optimistic. But hey, Dak Prescott has thrown for 450, 472 and 502 yards in his last three games, so maybe he goes for 530 in this one.
How many points will be scored on Sunday Night Football?
The Seahawks are averaging 35.5 points a game and the Vikings are averaging 26.5. Both teams’ defenses allow more than 400 yards and more than 27 points a game. Las Vegas is predicting this to be the week’s highest scoring game, with an over/under of 57, and that honestly feels low based on the strengths and limitations of both teams.
Seattle is powered by Russell Wilson, who tied Peyton Manning’s record of 16 touchdown passes through his team’s first four games. He has a pair of elite wide receivers in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and Chris Carson has proved solid at running back. Minnesota can do everything on offense, with Kirk Cousins being able to choose between running back Dalvin Cook and wide receivers Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson on every play.
Did we mention that Seattle has several significant injuries on defense, including star safety Jamal Adams who is expected to be out for this game?
The most points scored in a Sunday prime time game was the 98 put up by the San Diego Chargers and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 8, 1985 — the Chargers won, 54-44 — but the highest-scoring game in the current Sunday Night Football format came in New England’s 43-40 win over Kansas City on Oct. 14, 2018.
Overly hyped matchups tend to disappoint, but the potential is certainly there for this game to challenge those totals.
The waiting game.
In addition to the indefinite delay of Denver’s Week 5 game against New England, Tennessee, had their game against Buffalo delayed until Tuesday, after several more Titans tested positive during the week,.
In an acknowledgment that the Titans are not yet in the clear, the N.F.L. rescheduled Buffalo’s Week 6 game, which was originally scheduled for Thursday of next week, but said it would go back to Thursday if their Tuesday game against the Titans cannot be played.
Thus far a fairly small number of teams have been affected by the issues in Tennessee. But with the Titans’ bye already burned, and the bye weeks of the Patriots, the Broncos and the Steelers burned early as well, any flexibility in the schedule is drying up quickly.
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October 12, 2020 at 06:55AM
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