Rodgers has 5 TDs passing, 1 rushing as Packers roll
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers had his best game by far under new Packers coach Matt LaFleur, throwing for 429 yards and five touchdowns and running for another as Green Bay beat the Oakland Raiders 42-24 on Sunday.
Rodgers completed 25 of 31 passes to eight different targets and finished with the first perfect passer rating of his career, leading LaFleur’s offense to a season high in points.
Even with top target Davante Adams sidelined for the third straight game with turf toe, Rodgers threw for his most touchdowns in a game since Sept. 28, 2015, against the Chiefs.
Derek Carr finished 22 for 28 for 293 yards, two touchdowns and two costly turnovers for the Raiders (3-3), who lost their eighth straight against Green Bay, going back to 1990. The Packers (6-1) have scored 30-plus points in each of their last five games against the Raiders.
Green Bay took the lead for good on a 2-yard touchdown from Rodgers to Jamal Williams with 3:27 to go in the first half. The score capped an 11-play, 82-yard drive that took up 8:06 — the Packers’ longest drive of the season — and made it 14-10.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jacoby Brissett threw a career-high four touchdown passes and Indianapolis sealed a victory over Houston with Darius Leonard’s late interception.
Indy (4-2) has won three straight in the series and took over the early season lead in the AFC South.
The loss snapped Houston’s two-game winning streak.
Brissett was masterful most of the game. He was 26 of 39 with 326 yards, and in a game the Colts only produced 62 yards rushing, they needed Brissett to be at his best — and he was.
Brissett opened the scoring with an 11-yard TD pass to Zach Pascal on Indy’s first series.
The Texans (4-3) answered with two field goals, the second coming after Deshaun Watson appeared to find DeAndre Hopkins for a touchdown pass with Justin Houston draped around Watson’s legs. But the officials ruled Watson was in the grasp, nullifying the subsequent throw.
Brissett, who set up the Texans’ second score with a fumble deep in Colts territory, then threw a nifty 2-yard TD pass to T.Y. Hilton with 1:49 left in the half.
DETROIT (AP) — Kirk Cousins matched a career high with four touchdown passes, leading surging Minnesota over slumping Detroit.
The Vikings (5-2) have won three consecutive games in part because their quarterback is making plays to complement one of the NFL’s top defenses.
Matthew Stafford also threw four touchdown passes, all to Marvin Jones, and became the fastest to reach 40,000 yards passing in NFL history. And Jones became the first Lions player in the Super Bowl era with four receiving TDs in a game.
The Lions (2-3-1) dropped their third straight game after a 2-0-1 start and they probably can’t complain too much about officiating in their latest setback.
RAMS 37, FALCONS 10
ATLANTA (AP) — Jared Goff threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Los Angeles returned to the site of last season’s Super Bowl loss to beat reeling Atlanta.
The Rams (4-3) snapped a three-game losing streak in the debut of cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
The Falcons (1-6) suffered their fifth straight loss and had quarterback Matt Ryan leave the game with an ankle injury. Ryan’s right leg bent awkwardly as he was sacked by Aaron Donald and fumbled early in the fourth quarter.
Ryan limped off the field and was escorted to the medical tent on the sideline. He walked to the locker room, still favoring the ankle, with 7:36 remaining in the game.
Donald was credited with a sack, forced fumble and recovery on the play. It was the Rams’ fifth sack of Ryan, matching the five sacks by Atlanta’s defense this season — none in the past four games.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Chase Edmonds rushed for career highs of 126 yards and three touchdowns, overshadowing the return of Giants star running back Saquon Barkley in Arizona’s victory over New York.
The game was billed as a matchup of rookie quarterbacks Kyler Murray of the Cardinals (3-3-1) and Daniel Jones of the Giants (2-5), and both gave glimpses why they were the first and sixth overall choices in the draft, respectively.
But, Edmonds stole the show, scoring on runs of 20, 20 and 22 yards. The Cardinals defense also got four sacks and a forced fumble from Chandler Jones, Jordan Hicks had an interception and Patrick Peterson had a sack and forced fumble to seal the Cardinals’ third straight win. It’s the first time Arizona has won three consecutive games since 2015.
Murray finished 14 of 21 for 104 yards with no interceptions. Zane Gonzalez kicked field goal of 47 and 35, the last coming after the forced fumble by Peterson, who was playing in his first game after a six-game suspension for using performance-enhancers.
The loss was the third straight for the Giants, who allowed Jones to be sacked a season-high eight times. Jones finished 22 of 35 for 223 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass to Rhett Ellison. Eli Penny scored on a punted punt.
Barkley, who rushed for 72 yards on 18 carries, scored on a 7-yard run to get the Giants within 24-21 with 8:13 to go.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Tre’Davious White forced two second-half turnovers, Micah Hyde returned an onside kick for a touchdown, and Buffalo rallied from a five-point deficit for a victory over winless Miami.
The Bills, who began the day favored by 17 points, avoided what would have been a major upset against the patchwork Dolphins (0-6), who are in a major rebuilding mode.
Josh Allen led fourth-quarter touchdown drives following each of the Dolphins turnovers, and the Bills improved to 5-1 in matching their best start to a season in 11 years.
White’s diving interception at the 2 of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s pass on second-and-goal from the 12 led to Buffalo going ahead 17-14 on John Brown’s 20-yard touchdown catch that capped a 12-play, 98-yard drive.
Two series later, White punched the ball out of the hands of rookie Preston Williams near the Miami 30, and the fumble was recovered by defensive end Jerry Hughes. Three plays later, Allen hit a wide-open Cole Beasley for a 3-yard touchdown.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Gardner Minshew led a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that put Jacksonville ahead to stay, and Yannick Ngakoue returned an interception 23 yards to clinch a victory over winless Cincinnati.
The Jaguars (3-4) managed only field goals by still-perfect Josh Lambo until their rookie quarterback and their depleted defense made game-turning plays at the end.
The win capped a week in which the Jaguars traded disgruntled cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Rams for three draft picks. Their defense picked off Andy Dalton three times in the fourth quarter to put it away.
The wait goes on for first-year Bengals coach Zac Taylor, whose team fell to 0-7 for the first time in 11 years.
Minshew was solid a week after his so-so performance in a 13-6 loss to the Saints. The rookie completed 15 of 32 for 255 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole for a 17-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Minshew also scrambled for 48 yards.
The Bengals were booed repeatedly during another inept performance.
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Robbie Gould made field goals from 28, 22 and 29 yards to provide the only points in an ugly win by San Francisco over Washington in steady rain and driving wind to remain undefeated.
It wasn’t pretty, but San Francisco is 6-0 for the third time in franchise history, and first since 1990. That 49ers team finished 14-2.
Coach Kyle Shanahan’s bunch didn’t look like an unbeaten powerhouse in horrific conditions that made life difficult on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the entire offense. Garoppolo bounced back from a dreadful first half to finish 12 of 21 for 151 yards passing.
San Francisco’s defense continued its dominant run after holding the Los Angeles Rams to seven points last week and the Cleveland Browns to three before that. It’s the Niners‘ first shutout since Week 1 of the 2016 season.
The weather seemed a perfect fit for interim Redskins coach Bill Callahan’s run-first, run-second and run-third mentality. Washington (1-6) started the game with 10 rushing plays and Adrian Peterson ran for 81 yards on 20 carries, but they were shut out for the first time this season.
