Butker’s FG gives Chiefs 26-23 win over Vikings
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — 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 4 yards.
STEELERS 26, COLTS 24
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Vinatieri missed a go-ahead 43-yard field goal with 1:14 remaining, helping the Pittsburgh Steelers escape with a victory.
Vinatieri, whose 55-yard kick last week against Denver gave the Colts their third straight victory, pulled his attempt left of the uprights as the Colts (5-3) fell out of first place in the AFC South.
Mason Rudolph threw for 191 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Pittsburgh, and Minkah Fitzpatrick returned an interception 96 yards for a score as the Steelers (4-4) won their third consecutive game. Backup running back Trey Edmunds ran for a career-high 73 yards and Chris Boswell kicked four field goals as Pittsburgh reached the midpoint of the season at .500 despite losing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a right elbow injury in Week 2.
The Colts may have quarterback issues of their own after Jacoby Brissett left in the second quarter with a left knee injury. Brian Hoyer came on and threw for three touchdowns in Brissett’s absence and drove Indianapolis to well within field goal range in the final minutes thanks in part to a 40-yard pass interference penalty against Pittsburgh’s Steven Nelson.
Vinatieri, the NFL’s all-time leading scorer, had an extra point blocked in the third quarter and has been dealing with accuracy issues all season. The snap and hold were good, but his kick fluttered left of the upright into the open end of Heinz Field, allowing Pittsburgh to run out the clock on a day the Steelers mustered just 273 yards.
TEXANS 26, JAGUARS 3
LONDON (AP) — Deshaun Watson’s most impressive throw went backward — a flip under pressure to running back Carlos Hyde, whose 7-yard gain set up Houston’s first TD in a 26-3 runaway over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The 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.
But more than anything, the Watson-to-Hyde connection was indicative of both players’ days in general: They were very hard to stop.
Hyde finished with 19 carries for 160 yards for the Texans (6-3), including a 58-yard run that looked headed for a touchdown until Jags safety Jarrod Wilson stripped the ball at the 2.
Watson, meanwhile, finished 22 for 28 for 201 yards and a pair of 1-yard touchdown throws, along with 37 yards running. He did it all with his left eye still swollen and red, a week after getting kicked in the face just before throwing the winning touchdown pass against the Raiders.
Jaguars linemen Taven Bryan and Yannick Ngakoue were swarming Watson as he dropped back to pass in the second quarter with the Texans on the move. Seeing nothing downfield as the linemen closed, Watson instead flipped one back to Hyde, who took it to the Jacksonville 7.
Two plays later, Watson tossed a 1-yarder to Darren Fells for a 9-0 lead.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Christian McCaffrey had 166 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns, and Carolina bounced back from an embarrassing defeat with a victory over Tennessee.
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.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes, two of them to rookie Preston Williams, and Miami got its first win of the season by beating former coach Adam Gase and New York.
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 front-runners 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) 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.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Carson Wentz threw for 239 yards and one touchdown, Jordan Howard ran for 82 yards and a score and Philadelphia held on for a victory over Chicago.
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.
The Bears went three-and-out on their first five possessions, gaining minus-10 yards. They didn’t get a first down until the final minute of the first half.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Rookie Devin Singletary had 95 yards rushing, including a 2-yard touchdown, and Buffalo are off to its best start since 1993 following a win over Washington.
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.
Haskins finished 15 of 22 for 144 yards passing and no turnovers while starting in place of Case Keenum, who is in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
