SCOREBOARD
Monday, Dec. 2
Minnesota at Seattle, 8:15 p.m. Possible playoff implications mark this matchup. Kirk Cousins and the Vikings (8-3) look to keep pace with the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson and the Seahawks (9-2) have a chance to tie San Francisco for the NFC West - potentially setting up a big showdown in Week 17 in Seattle.
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STARS
Passing
- Jared Goff, Rams, passed for 424 yards and two touchdowns, leading Los Angeles to a 34-7 win over Arizona.
- Aaron Rodgers, Packers, threw four touchdown passes in the snow and Green Bay rebounded from an embarrassing 29-point loss to San Francisco and beat the New York Giants 31-13.
- Deshaun Watson, Texans, threw three touchdown passes and had the first TD reception of his career, leading Houston to a 28-22 victory over New England.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick, Dolphins, was 27 for 39 for 365 yards and three touchdowns as Miami achieved season highs in points and yards (408) in a 37-31 victory over Philadelphia.
- Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, threw for a touchdown and ran for a score, helping Kansas City cruise past Oakland 40-9.
- Drew Lock, Broncos, had two touchdown passes in his NFL debut, a 23-20 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Rushing
- Raheem Mostert, 49ers, ran for a career-high 146 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 20-17 loss at Baltimore.
- Derrick Henry, Titans, had 26 carries for 149 yards and scored on a 13-yard TD run on fourth down to cut the deficit to 17-14 in the third quarter, and Tennessee went on to beat Indianapolis 31-17.
- Derrius Guice, Redskins, racked up 129 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, helping Washington to a 29-21 victory over Carolina.
- Lamar Jackson, Ravens, weathered miserable conditions to run for 101 yards in Baltimore’s 20-17 victory over San Francisco. The combination of driving rain, a stiff wind and San Francisco’s rugged defense held Jackson to complete only 14 of 23 passes for 105 yards, and he lost a fumble.
- Todd Gurley, Rams, ran for 95 yards and a touchdown in Los Angeles’ 34-7 win at Arizona.
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Receiving
- DeVante Parker, Dolphins, had seven receptions for a career-high 159 yards and two scores, both on leaping grabs, in Miami’s 37-31 victory over Philadelphia.
- Robert Woods, Rams, had 13 catches for 172 yards in Los Angeles’ 34-7 win over Arizona.
- Davante Adams, Packers, caught two touchdown passes in Green Bay’s 31-13 victory over the New York Giants.
- James White, Patriots, had eight catches for 98 yards and two TDs, and also gained 79 yards on 14 carries in New England’s 28-22 loss at Houston.
- James Washington, Steelers, finished with 111 yards receiving and a touchdown on four catches to help Pittsburgh top Cleveland 20-13.
- Courtland Sutton, Broncos, had two TD receptions in Denver’s 23-20 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Special Teams
- Jason Sanders and Matt Haack, Dolphins. Sanders caught a 1-yard touchdown pass on a fluttery throw by Haack when Miami opted to not go for a field goal on fourth down and instead scored on the trick play in a 37-31 victory over Philadelphia. Sanders became the first kicker with a TD catch since Denver’s Jim Turner in 1977.
- Justin Tucker, Ravens, kicked a 49-yard field goal as time expired to give Baltimore a 20-17 victory over San Francisco.
- Brandon McManus, Broncos, booted a 53-yard field goal as time expired, set up by a long interference call, to give the Broncos a 23-20 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
- Dane Cruikshank and Tye Smith, Titans. Cruikshank raced through an inside gap to block a potential tiebreaking field goal late in the fourth quarter and Smith returned it 63 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to send the Titans past Indianapolis 31-17.
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Defense
- Devin White, Buccaneers, scooped up a fumble and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown, and also had an interception in Tampa Bay’s 28-11 victory at Jacksonville.
- Juan Thornhill, Chiefs, returned an interception 46 yards for a score, helping Kansas City beat Oakland 40-9.
- Carlos Dunlap, Bengals, had three sacks in Cincinnati’s 22-6 win over the New York Jets.
- Taylor Rapp, Rams, returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown in Los Angeles’ 34-7 victory at Arizona.
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MILESTONES
Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes threw his 70th career touchdown pass in the Chiefs’ 40-9 win over Oakland. It came in his 27th career game, surpassing Dan Marino (29 games) as the fastest player to reach 70 in NFL history. … Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton set a couple of franchise passing marks in a 22-6 win over the New York Jets in front of 39,804 fans, the smallest home crowd since the final game of the 1995 season at Cinergy Field. He became the Bengals’ career leader in touchdown passes, moving ahead of Ken Anderson with 198. He also passed Anderson for the franchise’s career completion mark. … Giants running back Saquon Barkley had 115 yards from scrimmage on 83 rushing and 32 receiving, marking his 17th career game with at least 100 yards from scrimmage yards. That ties him with Billy Sims for the fourth-most such games by a player in his first 25 career games. Only Edgerrin James (21 games), Eric Dickerson (19) and Ezekiel Elliott (18). … Tennessee’s Derrick Henry rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown in the Titans’ 31-17 win at Indianapolis, making him the fifth player in NFL history to get at least 145 rushing yards and a TD run in three consecutive games. He joined Jim Brown (1958), O.J. Simpson (1976), Eric Dickerson (1984) and Adrian Peterson (2012).
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STREAKS & STATS
The Bengals (1-11) ended the longest losing streak in their history and finally shed their distinction as the NFL’s lone winless team, beating the New York Jets 22-6. Cincinnati hadn’t won since topping Oakland 30-16 on Dec. 16, 2018. … The New York Giants’ 31-13 loss to Green Bay was their eighth straight defeat, their worst skid since 2004. … The Jets had their three-game winning streak snapped in a 22-6 loss at Cincinnati and became the first team to lose to two teams that were 0-7 or worse in the same season. Miami was 0-7 when it beat New York on Nov. 3. After scoring 34 points in three straight games, the Jets were held to six or fewer for the fourth time this season.
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O’BRIEN’S BREAKTHROUGH
Houston’s 28-22 victory over New England marked Texans coach and former Patriots assistant Bill O’Brien’s first win in six tries against Bill Belichick. It was also just the Texans’ second win over the Patriots, and first since Jan. 3, 2010.
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FOLES FOLDS
Nick Foles ended his first three drives with turnovers that Tampa Bay turned into touchdowns, costly mistakes that propelled the Buccaneers to a 28-11 victory over the Jaguars on Sunday. Doug Marrone benched Foles at halftime, switching back to rookie sensation Gardner Minshew. Minshew rallied the Jags and had a chance to make it a seven-point game in the fourth quarter. But his hot pass slipped through Dede Westbrook’s hands and into Sean Murphy-Bunting’s arms for Jacksonville’s fourth turnover of the day. A sixth-round draft pick from Washington State, Minshew started eight games while Foles recovered from a broken left collarbone and gave the Jaguars (4-8) a chance nearly every week. Foles, the 2018 Super Bowl MVP who signed a four-year, $88 million contract in free agency, never looked comfortable in his three games since coming off injured reserve. He was 7 of 14 for 93 yards, with two fumbles and an interception. He also was sacked three times.
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GAMBLES PAY OFF
Philadelphia was expecting a field goal try by Miami when holder Matt Haack stood and instead took a shotgun snap, with five teammates flanked far to the left and four far to the right. Haack rolled left before flipping a pass to kicker Jason Sanders, who was part of the group on the left before slipping into the end zone uncovered for a 1-yard touchdown in the Dolphins’ 37-31 victory. “It’s exactly what we planned for,” Haack said. “That was pretty cool.” Sanders became the first kicker with a TD catch since Denver’s Jim Turner in 1977.
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QUACK, QUACK
Undrafted rookie free agent Devlin “Duck” Hodges threw for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception to lead Pittsburgh past Cleveland 20-13. Hodges, a champion duck caller in his down time, improved to 2-0 as a starter after being bumped to the top of the depth chart last week in place of struggling Mason Rudolph. Hodges completed 14 of 21 passes while joining Washington’s Ed Rubbert - a replacement player in 1987 - as the only undrafted rookie quarterbacks to win each of their first two career starts since 1970.
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ACTION JACKSON
Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson weathered miserable conditions to run for 101 yards in the Ravens’ 20-17 victory over San Francisco. The combination of driving rain, a stiff wind and San Francisco’s rugged defense held Jackson to complete only 14 of 23 passes for 105 yards, and he lost a fumble. But the Ravens improved to 16-3 with Jackson as a starter and 12-0 when he rushes for at least 70 yards. In addition, Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history to have four 100-yard rushing games in a season, surpassing the mark held by Michael Vick (three games each in 2004 and ’06) and Russell Wilson (three in 2014).
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BIG MAC
Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey had seven catches in the Panthers’ 29-21 loss to Washington, giving him 75 receptions through 12 games this season. He has at least 75 catches in each of his first three NFL seasons and is the fifth running back in league history with at least three seasons of at least 75 receptions, joining Marshall Faulk (five), Larry Centers (five), Roger Craig (three) and Le’Veon Bell (three). McCaffrey’s 2,162 career yards receiving surpassed Roger Craig (2,118) for the most by a running back in his first three seasons since 1966.
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SIDELINED
Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a bruised right hand in the Browns’ 20-13 loss to Pittsburgh. Mayfield smacked it against the facemask of Pittsburgh linebacker Bud Dupree just before halftime and played the second half with his throwing hand in a protective glove. … Carolina tight end Greg Olsen entered the concussion protocol after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Washington linebacker Ryan Anderson, who was ejected after delivering the hit in the Redskins’ 29-21 win. Redskins returner Trey Quinn left in the second quarter with a concussion after taking a shot to the head from DeAndrew White while going low to field a punt. … Jets safety Jamal Adams was wearing a walking boot on his left foot after the game at Cincinnati. He said he was injured on the first series but played through it. He wasn’t sure how long he might be sidelined. … Miami running back Kalen Ballage left in the second quarter against Philadelphia with a left leg injury and didn’t return.
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SPEAKING
“One thing I didn’t appreciate is all the booing today. You’ve got guys putting their hearts out there every play, every game, and nobody deserves that. I hated how that was.” - Jacksonville quarterback Gardner Minshew after the Jaguars’ 28-11 loss at home to Tampa Bay.
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“He had a chip on his shoulder all week.” - Cincinnati running back Joe Mixon on quarterback Andy Dalton, who returned from a three-week benching to lead the Bengals to their first victory of the season with a 22-6 win over the New York Jets.
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