Ernest Jones IV returned an interception 85 yards for the first touchdown of his career, one of five takeaways by the Seahawks’ dominant defense, and Seattle blanked the Minnesota Vikings 26-0 on Sunday for its first shutout victory in more than a decade.
The Vikings were shut out for the first time since Green Bay beat them 34-0 on Nov. 11, 2007. Seattle’s most recent shutout win was 26-0 over Chicago on Sept. 27, 2015.
This one was a mismatch, with the Seahawks (9-3) going against an undrafted rookie quarterback in Max Brosmer, who was making his first NFL start for the free-falling Vikings (4-8). Seattle moved into a first-place tie with the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West, while Minnesota lost its fourth straight.
The Vikings had the first takeaway of the game, when Sam Darnold — the quarterback who led Minnesota to a 14-3 season a year ago — fumbled deep in Seattle territory early in the second quarter.
Brosmer couldn’t take advantage. Trailing 3-0, the Vikings went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 4, and DeMarcus Lawrence got a free run at Brosmer, who scrambled to his right and made a desperation sidearm heave. The pass landed in Jones’ arms, and the linebacker took it the distance to give the Seahawks a 10-0 lead. Jones has a career-high four interceptions this season.
Brosmer threw three more picks in the second half, and Aaron Jones lost a fumble when he caught a screen pass and Lawrence chased him down from behind and stripped the ball.
BRONCOS 27, COMMANDERS 26, OT
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Nik Bonitto batted away Marcus Mariota’s pass in overtime to deny Washington a winning 2-point conversion, and the Denver Broncos held on for their ninth straight victory.
After Denver’s RJ Harvey ran for a touchdown on the first possession of overtime, Mariota drove the Commanders down the field, aided by a pass-interference penalty on fourth-and-6. Washington had fourth-and-goal at the 3 when Mariota connected with Terry McLaurin for a TD.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn went for 2 and Mariota had an open receiver, but Bonitto leaped and knocked the ball down.
Bo Nix threw for 321 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the AFC West-leading Broncos (10-2), who have eight victories in one-score games this season
DOLPHINS 21, SAINTS 17
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — De’Von Achane rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown, and Miami won its third straight game by holding off New Orleans.
The Dolphins (5-7) trail first-place New England and Buffalo in the AFC East but kept their slim playoffs hopes alive, while the Saints (2-10) have lost six of seven.
The Saints trailed 16-0 at halftime, but they closed to 19-17 with 1:17 remaining on Tyler Shough’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele.
Shough was intercepted by Minkah Fitzpatrick on the 2-point try, and the Dolphins safety returned it to the opposite end zone to give Miami two points.
The rookie QB got another shot after the Saints recovered the ensuing onside kick by Charlie Smyth — a former Gaelic football player from Northern Ireland making his NFL regular-season debut. But Miami’s defense stopped Shough on fourth-and-1 at the Dolphins 36 to end the game.
PANTHERS 31, RAMS 28
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Bryce Young completed 15 of 20 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns — two of them coming on fourth down — and Carolina forced three turnovers by Matthew Stafford to beat Los Angeles and snap the Rams’ six-game winning streak.
The Panthers intercepted Stafford twice with Mike Jackson returning one for a 48-yard touchdown and ended the 37-year-old’s NFL record of 28 straight TD passes without an interception.
Derrick Brown, who tipped a ball resulting in one of Stafford’s first pick, came up with a key strip-sack with 2:25 left in the game to preserve the win.
The win allowed the Panthers to remain a half game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. The Bucs held on to beat Arizona 20-17 on Sunday.
Stafford completed 18 of 28 passes for 243 yards with two touchdown passes to Davante Adams, his 13th and 14th of the season, for the Rams (9-3).
The Panthers (7-6), who had just one pass play of longer than 20 yards in a 20-9 loss to San Francisco on Monday night, got several key ones from Young on Sunday.
He connected on a 35-yard TD pass to Chuba Hubbard, a 33-yard TD strike to Jalen Coker and a 43-yard scoring toss to Tetairoa McMillan with 6:43 remaining that was the decisive score.
The Panthers used a strong running game to control the clock in the second half and keep Stafford and the high-powered offense off the field. Hubbard had 83 yards rushing from Rico Dowdle added 58.
49ERS 26, BROWNS 8
CLEVELAND (AP) — Brock Purdy rushed for a touchdown and passed for another score in the second half, and San Francisco spoiled Shedeur Sanders’ first home start by defeating Cleveland.
Cleveland took an 8-7 lead late in the second quarter when Sanders hooked up with Harold Fannin for a 34-yard touchdown and Quinshon Judkins’ run added the 2-point conversion. But San Francisco (9-4) scored the next 19 points in its third consecutive win.
All three of San Francisco’s touchdowns came on short fields — two the result of recovering turnovers and another after a 66-yard punt return by Skyy Moore.
Purdy completed 16 of 29 for 168 yards. He ran it in on a 2-yard keeper in the third quarter and then had a 7-yard TD pass to Jauan Jennings in the fourth quarter.
San Francisco star Christian McCaffrey finished with 74 scrimmage yards (53 rushing, 21 receiving) and a touchdown, with most of his yards coming in the second half.
Sanders was 16-of-25 passing for 149 yards and a touchdown for Cleveland (3-9). He was sacked three times. Judkins had 91 yards rushing on 23 carries.
BUCCANEERS 20, CARDINALS 17
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baker Mayfield tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay’s defense held in the final two minutes and the Buccaneers beat Arizona to snap a three-game losing streak.
Mayfield, who started after sitting out the second half of a 34-7 loss to the Rams because of a left shoulder injury, threw for 194 yards and ran for 27 to help the Buccaneers (7-5) remain first in the NFC South.
Jacoby Brissett, making his seventh start filling in for Kyler Murray, threw a wide pass incomplete on fourth-and-2 from the Cardinals 17 with under a minute remaining.
Arizona (3-9) has lost four straight and nine of 10.
Down 17-3, the Cardinals finally got going in the third quarter.
Brissett connected with Bam Knight on a 22-yard TD to cut it to 17-10.
Tampa Bay’s defense made a big stop when Arizona when for it on fourth-and-1 from its 39. Knight was stuffed by Anthony Nelson after taking a pitch.
The Bucs couldn’t do much with the field position and Chase McLaughlin hit a 57-yard field goal to increase the lead to 20-10.
But Brissett drove the Cardinals 73 yards, throwing a 15-yard TD pass to Trey McBride to trim the deficit to 20-17.
Arizona’s defense held and Riley Dixon boomed a punt that Greg Dortch fielded at the 5 instead of allowing it to go into the end zone for a touchback. He was tackled at the 9 and the offense couldn’t do anything.
JAGUARS 25, TITANS 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Trevor Lawrence threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns and Jacksonville beat Tennessee for its third straight victory.
With the win, the Jaguars (8-4) improved their AFC playoff hopes while chasing their first division title since 2022. The Jaguars still have two games left against Indianapolis, and the Colts fell to 8-4 with a 20-16 loss to Houston.
The Jaguars also beat the Titans for the sixth time in seven games.
Josh Hines-Allen had two of Jacksonville’s three sacks of rookie Cam Ward, and the Jaguars recovered two fumbles.
The Titans (1-11) lost their seventh straight overall and 11th consecutive at home, matching the longest such skid since this franchise moved to Tennessee. They also lost 11 in a row at Nissan Stadium in a stretch over the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Fans booed the Titans early and often before heading to the exits well before the end.
TEXANS 20, COLTS 16
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Nico Collins scored the tiebreaking touchdown on a 7-yard run with 12:38 to play, Nick Chubb also ran for a score, and Houston’s top-ranked defense came up with a late stop on to seal a victory over slumping Indianapolis.
Houston (7-5) won its fourth straight, moving within one game of AFC South-leading Indy (8-4), which has lost three of four. C.J. Stroud improved to 3-0 at Lucas Oil Stadium by going 22 of 35 for 276 yards with one interception in his first game in four weeks. He cleared the concussion protocol Friday.
Collins caught five passes for 98 yards.
Houston sealed the win by forcing a turnover on downs with 1:45 to play after Daniel Jones had taken Indy to Houston’s 31-yard line. The Colts have lost two straight for the first time this season, and this was the first time they were held under 20 points.
Playing through a lower leg injury, Jones finished 14 of 27 for 201 yards and two TDs. Jonathan Taylor, the NFL’s leading rusher, was held to 85 yards on 21 carries and failed to score for only the fifth time this season.
JETS 27, FALCONS 24
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Nick Folk lined a 56-yard field goal through a heavy mist as time expired to lead New York to a victory over Atlanta.
In a game between two struggling teams that was anything but pretty, Folk’s kick was also far from it. But in tough conditions, the 41-year-old got just enough on the football to bounce back from an earlier miss and was mobbed at midfield by his teammates as the Jets fans in a drenched and half-empty MetLife Stadium went wild.
Tyrod Taylor went 19 of 33 for 172 yards and a touchdown pass and also ran for a score in his second start in a row for the benched Justin Fields as the Jets (3-9) snapped a two-game skid. Adonai Mitchell had eight receptions for 102 yards and a TD, and Breece Hall ran for 68 yards and a score.
After the defense held Kirk Cousins and the Falcons to a three-and-out, the Jets got the ball back at their 43 with 35 seconds left and two timeouts remaining. Taylor had a 14-yard run and hit Mitchell for 10 and 5 yards on the drive to put Folk in position for his winner.
Cousins went 21 of 33 for 234 yards and a touchdown and Bijan Robinson ran for 142 yards and a score and caught five passes for 51 yards for the Falcons (4-8), who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
CHARGERS 31, RAIDERS 14
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Justin Herbert threw two touchdown passes while playing through an injury to his non-throwing hand, and Kimani Vidal made a 59-yard scoring run during Los Angeles’ victory over spiraling Las Vegas.
Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey had TD catches and Vidal rushed for a career-high 126 yards for the Chargers (8-4), who snapped back from an embarrassing loss at Jacksonville for their fourth win in five games to keep pressure on the Denver Broncos atop the AFC West.
Jaret Patterson rushed for his first NFL touchdown since 2021 to ice the victory with 1:55 to play.
Los Angeles comfortably beat its longtime West Coast rivals for the fourth straight time, sweeping the season series and emphasizing the current gulf between the Bolts and the Raiders (2-10), who had less support in the SoFi Stadium crowd than in past seasons.
BILLS 26, STEELERS 7
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Josh Allen threw for a touchdown and ran for another, Joey Bosa sacked Aaron Rodgers to spring Christian Benford for a game-tilting, 17-yard scoop-and-score, and Buffalo pushed Pittsburgh around.
Buffalo (8-4) bounced back from a loss at Houston by whipping Pittsburgh (6-6) up front. James Cook ran for 144 yards as the Bills piled up 249 yards on the ground and controlled the clock for nearly 42 minutes inside blustery Acrisure Stadium.
The swirling winds at one of the league’s trickiest venues made passing nearly impossible. Allen completed 15 of 23 for 123 yards with an interception and a 3-yard scoring toss to Keon Coleman, who returned to the active roster after being a healthy scratch the last two weeks due to disciplinary issues.
The reigning MVP essentially put the game away when he bulldozed across the goal line from 8 yards out early in the fourth quarter to give the Bills a 16-point lead. It was the 76th rushing touchdown of Allen’s career, breaking the NFL record for touchdown runs by a quarterback that he briefly shared with Cam Newton.
The Associated Press
