JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Minshew Mania didn't have a prayer against New Orleans.
Rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew was harassed, hurried and humbled in a loss to the Saints, his worst performance of the season coming just a few hours after Pope Francis accidentally tweeted support for the visiting team.
"Today we give thanks to the Lord for our new #Saints," Pope Francis tweeted. "They walked by faith and now we invoke their intercession."
The hashtag and capitalization inadvertently added the Fleur de Lis, the emblem associated with the Saints and worn on their helmets. It was widely regarded as a good omen for New Orleans.
The Saints (5-1) took it from there, holding Minshew without a touchdown pass for the first time in six games and limiting the Jaguars (2-4) to a season-low 226 yards.
"I told our defense I felt like if they played eight quarters they were not going to score a touchdown today," Saints coach Sean Payton said.
The Saints retweeted the pope after their fourth consecutive victory, saying "Couldn't lose after this. #Blessed and highly favored."
New Orleans kept Minshew in the pocket while still getting pressure and did an equally impressive job on the AFC's leading receiver, DJ Chark. Marshon Lattimore shadowed Chark and got safety help over the top. Chark managed three receptions for 43 yards against bracket coverage.
Minshew, who threw for 374 yards last week, finished 14 of 29 passing for 163 yards and an interception. He was sacked twice and scrambled two times for a yard.
"It's just about showing different looks, trying to confuse him into throwing us the ball," Saints cornerback Eli Apple said. "He did that in the second half."
Panthers 37, Buccaneers 26
LONDON -- The way the Carolina defense kept taking the ball away, Christian McCaffrey and the Panthers offense didn't have a whole lot of work to do.
McCaffrey scored two touchdowns and Carolina turned five interceptions by Jameis Winston into 17 points to give the Panthers their fourth straight victory, over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Those guys are unbelievable," McCaffrey said of his defense. "I felt like every single time they were on offense our defense had a chance to get a turnover or a sack. Our D-line is pretty vicious. ... They did an unbelievable job all day. It's nice when you have a defense like that."
After starting the season with two straight losses with hobbled Cam Newton at quarterback, the Panthers (4-2) have been on a roll with Kyle Allen at quarterback thanks to McCaffrey's big plays and an opportunistic defense that had a franchise record-tying seven takeaways, along with seven sacks on the day.
The Panthers took advantage of Tampa Bay's banged-up line that forced the Bucs to use backups Earl Watford and Josh Wells on the right side to harass Winston all day. They hit him to help force two of the interceptions and forced fumbles on successive plays late in the second quarter, including a strip sack by Vernon Butler that Bruce Irvin recovered.
Redskins 17, Dolphins 16
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- It's no surprise a matchup between winless teams was decided by a dropped pass.
Running back Kenyan Drake couldn't handle Ryan Fitzpatrick's quick throw in the flat on a 2-point conversion try with 6 seconds left, allowing the Washington Redskins to escape with their first victory of the year by beating the Miami Dolphins.
Drake had four defenders between him and the end zone and probably wouldn't have scored even if he had secured the ball. But the drop put the brakes on a frantic comeback by the Dolphins, who trailed 17-3 when Fitzpatrick replaced Josh Rosen to start the fourth quarter.
Redskins rookie Terry McLaurin caught two touchdown passes, and veteran Adrian Peterson more than doubled his season rushing total with 118 for Bill Callahan in his first game as interim coach.
"Games like this, two winless teams, everybody pulls out the stops," Callahan said. "It was wild all the way to the last minute."
Washington (1-5) looked like a different team after firing coach Jay Gruden, although the caliber of the opposition had something to do with that. The Dolphins (0-5) remained winless under rookie coach Brian Flores but helped their chances of securing the No. 1 draft pick in April.
When asked about the two-point conversion, Flores said he was going for the win.
"We felt good about the play -- something that we worked on all week," he said.
Drake, however, said another running back practiced that play, and not him.
Ravens 23, Bengals 17
BALTIMORE -- Lamar Jackson presented the Cincinnati Bengals with a can't-win dilemma: Try to prevent the versatile quarterback from running, or stop him from passing?
Turns out, Cincinnati was powerless to do either.
Jackson rambled, shimmied and passed his way through the winless Bengals while guiding the Baltimore Ravens to a victory.
Alternatingly jutting left and right, up the middle and occasionally toward the sideline, Jackson carried 19 times (including three kneel-downs at the end). His most notable runs were a 36-yarder on the opening drive, a 21-yard score and a 16-yard foray up the middle on a third-and-14 in the fourth quarter.
"I want to win. If I have to run, I do it," Jackson said. "Today, that's what it was. Sometimes I had to pass, sometimes I had to run."
Regardless of where Jackson went, the Bengals (0-6) were usually a step behind.
"It's hard because you got all your skill guys covering down the field, eyes on their man," safety Jesse Bates said. "And then you got the D-line, and they're just rushing against basically a running back. It's pretty tough."
The Bengals (0-6) aren't the only team to struggle against Jackson, although they've had their fair share of problems against the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner.
Jackson now has three career 100-yard rushing games, tied with Billy Kilmer for most by a quarterback in his first two seasons since 1950. Jackson's first 100-yard game came last November against Cincinnati, in his first NFL start.
In this one, Jackson avoided trouble when possible but also took a few hard hits when forced to stay between the hash marks. Each time, he popped up with enthusiasm, ready to do it again.
Seahawks 32, Browns 28
CLEVELAND -- Chris Carson scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:30 left, Russell Wilson threw two TD passes and ran for one and the Seattle Seahawks rallied for a win over the mistake-prone Cleveland Browns and improved to 3-0 on the road for the first time in 39 years.
The Seahawks (5-1) gave up touchdowns on Cleveland's first three possessions before storming back.
Wilson connected with Jaron Brown for two scores, and Seattle's cool quarterback scampered 16 yards for a TD. The Seahawks last won their first three road games in 1980, when they went 4-12.
The Browns (2-4) were hurt by their own miscues. They couldn't overcome four turnovers, a blocked punt or quarterback Baker Mayfield's hip injury and fell to 0-3 at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Mayfield threw three interceptions, raising his NFL-leading total to 11. Trying to bring the Browns back late, Mayfield, who went to the locker room in the third quarter to be evaluated, was picked off by Seattle's K.J. Weight with 2:41 remaining.
The Seahawks defenders celebrated the game-clinching turnover in front of Cleveland's Dawg Pound section and were pelted with cans and other debris.
Wilson then ran out the clock as the Seahawks moved to 5-1 for the third time.
Carson's short TD burst capped an efficient 79-yard drive by Wilson, who showed his usual poise and precision after the Browns had taken a 28-55 lead on Nick Chubb's 3-yard TD run.
Wilson finished 23 of 33 for 299 yards and stayed error-free. He has yet to throw an interception this season, and to this point, the eight-year veteran is outplaying every other QB in the league.
Mayfield, on the other hand, is struggling. He completed 22 of 37 passes for 249 yards, but he forced several throws and made a deliberate attempt to get the ball to Odell Beckham, who finished with six catches for 101 yards.
Carson gained 124 yards on 24 carries for the Seahawks, who lost tight end Will Dissly in the first half with an Achilles injury.
Cardinals 34, Falcons 33
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Kyler Murray threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and the Arizona Cardinals built a big lead, lost it, and then rallied again for a win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta looked like it would tie the game with 1:53 left after Matt Ryan hit Devonta Freeman on a 12-yard touchdown pass, but 44-year-old Matt Bryant missed left on the extra point, and the Cardinals ran out the clock from there.
The Cardinals (2-3-1) took a 34-27 lead with 5:12 remaining on David Johnson's 14-yard touchdown catch from Murray. Johnson made a great adjustment to his route on the slightly underthrown ball, catching the ball between two defenders.
The Cardinals won at home for the first time since last Oct. 28.
After showing flashes during the season's first five games, Arizona's offense put together the complete performance it expected after bringing in coach Kliff Kingsbury and Murray during the offseason.
The Falcons (1-5) have lost four straight games.
Broncos 16, Titans 0
DENVER -- The Denver Broncos' swarming defense sent Marcus Mariota to the bench and the Tennessee Titans to their fourth loss in five games.
The Broncos (2-4) had seven sacks in a game for the first time since their 2015 Super Bowl season and they picked off three passes.
Chris Harris Jr. and Justin Simmons intercepted Mariota, who was sacked three times and was replaced by Ryan Tannehill after Simmons' interception led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Phillip Lindsay that made it 13-0. Tannehill was sacked four times and picked off by Kareem Jackson on Tennessee's final drive, which reached the Denver 5-yard line before two offensive penalties and a sack pushed the Titans back to the 30-yard line.
The Titans (2-4) lost for the fourth time in five games.
The Broncos, who haven't allowed a touchdown in nine quarters, host Kansas City (4-2) on Thursday night with the chance to get back into the AFC West race after starting the Vic Fangio era with four frustrating losses.
Mariota came into the game as the NFL's only QB who had started every game and hadn't lost a fumble or been intercepted -- although he had been sacked 22 times.
Both Denver and Tennessee were 2 of 14 on third down, leading to 17 punts.
The first half featured more flags (10) and punts (11) than points (six).
Sports on 10/14/2019