PHILADELPHIA -- Jamal Agnew quickly made up for two fumbles and the defense stepped up for Detroit when special teams almost blew it.
Matthew Stafford threw a touchdown pass to Marvin Jones, Agnew returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score and the Lions held on for a 27-24 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
"It's good to get wins not playing your best football," Stafford said. "We're not playing our best, we kept battling. Finding ways to win as you're getting better as a team is a good thing."
The Eagles had a chance after Malcolm Jenkins blocked Matt Prater's 46-yard field goal try with 1:53 left. Rasul Douglas returned it to the Lions 22, but an illegal block on Jenkins pushed it back to midfield.
On fourth-and-5, Darren Sproles caught a pass for a first down but got called for Philadelphia's third offensive pass interference. Wentz's deep pass to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside fell incomplete with 41 seconds left. The rookie receiver said he should've caught it.
"It's the moment you ask for and dream about," Arcega-Whiteside said. "I gotta make the play."
The Lions (2-0-1) remain undefeated and the Eagles (1-2) have lost two in a row.
Vikings 34, Raiders 14
MINNEAPOLIS -- Each of Dalvin Cook's first two seasons was interrupted by injury, and the Minnesota Vikings were subsequently much more driven by the pass.
His skill set no longer under wraps, Cook has given this Vikings a clear and old-school identity.
Cook cruised past the 100-yard mark for the third straight game, Kirk Cousins rebounded from his rattled performance the week before with a turnover-free afternoon, and the Vikings rolled by the Oakland Raiders.
Though he missed 19 of his first 34 games in the NFL to a torn ACL as a rookie and then with nagging hamstring trouble last year, Cook never lost any fans on the coaching staff or in the locker room.
"I leave it all on the line for those guys because they stood behind me 100 percent when I was having my ups and downs and just going through adversity that's just part of this game," said Cook, who leads the league with 375 rushing yards. "I just credit those guys for being behind me."
Bills 21, Bengals 17
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The mere sight of rookie tight end Dawson Knox bowling over one Bengals defender and shoving off another breathed life into a sputtering and sloppy Buffalo offense.
Knox's fearless and physical catch and rumble up the left sideline for a 49-yard gain to set up Frank Gore's decisive score with 1:50 left in rallying the Bills to a home-opening win also inspired their defense to rise up for one final challenge.
"Oh, he's a beast, man," safety Micah Hyde said of Knox, who opened the scoring with a 1-yard catch.
"When you're a defense and you see that stuff coming from the offense, I think everyone jumped off the bench and was excited," he added. "The crowd went wild."
49ers 24, Steelers 20
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The San Francisco 49ers gave away everything but the game.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dante Pettis with 1:15 remaining and the 49ers overcame five turnovers to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers for their first 3-0 start in 21 years.
"It's never perfect," cornerback Richard Sherman said. "We didn't play perfect today but our record is perfect."
The Niners gave the ball away four times in the first half and then lost a fumble again in the fourth quarter, but still managed to pull out the victory and spoil Mason Rudolph's first career start in place of the injured Ben Roethlisberger for the Steelers.
A team that won just 10 games combined in coach Kyle Shanahan's first two seasons heads into a week off in good shape after surviving the home opener.
"It's a good start," Garoppolo said. "There's a lot of football left. Three wins won't get you anything in this league."
Panthers 38, Cardinals 20
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Kyle Allen takes pride in staying calm during big moments, reminding himself on every play that it's just football and he doesn't have to do anything spectacular to have success at the NFL level.
Turns out that's true.
In his second career start, he simply made good reads, good throws and good decisions over and over again to lead the Carolina Panthers over the Arizona Cardinals.
The only thing spectacular was the final result.
"That's how you win football games," Allen said. "You do your job. That's what we've been preaching all week. Do your job, you don't have to do too much, and when your number is called, make plays."
Giants 32, Buccaneers 31
TAMPA, Fla. -- Daniel Jones is making the decision to bench Eli Manning look like a good one.
At least through one game.
The sixth overall pick in this year's NFL draft threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for two TDs, including the go-ahead score with 1:16 remaining as the New York Giants rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"There's certain things that I knew about this kid when we drafted him. He was tough, he was competitive, and in my opinion he's a winner," Giants coach Pat Shurmur said. "Now the rest of it is just quarterback stuff. But those first three things give him a chance to move forward."
Jameis Winston threw for 380 yards and put the Bucs (1-2) in position to pull out a dramatic win, but rookie Matt Gay's 34-yard field goal sailed wide right as time expired.
Patriots 30, Jets 14
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots became the third team in seven months to sour on Antonio Brown's off-field problems when they released the All-Pro receiver Friday. On the field, they didn't need him to roll to an easy victory over the New York Jets.
Tom Brady threw a pair of touchdown passes and the Patriots didn't allow a defensive touchdown for the third straight week as they dominated.
It was the Patriots' first game since Brown was cut after a second woman accused him of sexual misconduct.
"Obviously, it was a tough week," safety Duron Harmon said. "A lot of media. A lot of stories. But the only thing we focused on was the Jets and I thought it showed today."
Packers 27, Broncos 16
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers threw for 235 yards and a touchdown, Aaron Jones tied a career high by running for two scores, and the Green Bay Packers beat the Denver Broncos.
Preston Smith matched a career high with three sacks as Green Bay got to Joe Flacco six times and forced three turnovers to lead the Packers (3-0) to the win despite being dominated in time of possession 35:34-24:26.
Rodgers found Marquez Valdes-Scantling on a 40-yard strike on the opening drive and finished 17 of 29. Jones' touchdown runs both came from 1 yard out.
Flacco was 20 of 29 for 213 yards with an interception and no touchdowns. For the third straight game, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and Denver's defense failed to record a sack or force a turnover. The Broncos (0-3) fell to 0-6-1 all-time on the road against the Packers.
Colts 27, Falcons 24
INDIANAPOLIS -- Jacoby Brissett threw two touchdown passes in the first half, and Marlon Mack scored on a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter to lead the Indianapolis Colts past Atlanta.
Indianapolis (2-1) has won two straight overall and seven in a row at home.
The Falcons (1-2) rallied from a 20-3 halftime deficit to get within three on Matt Ryan's 10-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones with 4:11 to play. But the Falcons opted to kick deep and never got the ball back.
Brissett closed it out with an 11-yard pass to Jack Doyle on third-and-4. He finished 28 of 37 with 310 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. T.Y. Hilton caught eight passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in the first half, but missed the second half after aggravating a quad injury that slowed him in practice this week.
Rams 20, Browns 13
CLEVELAND -- Cooper Kupp's comeback is complete. The Rams have another weapon.
The shifty wide receiver caught two touchdown passes from Jared Goff and Los Angeles stopped Baker Mayfield four times from the 4-yard line in the final minute as the Rams hung on for a win on over the short-handed Cleveland Browns, who were missing their entire starting secondary.
The Rams (3-0) remained unbeaten -- and perfect against AFC teams in the regular season under coach Sean McVay -- by barely holding back the Browns (1-2).
On the Browns' final drive, Mayfield, who was under pressure most of the night, tried to force a pass to receiver Damion Ratley on fourth down. Safety John Johnson III picked him off.
Kupp underwent surgery on his left knee and missed the final six games last season, as well as the Rams' run to the Super Bowl.
NW News on 09/23/2019