Dolphins pull off miracle play to beat Patriots 34-33
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Kenyan Drake ran the last 52 yards as the Miami Dolphins scored on a pass and double lateral on the wild 69-yard final play Sunday to beat the New England Patriots 34-33.
It was the longest touchdown to win a game with no time remaining since the 1970 merger.
The Patriots were 16 seconds from clinching their 10th consecutive AFC East title when the Dolphins pulled off their stunner. Ryan Tannehill threw a 14-yard pass to Kenny Stills, who lateraled to DeVante Parker, who quickly lateraled to Drake . He found a seam and beat two Patriots to the corner of the end zone — defensive back J.C. Jackson and tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was on the field as part of New England's prevent defense.
The Dolphins' bench emptied as teammates mobbed Drake. Coach Adam Gase said his team had been practicing the play all year for such a situation.
"Those guys executed it as well as you could," Gase said. "When you practice it, you don't really know how it's going to turn out. Kenyan realized he had a lane and took it."
Tom Brady threw for 358 yards and three scores, but the stunned Patriots (9-4) lost in Miami for the fifth time in their past six visits. The Dolphins (7-6) came from behind five times to help their slim wild-card chances.
The Patriots' Stephen Gostkowski missed an extra point for the first time in 38 tries this season early in the game, and he also missed a 42-yard field goal try. But his 32-yarder to cap a 55-yard drive put the Patriots ahead 30-28 with 6:45 left.
Coach Bill Belichick opted to have Gostkowski kick a 22-yarder in the closing seconds rather than pin the Dolphins near their goal line. Instead, they returned the ensuing kickoff to the 31 — and on the next play pulled off a miracle.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Harrison Butker atoned for a 43-yard miss as time expired with a 36-yard field goal in overtime, and the Chiefs stopped the Ravens on fourth down to clinch a playoff spot.
The Chiefs (10-2) twice converted on fourth down before Patrick Mahomes threw a tying touchdown pass to Damien Williams with 53 seconds left. Moments later, Justin Houston strip-sacked Lamar Jackson to give Butker a chance to win the game for Kansas City in regulation.
He missed that one. He didn't miss his second chance.
The Ravens (7-6) marched across midfield as they tried to answer in overtime, but Ronnie Stanley's holding penalty put them in a bind. Jackson was sacked by Houston and Dee Ford — and wound up leaving the game — and Robert Griffin III threw two incompletions to end it.
Mahomes threw for 377 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Tyreek Hill caught eight passes for 139 yards, including three in overtime to set up the eventual winning field goal.
Jackson threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns for the Ravens, who had never lost in three trips to Arrowhead Stadium. Jackson also had 71 yards rushing in his fourth start in place of Joe Flacco.
SAINTS 28, BUCCANEERS 14
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Drew Brees threw for one touchdown and ran another to help the Saints rally from an 11-point halftime deficit to clinch their second straight NFC South title.
Brees shrugged off a pair of turnovers to throw a 1-yard TD pass to Zach Line, then scored on a 1-yard sneak as the Saints (11-2) avenged a season-opening loss to the Bucs (5-8) and also rebounded from a defeat last week at Dallas.
New Orleans' defense did its part after allowing two first-half TDs, too, sacking Jameis Winston four times and limiting the NFL's No. 1-ranked offense to 81 yards in the second half — most of that on the final drive.
Brees completed 24 of 31 passes for 201 yards and one interception. Michael Thomas had 11 receptions for 98 yards.
Winston threw a pair of TD passes to Cameron Brate, the latter a 1-yarder set up by Adarius Taylor's interception to put the Bucs up 14-3 at halftime. The fourth-year pro also threw an 11-yarder to Brate on the opening drive of the game.
CHICAGO (AP) — Eddie Goldman led a dominant defensive effort, and Chicago shut down Jared Goff and Los Angeles' high-powered offense.
The Rams (11-2) missed a chance to secure a first-round playoff bye and fell into a tie with New Orleans for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Goff threw a career-high four interceptions and was sacked three times, with Goldman getting to him for a tiebreaking safety early in the third quarter.
Bradley Sowell became the first Bears offensive lineman in 11 years with a touchdown reception when he caught a 2-yarder from Mitchell Trubisky in the third quarter.
Chicago improved to 9-4.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott threw his third touchdown pass to Amari Cooper on the first possession of overtime, and the Cowboys took a big step toward the NFC East title.
On third down, Rasul Douglas tipped the pass into the air, and Cooper grabbed it and had a clear path to the end zone from the Philadelphia 7. The Cowboys used almost all of the 10-minute overtime, scoring with 1:55 remaining.
By winning the third overtime game in the past four seasons at A&T Stadium between these division rivals, the Cowboys (8-5) won their fifth straight game and took a two-game lead over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (6-7) and Washington.
The Cowboys finished with 576 yards, their most since gaining 578 against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973.
Dallas can clinch the NFC East title with a win at Indianapolis next Sunday.
Carson Wentz threw for three touchdowns, including a pair of tying scores in the fourth quarter. But he never got a chance in overtime because of the 13-play, 75-yard drive engineered by Prescott.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Derek Carr threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Derek Carrier with 21 seconds left before Chris Boswell slipped on a potential game-tying 40-yard field goal attempt on the final play.
Ben Roethlisberger returned from a rib injury to lead a go-ahead touchdown drive that Carr answered for the Raiders (3-10). Big Ben then connected on a 48-yard hook-and-lateral pass play that put Boswell in position for the tying kick. But he lost his footing and sent the kick into the line, sending the Steelers (7-5-1) to their third straight loss.
Carr threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes for the Raiders, leading his 16th career fourth-quarter comeback. He threw for 322 yards, including a 3-yard TD that put Oakland up 17-14 with 5:20 to play.
Roethlisberger then returned after missing the first four drives of the second half and drove the Steelers to the go-ahead score on a 1-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster before once again ending up on the losing end in a trip to Oakland. He is 0-4 at the Coliseum and the Raiders remain the only AFC opponent he has never beaten on the road.
Roethlisberger finished 25 for 29 for 282 yards and two TDs, but the Steelers failed to open up ground on Baltimore in the AFC North. Pittsburgh has a half-game lead over the Ravens.
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Philip Rivers threw for 220 yards and Michael Badgley kicked four field goals, including a team-record 59-yarder. Rivers completed 19 of 29 and threw a touchdown in what was not one of the team's best games. The Chargers (10-3) had 160 yards of offense on their first two drives but had 121 the remainder of the game.
Austin Ekeler rushed for 66 yards on 15 carries with Melvin Gordon missing his second straight game due to a knee injury. Keenan Allen had five receptions for 78 yards.
Joe Mixon had 111 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown for the Bengals (5-8), who have dropped five straight games. Jeff Driskel, making his second straight start since Andy Dalton's season-ending thumb injury, was 18 of 27 for 170 yards and a touchdown.
LA trails Kansas City by one game in the AFC West and plays at the Chiefs on Thursday night.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — George Kittle caught an 85-yard touchdown pass on the way to 210 yards receiving and became the 49ers' first tight end to reach the 1,000-yard milestone.
Kittle finished just shy of Shannon Sharpe's NFL record by a tight end of 214 yards receiving, not having a catch nor as many chances in the second half. Kittle had seven receptions in all on nine targets.
His long TD reception on a pass from Nick Mullens early in the second quarter put the Niners up 13-0 — and Denver (6-7) never found a groove in seeing its three-game winning streak snapped.
Broncos quarterback Case Keenum struggled to find any rhythm after the Broncos lost top wideout Emmanuel Sanders to a torn Achilles tendon in practice during the week.
Dante Pettis added a 1-yard touchdown reception just before halftime for the Niners (3-10).
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Darius Slay returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown and Detroit got its first win in Arizona since 1993.
Slay stepped in front of intended receiver Trent Sherfield, picked off Josh Rosen's pass and raced down the left sideline for the third-quarter score as the Lions (5-8) ended an eight-game losing streak in the desert.
Arizona (3-10) avoided being shut out with Zane Gonzalez's 22-yard field goal that cut the lead to 10-3 with 8:14 to play.
Rosen completed four of six passes as Arizona drove to the 5-yard line, but a fade pass to Larry Fitzgerald was incomplete and the Cardinals, who fell to 1-6 at home, settled for the field goal.
Fitzgerald caught five passes, all in the second half and most when the game had been all but decided, to move ahead of Jerry Rice for most receptions by a player for one team at 1,286.
HOUSTON (AP) — Andrew Luck threw for 399 yards and two touchdowns and T.Y. Hilton had 199 receiving yards. The Colts (7-6) snapped a nine-game winning streak by the Texans (9-4), trimming Houston's lead over the AFC South to two games with three remaining.
Hilton entered the game as the all-time leader in receiving yards per game at NRG Stadium with 122.3 yards and finished just shy of 200 yards on nine catches on 12 targets.
Houston cut Indianapolis' lead to 24-21 with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to DeAndre Hopkins with less than three minutes remaining. With the Colts facing a critical third-and-1 at midfield, Luck drew Jadeveon Clowney offside to secure a first down and the win.
The Colts entered Sunday having allowed just 14 sacks, second only to New Orleans. Houston's usually menacing pass rush was largely neutralized with just two sacks from J.J. Watt and Christian Covington after being held without a sack against Cleveland last week.
Indianapolis' defense, on the other hand, gave Houston fits both in the passing and running game. The Colts sacked Watson five times for a loss of 41 yards and held Houston's rushing offense to just 89 yards on 25 carries.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Baker Mayfield outplayed Cam Newton, Jarvis Landry caught a touchdown pass and ran for another score and the Browns damaged Carolina's playoff hopes. The Panthers dropped their fifth straight.
Mayfield bravely threw a 51-yard TD pass into traffic to Landry, who had a 3-yard scoring run and added a long run — on a similar call — early in the fourth quarter to set up a go-ahead touchdown.
Playing the spoiler role down the stretch, the Browns (5-7-1) improved to 3-2 under interim coach Gregg Williams, who needed just five games to match former Browns coach Hue Jackson's win total over two-plus seasons.
The Panthers (6-7) suffered a loss that could haunt them for months and will increase the heat on coach Ron Rivera.
Newton passed for 265 yards, but overthrew Jarius Wright on fourth-and-goal at the 3 with 2:35 left. Carolina got the ball back, but Newton, who has been playing with a sore right shoulder, badly missed Devin Funchess and was intercepted by Damarious Randall with 57 seconds left.
Mayfield finished 18 of 22 for 238 yards in a bounce back after throwing three interceptions in the first half last week at Houston.
Carolina came in just a half-game out of the second wild-card spot in the NFC, but with only three games left, including two against New Orleans, the Panthers are going to need help to make the postseason.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and set an NFL record for interception-free football, and the Packers won their first game under interim head coach Joe Philbin.
Aaron Jones ran for a 29-yard score in the third quarter. The defense limited quarterback Matt Ryan after a game-opening touchdown drive to hand Atlanta its fifth straight loss and guarantee the Falcons a losing record for the first time since 2014.
The Packers (5-7-1) regained some swagger with Philbin taking over for the fired Mike McCarthy. They've still got work to do to avoid a losing record, but at least Green Bay snapped a three-game losing streak.
Rodgers was 21 of 32 for 196 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb in the left side of the end zone for a 27-7. That throw gave Rodgers 359 consecutive attempts without an interception, breaking the league record previously held by New England's Tom Brady (358 in 2010-11).
The Falcons (4-9) had trouble keeping up after their first series. When they did, they hurt themselves with eight defensive penalties. Linebacker Deion Jones also had a couple chances to snap Rodgers' interception streak but couldn't hang on each time.
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Saquon Barkley rushed for 170 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown to surpass 1,000 for the season, and Eli Manning threw for three scores to effectively end Washington's already-slim playoff hopes.
Barkley gashed the Redskins' defense for 12.1 yards a carry to become the first Giants rookie to break 1,000, and set a single-season franchise rookie record with his 13th touchdown. The second overall pick also had four catches for 27 yards against a Washington defense that's a shell of the unit that led the league early in the season.
Manning was 14 of 22 for 197 yards in helping New York take a 34-0 halftime lead before giving way to rookie Kyle Lauletta early in the fourth quarter. Sterling Shepard, Bernie Fowler and Russell Shepard caught TD passes from Manning as the Giants (5-8) put up 40 points for the first time since Nov. 1, 2015, and won for the fourth time in the past five games.
The Giants intercepted new Redskins quarterback Mark Sanchez twice, with Curtis Riley scoring on a 9-yard pick-6 in the first quarter. It was Sanchez's ninth career interception returned for a touchdown.
Sanchez, making his first NFL start since 2015, was 6 of 14 for 38 yards and the two interceptions and didn't have a completion longer than 10 yards. He was sacked five times behind a patchwork offensive line as the Redskins (6-7) lost their fourth in a row.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Sam Darnold one-upped fellow rookie Josh Allen, rallying the Jets.
Elijah McGuire scored on a fourth-and-goal run from the 1 with 1:17 remaining to cap a drive during which Darnold completed three of five passes for 52 yards. The rookie quarterback particularly showed off his deft touch on a 37-yard pass to Robby Anderson, who made an over-the-shoulder catch up the right sideline.
It was Darnold's first career fourth-quarter comeback and came in his first game back after missing three with a strained right foot.
He finished 16 of 24 for 170 yards with a touchdown and interception. The Jets (4-9) snapped a six-game losing streak, and bounced back a week after squandering a 16-0 lead in a 26-22 loss at Tennessee.
Darnold, drafted third overall, got the edge on Allen, who was selected with the seventh pick by Buffalo (4-9).
Allen went 18 of 36 for 206 yards and two interceptions, both picked off by Trumaine Johnson, including one on the Bills' final drive to seal the Jets victory. Allen did finish with 101 yards rushing to become just the second quarterback in NFL history to top 90 yards rushing in three consecutive games, joining Tobin Rote, who did that with Green Bay in 1951.